On the Block

[RicM]

Left Wickford at 7AM with the Degnan family, my step-daughter Shauna, her husband Rob and his boys, Matt & Ty, for a Block Island adventure. The boys, 11 & 13, had never been to the Island and were excited to just see it. I was hoping to provide more than that. We headed to the SE corner to drift eels, where word had it the fishing had been pretty good. We fished right on the corner, The Steps, and Black Rock with a sizable fleet and caught nothing, and saw nothing caught. Decided to hit the SW corner where I have done well in the past on an incoming tide. By this time it was 11 AM and we had started talking about The Oar. Got to the red buoy at the SW corner and we had it pretty much to ourselves, one other boat drifting, and a charter boat trolling the area. The drift was East to West at about 1.5 to 2 kts. The first drift my rod went off with a wicked good fish. Let me say that I am ashamed to relate that this was my first real striper fishing trip of the year. Getting the boat back from FL the end of May, then a number of maintenance issues on the boat has kept me off the water for the most part until now. I was definitely rusty. The fish ran off well but my drag was set too tight and the knot pulled and the fish got away. We lost a couple more when we didn't let them run long enough. These fish were finicky! We learned that we had to let them run about twice what I remembered or you just got your eel back intact. Not easy for an excited 11 year old, or me for that matter! We ended up with a fish for everyone, a couple of small ones, but a nice 24# fish and finally a 30# fish that Shauna caught that had everyone screaming and high fiving. These boys were used to pond fishing for pan fish. They had never imagined catching anything this size! A great lunch at The Oar, some souveniers from the general store, and the whole crew slept all the way home. I would like to commend my first mate, Miss K, for handing her rod and a very nice fish to one of the boys to pull in (he was the only one of the family who had not caught a fish at that point). It was a very generous act and provided Tyler with a new facebook picture and a memory that will live forever.
Dad got the first one:

Shauna got the biggest one:

Matt says this is OK!

Ty is stoked!

The captain is happy

The crew well fed and peaceful enjoy the ride home

[RobS]

Now that's a "10" of a day. What beautiful quality photos, the sharpness and the color. was that with the new Nikon point/shoot boat camera?

We went a few miles out on Saturday fluking but it was slow and only shorts were caught. One decent seabass was the only one who got to ride home in the fishbox.

The bay fluking has been better than the ocean but mid-day on a hot weekend I'd rather be offshore beating the heat and escaping the crowds.

The ocean was a bit lumpy, almost uncomfortable at times. The sea anchor kept our drift at 0.6kts so holding the bottom was not an issue. I see you had flat seas out at Block.

[RicM]

Yes Rob, that is the new "boat cam" a Nikon S8000. It is a great little point and shoot that seems to handle fill flash (the key to sunny day photography) extremely well. The semi-wide lens also helps in the small confines of the cockpit.
While it may have looked calm, there was a pretty good roll going, the boys became sluggish and "warm" a few times. Miss K was gulping the Meclazine, and my calves were cramping up that night, all a sign that the ocean was trying to get back at you for stealing her fish. It's a great core workout. Starting the lists for Thursday. Are you arriving Thursday for the 4 for 3 deal? I hope to be there around 1PM. It would be nice to catch up before the main event begins.

[RobS]

Starting the lists for Thursday
Are you arriving Thursday for the 4 for 3 deal?
I hope to be there around 1PM.
It would be nice to catch up before the main event begins.

ditto
yes
ditto
ditto

[Capt Paul]

Man, I wish we had the numbers and size of fish (Stripers) you have one the East coast. We get the occasional 20-30 lber out here but not that often.

Great catch!

Paul