The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is conducting fall trout stocking, in advance of the Columbus Day holiday weekend, in selected areas in Rhode Island from Thursday, Sept. 28 and continuing through Friday, Oct. 6.  Brook and rainbow trout are being stocked in the following waterways:

• Barber Pond, South Kingstown.
• Barberville to Wyoming Pond, Richmond, Hopkinton.
• Blackstone River, Lincoln.
• Bradford Fishing Area, Westerly.
• Breakheart Pond, Exeter.
• Browning Mill Pond, Exeter.
• Carbuncle Pond, Coventry.
• Carolina Trout Pond, Richmond.
• Cronan Landing, Richmond.
• Eight Rod Farm Pond, Tiverton.
• Grantville to Rt. 95, Hopkinton.
• Hope Valley Fishing Area, Hopkinton.
• Kings Factory Bridge, Charlestown.
• Lower Shannock, Charlestown.
• Meadow Brook Pond, Richmond.
• Olney Pond, Lincoln State Park, Lincoln.
• Rt. 165 to Barberville, Exeter, Hopkinton.
• Round Top Ponds, Burrillville.
• Shippee Sawmill Pond, Foster.
• Silver Spring Lake, North Kingstown.
• Spring Grove Pond, Glocester.
• Stafford Pond, Tiverton.
• Upper Pawtuxet, (Hope), Scituate.
• Willet Pond, East Providence.
• Woodville, Richmond, Hopkinton.

     Visit DEM’s Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Facebook Page, www.dem.ri.gov/fishing, or call 401-789-0281 or 401-539-0019 for more information on stocking.

The more you fish, the better your mental health?

Last week a Fox News article by Melissa Rudy cited a study published in the July issue of Epidemiologia that showed men who enjoy fishing as a hobby may have better mental health. The study Mental Health and Recreational Angling in UK Adult Males: A Cross-Sectional Study was conducted by Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, Ulster University, and Queen’s University, Belfast.

The study, found that fishing on a regular basis contributed to a lower risk of depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and other mental health conditions. Researchers polled 1,752 males about their fishing activities, as well as other factors including previous mental illness, exercise and overall well-being. The participants who said they fished on a regular basis were nearly 17 percent less likely to have experienced mental health conditions compared to men who did not fish frequently.

The Fox News article quoted Dr. Mike Trott, one of the study researchers from the Centre for Mental Health Research at the University of Queensland. “We were expecting to find that angling in general has positive effects on mental health — however, we did not expect that the more often you fish, the better the benefits are,” said Dr. Trott. Unfortunately, the study only included men, so the findings cannot be generalized across genders.

Shore or boat, tautog fishing still a good bet

Tautog fishing continues to be very good. Here’s what one expert has to say.

Neil Hayes of Quaker Lane Bait & Tackle said, “If you are fishing from shore and not getting bites you must keep moving and try different spots every couple of minutes.  You move much more so than fishing from a boat.”  Boats move as they swing back and forth on anchor due to wind and current. But when you are on shore you are stationary, not moving, so you have to find the fish. Hayes said, “Put that crab in front of the fish, the big mistake many shore anglers make is staying in one spot too long.”

“Conventional high/low rigs work best because there is a lot of heavy structure when fishing from shore. Small jigs get tied up more frequently as there are a lot of cracks and crevices for them to fall into compared to convention rigs.”

 “Some of my favorite places to fish for tautog from shore include Ocean Drive at Brenton Reef, Newport as well as Ft. Wetherill, Ft. Getty and of course Beavertail Point, Jamestown.  Black Point in Narragansett is a good spot too,” said Hayes. “From a boat the Bay provides a multitude of places to fish. There’s structure all around compared to our sandy beach coastline.  Favorite places include Plum Lighthouse, Whale Rock, and rock piles off Narragansett at the mouth of the Narrow River and ledges off Beavertail Point.”

  Where’s the bite?

Striped bass, bluefish, false albacore and bonito. After the storm last week anglers were treated to large schools of striped bass in Greenwich Bay. Angler Dave Hanuschak caught multiple bass to 29 inches using a white SP Minnow and Yo-Zuri crystal minnow fishing Sunday morning in Greenwich Bay. 

Dave said, “The bass were on the surface just about everywhere feeding on peanut bunker.”

Striped bass have mainly been targeting mullet and peanut bunker in our area. Last week when had some favorable boat conditions. The Albie bite has been great and there are still some bonito around. As conditions improve after this weekend, the inshore fishing should pick right back up with bass and bluefish migrating along the beaches,” said Declan O’Donnell of Breachway Bait & Tackle, Charlestown.

Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle, Providence, said, “Bass of all sizes are being caught in the Providence and Seekonk Rivers with Capt. Rene Letourneau of On The Rocks Charters reporting a great false albacore bite off Newport after the storm on Sunday.”

“Tautog fishing has been good with anglers catching keepers throughout the Bay, however, not many have had a chance to fish with high winds and turbid water last week,” said Henault of Ocean State Tackle.

“Fishing has been improving. Most boats have been able to catch their limit but had to work to find bigger fish,” said O’Donnell. 

Tuna. “The offshore bite was good this past week with some nice size bluefin and yellowfin being caught,” said O’Donnell. Tuna fishing opened for giants once again this week. 

Henault of Ocean State Tackle said Monday morning at 7 a.m., “We just got a report that Capt. Rob Taylor of Newport Sportfishing Charters. They hooked and landed a giant bluefin tuna off Narragansett. So no doubt the bluefin bite for giants is still good.”

Freshwater.  Largemouth bass fishing is good but if you are interested in fishing with the family, DEM stocked twenty-five waterways with brook and rainbow trout this week. See above article.

Dave Monti holds a captain’s master license and charter fishing license. He serves on a variety of boards and commissions and has a consulting business focusing on clean oceans, habitat preservation, conservation, renewable energy, and fisheries related issues and clients. Forward fishing news and photos to dmontifish@verison.net or visit www.noflukefishing.com.