"The show this weekend was very good.  The threat of snow Sunday hurt us somewhat in the afternoon…  before that we were on track to having our highest attendance yet." said Steve Medeiros, president of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) sponsors of the New England Saltwater Fishing Show.  "I think this is the best show attendance we have seen in years." said Capt. John Sheriff of Captain Sheriff Charters.  "We gave away over 2,000 copies of our latest issue and ran out Saturday.  Last year we had copies left over." said Lisa Helme-Danforth, co-publisher of Coastal Angler magazine in Rhode Island with her husband Michael.

Capt. B.J. Silvia of Flippin' Out Charters (and fluke rigs) said, "My fishing partner Greg Vespe and I have been very busy working both the Hummingbird booth and the charter booth where we are selling lures and gear."  Capt. Silvia introduced new fluke fishing lures at the show, an ultra violet (UV) B-2 Squid rig that shimmers  in the water.  The B-2 UV rig is available in purple haze, green, blue, pink and a new white color. 

John Lemieux of Inland Marine, Chepachet, RI said Friday, "We have gotten off to a great start we sold a boat earlier today and now have someone seriously interested in a 27' Sea Hunt, so this is a great start."

Al Conti of Sung Harbor Marine, South Kingstown, RI said, "This show has been fantastic.  My daughter Elisa had to go back to the shop to make up some more fishing rod and reel combos.  We had a special on Penn Battle reels and rods and they sold like hotcakes."  Matt Conti said, "We raffled off a Shimano Tiagra 130 Reel ($1,249 retail value) and will be selecting the winner soon."  Snug Harbor Marine had a large end cap booth with lots of rods, reels, fishing lures and equipment on display ready of sale… and they were selling.

Canyon Fever, a new book by Capt. Denny Dillon of the f/v Persuader II out of Pt. Judith, RI was creating a lot of excitement.  Capt. Dillon said," I did not want to write a 'how to book' so  Canyon Fever is about a captain and his crew encountering sharks , porpoise, big-eye tuna, yellow-fin and other game fish." In the book, the Canyon Fever story is followed by a collection of 'Other Short Fishing Stories' that depict fishing events in the lives of charter boat captains, commercial rod and reel fishermen, their families and friends.  The book has been illustrated by local expert angler and artist Susan Lema and is available on www.amazon.com.

Stur-Dee Boat Co., Tiverton, RI displayed at the boat show earlier this year and now was at the fishing show.  Stu-Dee has been building Amesbury Dory boats since 1947.  Heidi Reid of Stu-Dee Boat Co. said, "My father started out building one boat in the yard and then a second and third and eventually we had a boat building company.  The fiberglass boat we sell today my father made from a mold taken from one of his original wooden boat."  

Stur-Dee dories are made in 12', 14' and 16' lengths.  The Amesbury design has an unusually high freeboard, a handsome bow and graceful lines.  Although it features a high freeboard that keeps you dry, for years the boat's design was a favorite for fishermen because the allows the rail to be easily pushed part way down making it easy for a fishermen to haul nets.  

This design feature allows someone in the water to easily haul themselves back out of the water making it ideal for swimming and skin diving.  A standard model 16' Dory sells for $6,995, the 14' is $5,895 and the 12' vessel is $5,495. Popular features that can be added include a fuel frame and batter block and one standard feature liked by all… mahogany seats.  For information visit www.stur-deeboat.com .

Fishing regulation buzz at the show

The buzz at the New England Saltwater Fishing Show this weekend was fishing regulations for 2015 particularly striped bass, summer flounder (fluke) and black sea bass. We will not know what regulations are until Janet Coit, director of the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) makes final regulation decisions.  Director Coit will review public hearing input, recommendations from the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council (RIMFC) and DEM staff input to make her final 2015 regulation decisions which are expected to be made by the end of the month.

At this time regulations are likely to be more conservative for striped bass, summer flounder and black sea bass.  Rhode Island needs to reduce black sea bass landing by 1/3, a popular option at the public hearing and approved at the RIMFC Monday night is a split season for a 14" fish, one fish from July 2 to August 31 then seven fish from September 1 to December 31. Summer flounder (fluke) quotas were overfished in 2014 but coastwide anglers did not overfish and the stock is in good shape, so the director may approve a slight adjustment in season length and/or the bag limit to appease policy makers. Monday night the RIMFC approved status quo (same regulations as last year) for summer flounder… 18" fish and 8 fish/angler/day.  Striped bass be one fish at 28" for private anglers, however, there will likely be a conservation equivalency regulation for charter and party boats as the RIMFC approved one fish at 28" for private anglers and two fish at 32" for charter and party boats with electronic catch recording.

Measuring catch and effort electronically

Capt. Rick Bellavance, president of the Rhode Island Party & Charter Boat Association, presented the results of the RI Fish for the Future summer flounder cooperative to captains from around the country last week.  The pilot program ran for the past two years had ten participants.  Similar programs in Alaska, Florida and the Gulf were also presented as part of the panel discussion.  

The Rhode Island pilot ran as a cooperative.  Captains were given a quota through the Research Set Aside (RSA) program, and fished fixed guidelines and rules reducing discards to gain business flexibility (fishing season, size limits, etc).  The effort drastically reduced discard rates, fished below their allotted quota, provided charter fishermen with much flexibility, provided charter customers with an enhanced fishing experience and fish managers acquired a data rich study as catch and effort were received electronically in real time on tables placed aboard vessel. The pilot was the first of its type in the nation and is hoped to be a model for others in the future.

Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing on Narragansett Bay for over 40 years.  He holds a captain's master license and a charter fishing license. Contact or forward fishing news and photos to Capt. Dave at dmontifish@verizon.net or visit his website at www.noflukefishing.com.