Dr. Jon Hare...a good friend to fish and fishermen

By Captain Dave Monti
Posted 11/2/16

I first met Dr. Jon Hare four years ago when his wife booked a fishing charter for him and his son John on my boat. We went summer flounder (fluke) fishing. At the time, I was one of eight captains participating in the Rhode Island Fish for the Future

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Dr. Jon Hare...a good friend to fish and fishermen

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I first met Dr. Jon Hare four years ago when his wife booked a fishing charter for him and his son John on my boat. We went summer flounder (fluke) fishing. At the time, I was one of eight captains participating in the Rhode Island Fish for the Future Cooperative. For the cooperative, we recorded our fishing catch and effort on computer tablets on board in real time and the tablets were GPS based. So catch, effort and exact locations where the fish were caught were recorded and the data was sent to scientists and fish managers for evaluation.

Dr. Hare loved the idea and gleefully participated in the fish recording effort. What was most impressive to me over the years was John’s energy and his work with climate change and its impact on the fish. Dr. Hare is a world renowned expert on the subject, has been the director of NOAA’s Narragansett Lab and last week, he was appointed the new Research Director for NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center. This is one of NOAA’s top science positions, certainly the top position in our region.

Dr. Hare will lead NOAA Fisheries’ northeast labs and field stations. However, Dr. Hare will continue the work of planning, developing and managing a multidisciplinary program of basic and applied research on the living marine resources of the Northeast Continental Shelf Ecosystem from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

In addition to being a pretty good fluke fisherman, Dr. Hare has held various positions with NOAA Fisheries for more than two decades, winning multiple awards for his leadership and administrative capabilities, as well as for his research. Most recently, he served as Supervisory Research Oceanographer and Acting Ecosystems Processes Division Chief for the NEFSC Narragansett Laboratory. In this role, he managed division research while also managing personnel and research resources for five different locations in the center.

Congratulations Dr. Hare. You have been a friend of the fish and fishermen. The commercial and recreational fishing communities wish you well in your new position.

Narragansett Chapter of Trout Unlimited to meet Nov. 16

The Narragansett Chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU225) will host its November meeting on Wednesday, November 16, at 6:30 p.m. at the Coventry/West Greenwich Elks Lodge, 42 Nooseneck Hill Road (Rte. 3, Exit 6 off of Rte. 95), West Greenwich, R.I.

The primary focus of this meeting will be tying soft hackle wet flies with Michael Brucato, who works in the supply chain for the education system and ties flies for www.myflies.com. Brucato will conduct the instructional tying session, as well as provide a short presentation about using the flies that are tied at the meeting.

Contact Dick Diamond, chapter vice president, at diamonddri2011@gmail.com with questions.

Where’s the bite?

“Striped bass and very large bluefish have been biting all along the southern coastal shore. Mature Atlantic menhaden were being pushed up onto the beach at East Matunuck. We had a surf fisherman land a 34-pound striped bass casting eels,” said Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina, South Kingstown. Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait & Tackle, Warren, said, “One of the guys here has been catching school bass in the Bay at a rate of six or seven each outing. We also had a customer catch a 36-inch fish with a pogie at Popasquash Point, Bristol.”

The bass bite at Block Island has been hit or miss as fish migrate south this time of year. Gil Bell of Charlestown, R.I. weighed in a R.I. Saltwater Anglers Association Hall of Fame entry for blue fish last week. The fish was 39.5 inches and 16.9 pounds. Gil said, “I caught the fish using a 9-inch, 4-ounce Mike’s Custom Plug. I was fishing a South County beach where the big bluefish were chasing schools of adult bunker (Atlantic menhaden). Several double digit bluefish were caught that day.”

“Cod and black sea bass bite has been good at Shark’s Ledge with no reports from Cox’s Ledge as of yesterday (Saturday). It was the first day customers have been able to get out with rough seas,” said Matt Conti of Snug Harbor. Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet said, “Tough windy weather kept the cod/sea bass boat dockside with the exception of this past Saturday where a boat limit of big sea bass to four pounds were caught with a few nice green cod into the low teens, along with plenty of platter-size scup to just under three pounds.”

The weather is expected to improve with calmer seas this week, so cod fishing should improve.

“Tautog fishing has been outstanding from Providence to Brenton reef. We weighed in fish to seven pounds for the Aquidneck Island Striper Team tournament. Tautog are biting all along Water Street too,” said Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait & Tackle. Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick, said, “Tautog fishing has been very good with anglers catching fish in the Bay at Hope Island and Coddington Cove.”

“The tautog are starting to move out of the Bay with a good bite at Whale Rock, Beavertail and Brenton Reef,” said Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina.

Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet said, “Some big fish were taken this week, including Wayne Gunderman's 11-pound tautog and we weighed in one just a bit less than 12 pounds this Saturday, along with a fair number of other fish in the 8- and 9-pound range. There were some limit catches this week on each trip. The best day of the week was Thursday with the boat being just a few fish short of a full boat limit.”

Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing for over 40 years. He holds a captain’s master license and a charter fishing license. He is a RISAA board member, a member of the RI Party & Charter Boat Association and a member of the RI Marine Fisheries Council. Contact or forward fishing news and photos to Capt. Dave at dmontifish@verizon.net or visit his website at www.noflukefishing.com.

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