The late afternoon trip produced numerous trout to 22 inches, big ladyfish, bluefish, mackerel and lotsof big smiles.

To book a charter with Capt. Bouncer of Bouncer’s Dusky 33, please visit http://www.captbouncer.com/

To book a charter with Capt. Bouncer of Bouncer’s Dusky 33, please visit http://www.captbouncer.com/

The Menhaden are so abundant that it is difficult to get down past the school with a jig to target the hungry striped bass feeding below.

The “piranha” of the northeast saltwater, a nice bluefish caught on light tackle aboard Coastal Charters Sportfishing.

We target these fish ranging in size from 2 pounds with the bluefish, up to an over 35 pounds on the striped bass using light tackle spinning rods with 20-40 sized reels and fast action, one-piece 7 foot spinning rods rated for 12-20 pound line. An uni to uni-knot join for the 12 pound braided line and 15-20 pound fluorocarbon leader makes for a nice seamless connection to avoid having to use a swivel. Small surface poppers, swim baits, and soft plastics are the common offering, along with buck tails, metal jigs and casting tins to mimic the smaller sardines and shrimp that are also present in good numbers. We have enjoyed fantastic mornings with some great sunrises, and non-stop action every trip out for the last week straight. The stripers as well as the bluefish provide great sport along with the first good outdoor barbecue or grill fish of the year. This is only a short diversion for my Dusky, which already looks out of place and longing for blue water in the confines of the upper bay I have been working. The first reports of bluefin have come in from the commercial fleet working just 3-50 miles offshore, so as soon as the offshore winds abate a bit we should get a chance to go hunting for the first bluefin of the year to grace the decks here at Coastal Charters Sportfishing. From that point on it will be nothing but tuna in the crosshairs, stay tuned for another wild season with us.

Sunrise over the Mt. Hope Bridge in upper Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.

A healthy striped bass caught on light tackle aboard Coastal Charters Sportfishing

Coastal Charters Dusky 256 working the upper river off Providence, Rhode Island for early season striped bass.

A very unhappy striped bass spraying water just after being hooked aboard Coastal Charters Sportfishing.

The full moon phase begins next week, and this is traditionally the big push of the main body of bluefin tuna along our coastline, as they migrate along the northeast coastline. The water temps are cool which keeps the larger baits happy, and in turn should provide for incredible topwater action. When bluefin get on large baits near the surface, the hits are insane, and more explosive than just about any other bite an angler could encounter. I am sure the stripers will get in our way, but they become more of a nuisance when we are after bluefin! What an amazing fishery we have here in southern New England, if you have not yet visited please consider making plans to get here as soon as you can. For those that have already visited once, why not come back for more, and hop aboard the Dusky for some adventure and fun out on the Salt. Thanks, as always, for checking out my content, and stay tuned for more!

Thomas Boss showing off a fine striped bass caught recently aboard Coastal Charters Sportfishing.

To book a charter with Capt. Dom, please visit http://www.coastalcharterssportfishing.com

To book a charter with Capt. Bouncer of Bouncer’s Dusky 33, please visit http://www.captbouncer.com/

View from the helm of Coastal Charters Sportfishing‘s Dusky 256

The expansive raised casting deck and custom bow rail are a key advantage for all the light tackle topwater action with BIG bluefin aboard Coastal Charters Sportfishing.

A little shakedown cruise was quickly followed by the first  official trip of the season, for the only show in town nearshore; the always fun, always feisty, always tasty Tautog, a.k.a the Blackfish. These tough little game fish are a very challenging and fun target species, requiring just some willing ness to get your offerings stolen at will and a good amount of crabs for bait. The spring run begins on April 15th, and features some fast action right before the spawn, typically the second or third week of May. This year it was exactly 5 days long, due t the colder than average winter and resulting water temperatures at the end of April. Once they begin the spawn, they will not feed very much for the duration, and the season also closes just after the beginning of the month to allow them unimpeded reproductive time under the state regulations. We did manage to get out 3 of the 5 days that they bit well, and had great fun with easy limits every trip, and had a bunch of fun tagging and releasing the rest with archival tags from the American Littoral Society. Tog are very slow growing, and migrate in a small area, so these tags help study the stock dispersion and movements, to better manage the species. A few make it to the dinner table as they provide very tasty filets, but the majority are released just fine to fight another day.

Fat spring Tautog caught aboard Coastal Charters Sportfishing.

This week saw the arrival of our first decent sized striped bass, migrating north from their winter grounds to the south. The first waves of fish to show are always hungry and provide incredible action on the light gear, We use 10 pound test braid with 12 pound fluorocarbon leader, and a variety of small artifical lures. The first 2 trips of the week saw non-stop action on 20″ to 35″ fish, and the first few keeper sized fish made it to the coolers and onto the grill, a great way to start the season. This is of course just a short warm up as we wait for the first bluefin tuna to show. Once these fish make their appearance sometime towards the mid to latter part of this month, that is all the Dusky will be focused on from day to day(and night to night!). Of course other species get in our way and rarely will we discriminate, but the allure of the tuna is just too strong and dominates the attention of every crew member that hops aboard. By the end of the month we should be right back into the swing of things, picking up right where we left off with hordes of bluefin tuna all around the boat, and hopefully on the deck!  I will of course have my camera at the ready, and we have also added two GoPro Hero HD video cameras on mounts in the T-Top to capture all the action in a little different format for your enjoyment. Stay tuned for my semi-regular picture blogs, and hopefully video updates as well, as the 2013 season’s adventures unfold aboard Coastal Charters Sportfishing.

A nice healthy striped bass caught with light tackle on an artificial lure aboard Coastal Charters Sportfishing

A striped bass breaks the surface as it feeds on a fresh hatch of cinder worms in Narragansett Bay, RI.

To book  a charter with Capt. Dom of Coastal Charters Sportfishing aboard his Dusky 256FC please visit http://www.coastalcharterssportfishing.com/

We were thrilled with the surprising action on the bottom. Jack, Larry and Mark caught 5 cobia, 4 grey grouper, 2 big mutton snappers, a kingfish and half a bonito.

To book a charter with Capt. Bouncer of Bouncer’s Dusky 33, please visit http://www.captbouncer.com/

We fished the same great guys for 4 of the last 5 days. They brought super lunches and lots of laughs. We put them on some real nice grouper, sailfish, mahi, jacks and more.

To book a charter with Capt. Bouncer of Bouncer’s Dusky 33, please visit http://www.captbouncer.com/

Today we caught our 2 grouper limit plus a small keeper we released on the first 3 drops.

Through the day we added 3 amberjacks, 6 mahi and a big barracuda

To book a charter with Capt. Bouncer of Bouncer’s Dusky 33, please visit http://www.captbouncer.com/

Then yesterday they joined us again. They caught several bonito before the sailfish turned on. They caught 5 of the 6 sailfish they hooked before the monsoon ended their trip.

Nice going Brian, Mark and Bill

To book a charter with Capt. Bouncer of Bouncer’s Dusky 33, please visit http://www.captbouncer.com/

They caught 2 big tarpon on 12 lb tackle, sailfish on 6,8 and 12 lb tackle, numerous mahi and bonito, a kingfish and 2 tuna all on 6lb tackle.

To book a charter with Capt. Bouncer of Bouncer’s Dusky 33, please visit http://www.captbouncer.com/