The Fish Wrap Writer Blog
For more than 20 years, we have been learning from and writing about outdoorsmen and women who fish, hunt, hike, pause, and sometimes just look around. Fish Wrap has been published over 480 times. Here you will find articles, interviews, reports, laughs, a few stretched truths (that’s true), and an unfortunate number of obituaries from good folks we have lost.
Please search, enjoy, and let me know if you know someone who we should meet.
Secret lures, late season squid, then fair winds for Carl Whitney and Captain Charlie Niles
Oh what a week it was. Big national news, big warm weather, big rains and still, thankfully, more fish. November has been an easy weather month, so far, which we may pay for later on but for now, let’s talk black sea bass, stubborn bluefish, togs, squid while we...
Going Crab-less for Tautog
Tautog fishing has been strong for a few months now but that’s starting to change with a change in seasons. Reliable spots have been giving up just a few keeper sized fish, just a few shorts, or just simply none at all. Plus, autumn’s winds don’t help the boat...
Potter Pond Hearing Scheduled
There are fish to be caught in Segar Cove for sure If you’re concerned about public access, which does not simply mean a pathway from land to water, then you need to be aware that Perry Raso’s application to take another three acres out of recreational use in South...
Narragansett Surfcasters have Nelson Valles to thank for a mission of honor and community service
Fishing contests don’t make front page news in an age of scandals, accusations and reverse fake news. “Where you gonna run to when the world’s on fire?” asked Woodie Guthrie in his prophetic song, “Sowing on The Mountain.” While a country in turmoil reposes in...
This week, kids rule the seas
Many of us try our level best to teach our kids how important it is to get outside, breathe some fresh air and if we can get them on the water, to catch some fish. Sometimes we teach them our skills and experience such pride when they shine. Sometimes we get to...
Chief Hoxie speaks to RISAA and you should be there, especially you poachers
This month, as we start to say goodbye to green leaves, albies, most of the big striped bass, (don’t forget about the Pt. Judith lighthouse…) fluke, tautog, and just about every other fun saltwater fish, we welcome in bird and deer hunting, blaze orange vests and a...
Low trout waters means it’s time to fish the beach not the banks
This post originally appeared in the Southern RI Newspapers two weeks ago. As is known to happen, we fell a bit behind here and should have posted this sooner. Air and water are cooler now but the pressure is definitely not off the fish. So it's still pretty...
It was downhill right from the ramp
Darkness casually faded into the summer excitement of unloading boats for a day chasing albies and striped bass. Galilee’s new boat ramp, designed to launch three boats at once with sturdy docks for coming and going, was bustling. Overhead were stars and stripes of...
Captain Ray Stachelek finds the fish
“I’m tight!” Ray Stachelek yelled from the stern of his Everglades 230 center console. After an hour searching for fish in foggy Galilee, Captain Ray had moved west, along the beach, staying in thirty feet of water, waiting for what he hoped would happen. Now,...
Reconnecting With Local Rivers
Reconnecting With Local Rivers means getting wet, paddling hard and coasting in full sun to appreciate our lovely and local rivers. Let's go!
Time to stop idling and start paddling our Wild and Scenic Rivers
Sitting, idling, cursing perhaps, many of us have sat there impatiently, waiting for one car to turn right to Sosnowski’s farm stand and another to cross left for a cup of TLC coffee. Countless URI students zip daily over a small bridge at South Kingstown's Taylor...
Let Greg Vespe take the helm in Narragansett Bay
This month we have long days and warm nights to fish but by month’s end, we should take a night off from the beach and learn to catch more fish in Narragansett Bay. The Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association will present seasoned and generous fisherman, Greg...
Stripers are up, fluke are down, scup are strangely attractive
After a tepid start, the summer flounder season has warmed but it sure does not look like a banner year. “The fluke have been a challenge. I have been getting some but it’s been work,” said East Bay fisherman Greg Vespe. Water temps have largely peaked and bait is...
Clearly, navigating a kayak in fog is easy
Anyone who was in Boy Scouts before that deal imploded or had parents drag them around the country in an old summer vacation van should know how to use a compass. Understanding direction is key to navigating, especially in zero visibility. Most of us have a compass...
Surrounded by fishes, dog days heat up a Hex hatch.
We are surrounded by fishes as the dog days approach. It's all here in Fish Wrap!
Aidan Kelley catches ‘em up as fishing just gets better
Over the last few years, it seems like the better saltwater fishing has edged its way into July when historically we might have switched to some largemouth chasing or just caught up on some sleep after a busy salty Spring. This week, striped bass are feeding hard...
Casting through Covid with Peter Jenkins and without sausage and peppers
RIDEM does it. Town Council’s do it. School Committees do it. Wine clubs, I mean book clubs, do it. Now the RI Saltwater Anglers Association is doing it. Replacing regular monthly Elks Lodge meetings famous for helpful speakers and plates of sausage and peppers...
Dominic Saves The Day
Morning could not have arrived more peacefully, laying down her winds to greet a full sun rising behind wisps of light cloud cover keeping fish daring in shallow waters. Kayak fishermen came from Massachusetts, Connecticut and all over Rhode Island. Hobie’s Fishing...
Fish are in but access might keep us from them
Once again, we are surrounded by fishes. With a subtle uptick in seawater temperatures, gates opened and fish have flooded local waters. Finding them and getting to them is ever the challenge. Capt. Rene Letourneau is guiding through a steady pick of good sized...
Sea bass, Kingfish, Big Stripers and memories with your daughter
Some of our favorite Fish Wrap stories involve parents being outdoors with their children, carrying on traditions or teaching their next-generation how amazing Nature and water can be. This week we are reminded how supremely fortunate to live where we live and...