ACCURATE FISHING REPORTS * TRUTHFUL-ISH FISH STORIES * THE OCCASIONAL LIE
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 Vespe, for a talk about catching fish at night … Continue reading Let Greg Vespe take the helm in Narragansett Bay
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 dinner beforehand, with a ZOOM video feed is just one of … Continue reading Casting through Covid with Peter Jenkins and without sausage and peppers
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 having our kids around more makes it all the better. At the … Continue reading Sea bass, kingfish, big stripers and memories with your daughter
Social distancing used to be what fishermen regularly practiced when they went fishing, often quite voluntarily. Now the term is repeated ad nauseam on virtually every broadcast and talk show, having morphed into a repetitive reminder that our inside and outside worlds have changed and may never be the same. It’s brought us one way … Continue reading These are uncharted waters on both sides of the border
Governor Raimondo and her staff have inserted tax language into the 2020/2021 state budget which financially targets sporting ranges, guides and outfitters. It is, at best, a poorly veneered attempt to use taxes as a weapon to disrupt people’s legal and constitutionally protected hobbies and passions because the current administration and governor does not like … Continue reading There’s a new tax in town and we’re not going to stand for it
March 9, 2014 ©Todd Corayer 2014 Written back when we actually had ice... Good-bye ice, hello crocuses! At the tail end of a banner year for fishable ice, day and night soon find their balance so we can return to our canoes kayaks and outboards. March for most is just a muddy gateway month, a … Continue reading The very first Fish Wrap column. Just in time for stay-at-home reading
For months now, social media has been ablaze with posts about local fishermen getting their kayaks ready for a new fishing season. Despite winter being kind of a puffball affair and this Covid-19 affair making us rush out to buy toiler paper, which is absurd, unless you don't have a stash, fishermen and women are … Continue reading RI Kayak Bassin’ is ready for a very big year
2010 was the first year of the Rhode Island Saltwater License Program, designed as an alternative to a federal license which became mandatory with a 2006 amendment to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act. The amendment was written to begin more accurate capture of fisheries data like effort and landings. In a rare move, Rhode Island’s … Continue reading Saltwater license sales are strong and so are tackle store conversations
It was heartening to see 80 people on a rainy February night at URI’s Corless Auditorium offering comments on the state’s proposed 2020 fisheries regulations but equally disappointing to hear so many fishermen advocate for killing smaller striped bass and more bluefish in light of our understanding that both stocks are overfished and in peril. … Continue reading Stripers, blues & elephants: they’re in trouble and we’re still talking about “us”
In preparation for a return of striped bass and regulations to protect them, RIDEM held a pre-hearing workshop to discuss potential changes. In an era of social media fueled easy complaining, these workshops are a direct action of the state listening to people say they can’t attend the formal hearing, are microphone shy or just … Continue reading All fish are equal but some conservation equivalency is more equal than others
