Fishing guide Bob Hines, skipper of Fly Fishing Rhode Island, will be featured in a new TV show produced by Rhode Island sportscaster Don Coyne. Hines is displaying a false albacore.

Journal photo / Tom Meade

Sixty-eight of the country’s top athletes are scouting the waters off Newport this week in preparation for U.S. National Spear Fishing Championship on Thursday.

Competitors will include Connecticut diver Dane Hochman, who set a world record last month when he shot a 68.4-pound striper.

Dan O’Neil, the East Providence diver who held the world striper record until last month with a 65.1-pound fish, also will compete, said Rob Marvelle, president for the Massachusetts Freedivers Club, host of this week’s championship. Daryl Wong, one of the world’s top spear-gun makers, is scheduled to dive with a Florida team, said Marvelle.

California diver Amanda Ernst also will compete. As a 17-year-old, she was the top woman in the U.S. Nationals last year in California, her home state.

Teams from as far as Hawaii have been scouting the waters off Newport. They have been prohibited from using their spear guns, however.

Most of the competitors have been planning their strategy for a year, poring over charts of Rhode Island Sound, looking for habitat that might hold fish.

They have also been training. In competition, free divers use kayaks to get to their intended dive sites. Then they dive without the benefit of air tanks.

Free diving is an intensive sport, says Marvelle. “You’re working while holding your breath. You may be able to hold your breath for two minutes on land, but when you’re in the water, you cut that in half. You really have to be in good condition. Swimming in current tires you very quickly. Your legs have to be in top form. On top of that, you have to paddle your kayak with your wetsuit on. Anyone who paddles a kayak knows what kind of workout that can be. Imagine paddling for a mile-and-a-half, and then trying to dive and hold your breath.

“It’s a complete workout for your entire body. All of the top competitors are in excellent condition.”

The event’s rules follow Rhode Island fishing regulations, but add two inches to each minimum size limit. One point is awarded per fish and per pound. The maximum weight to count toward scoring is 15 pounds. The maximum points per one fish are 16 points. So, a 15-pound striper wins the same number of points as a much heavier fish.

King’s Beach will serve as headquarters for the championship.

Hines on TV

Fishing guide Bob Hines, skipper of Fly Fishing Rhode Island, will be featured in a new television show produced by Rhode Island sportscaster Don Coyne. Coyne had produced Fishing The Ocean State on Cox Cable.

He and Hines plan to shoot five episides of Fly Fishing Rhode Island. They will be broadcast several times on Cox cable channel 3, and they also will be available at Cox On Demand, Hines said.

Each episode will have a fly-tying segment in which Hines plans to tie a fly specifically designed for that episode’s fishing, followed by a trip on the water with Coyne or another guest. Among Hines’ scheduled guests is all-around outdoorsman Bruce DeLucia, president of Del’s Lemonade, one of the show’s principal sponsors, Hines said.

There will be shows on the cinder-worm swarm on Ninigret Pond, Wood River trout fishing, false-albacore fishing, and more, says Hines.

The show is scheduled to air Thursdays at 12:30 p.m. and Fridays at 3:30 p.m., but Hines suggests checking TV listings.

Trout love gypsy moths

On the Wood River, fly fisherman Ed Lombardo is fishing imitations of gypsy-moth chrysalis. “When these large caterpillars start falling off of the trees and into the water,” he says, “trout eat them like we eat cold ice cream on these hot and humid days.

“I tie my imitation on a number 10, 3x-long hook. This dry fly is just dark green Antron yarn with brown furnace hackle at the head.

“Banks are the key to successfully fishing terrestrials. Most terrestrials that find their way into the water are concentrated in the foliage along the banks. Banks also provide cover and shade for fish during hot summer afternoons. Fish that move to the banks for cover and shade are putting themselves in the exact place where terrestrials are most available.

“Gypsy-moth flies and other terrestrial patterns should be cast as close to the banks as possible. This is more important in streams where banks are slightly undercut and where vegetation hangs out over the water. On small streams, trout often see terrestrials across the water and are willing to take an imitation in the middle of the stream.

“On the Wood, fish will also take this pattern just under the surface.”

tmeade@projo.com