01:00 AM EDT on Friday, May 21, 2004

BAY

Kham Sone used live squid to catch two 31-inch stripers at Second Beach this week, said David Henault of Ocean State Tackle. Striper fishing is better in the upper reaches of the Bay, according to Cory Pietraszek of The Saltwater Edge. The waters from Poppasquash Point to Colt State Park have been especially hot, he said. Ray Stachelek of Castafly Charters said the fish are feeding on large schools of silversides there. Noting that there were some bass around the Dumplings, Greg Zeek of Zeek's Creek agreed that larger stripers were in the upper Bay and the Narrow River. Anglers are catching keepers at Oakland Beach in Warwick. "Bucktail" Mike Trouve and Ted Kiska caught and released 70 stripers as large as 34 inches from Gaspee Point to Prudence Island. "The bigger fish were around Prudence," Trouve said.

Fluke fishing is improving in deep water south of the Jamestown Bridge, off Bailey's Beach, Agassiz Cove and Mackerel Cove, said Zeek, but the bite is still relatively slow.

BEACHES AND SALT PONDS

Stripers as large as 30 inches have been nailing streamers in the Salt Pond channel off Jerusalem for the past few nights, reports fly-fishing guide Ed Hughes. An angler who was tossing herring chunks caught a fish over 30 pounds there, he said. On Ninigret Pond, Bob Hines, another guide, said, "Despite wind, fog, and coves blanketed with weeds, the worm swarms continued on both Ninigret and Great Salt ponds. The conditions just add more of a challenge to the fussy feeding of stripers when they are focused on the worms. Spending the last seven out of eight afternoons on the estuaries, we managed to land a few fish every evening but no keepers as of yet. Fish were taking my foam tail-worm pattern fished as a dropper, however, it had to be small -- no longer than an inch." In Charlestown Breachway on Wednesday, anglers were catching stripers throughout the day on Storm Wildeyes and similar jigs, said Jared Bolton of Breachway Bait & Tackle. On Quonochontaug Pond, anglers are catching stripers on flies as well as on tube-and-worm rigs, said Don Cameron of Captain Don's Bait & Tackle. Striper fishing continues to improve on the Pawcatuck River, said Don Michaud of King Cove Outfitters; the best time to catch fish is on the rising tide.

Large tautog are moving into Quonochontaug Pond, Cameron said.

Andrea Crow caught two 19-inch fluke and several stripers at Middlebridge on the Narrow River and then moved on to Monahan's Dock and caught a couple of keeper tautog. She was fishing between 4 and 6 a.m. with clamworms, said David Henault.

John Gadzik nailed a 9 1/2 pound fluke this week, said Don Mattera of Kenport Marina, reporting that the bite is improving near the West Wall, Matunuck and Green Hill. Mitch Wnek caught six fluke Wednesday afternoon, fishing near the West Wall.

Large scup have arrived off Quonochontaug, said Don Cameron.

OFFSHORE

Party-boat fishermen are catching a mixed bag of small cod, ocean pout, perch, cape shark, red hake, and a sprinkling of large mackerel, according to a report from the Frances Fleet.

FRESHWATER

Stump Pond in Smithfield has been a hot spot for pike and bass this week. Rudy D'Agostino of the R&Y Shop recommends heavy-medium shiners for pike and hair bugs for bass, especially near the pond's inlet. Pike are also biting on Waterman Reservoir in Greenville.

Ralph Narducci is catching a lot of 3- to 4-pound bass on the Pawtuxet River near Factory Street in West Warwick, said David Henault.

From the Wood River, Ed Lombardo reports, "The trout are used to seeing spinner falls of Black Quills and Mahogany Duns, so spinner imitations in sizes 14 and 16, colored rusty or orange, work well. Fish were more active between 1 and 7:30 p.m. The other imitation that works is the CDC dun-colored emerger. Caddisflies are more prolific now, and flies such as a #16 or #14 Elk-hair Caddis imitate the natural well. I have also seen some smaller black caddis in #18 and #16. Fish are also interested in flying ants that have just started their spring emergence." Flies and bait are both working on Olney Pond in Lincoln Woods State Park, where the trout fishing is excellent, said D'Agostino.

BASS TOURNAMENT

Team Rhode Island Bassmasters has scheduled its ninth annual Summer Open Team Tournament for May 30 in Roger Williams Park. First place will pay $1,125, based on a full field of 40 boats. The entry fee for the eight-fish limit event is $75 per team. For information, contact Roy Costa (401) 941-4424.

BEST BITES

Barrington to Bristol:

Striped bass

South County salt ponds:

Stripers

Smithfield's Stump Pond:

Bass and pike

THE TIDES

The moon causes tides and affects the activity of saltwater and freshwater fish as well as animals on land. Anglers generally find the best fishing two hours before and after a high tide, but fish and other animals also become active around the time of low tide. This table shows the height of tides in feet at Castle Hill near the mouth of Narragansett Bay. Recreational shellfishermen prefer to dig for clams when the tides are lowest, shown on the chart as "minus tides."

High A.M. Hgt. High P.M. Hgt. Low A.M. Hgt. Low P.M. Hgt.

Today 10:03 3.2 10:08 3.7 3:29 0.3 3:09 0.3

Tomorrow 10:44 3.1 10:46 3.5 4:07 0.4 3:50 0.4

May 23 11:28 3.0 11:27 3.3 4:45 0.5 4:31 0.6

May 24 12:14 2.9 5:25 0.6 5:15 0.7

May 25 12:12 3.2 1:01 2.9 6:09 0.7 6:05 0.9

May 26 1:01 3.1 1:50 3.0 7:03 0.7 7:08 0.9

May 27 1:53 3.1 2:41 3.2 8:06 0.7 8:25 0.9

What's the catch? Send your fishing reports to Tom Meade by e-mail at tmeade [at] projo.com.