01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, October 2, 2005

John Murphy of Plainville, Conn., placed third in the Rhode Island Open Spear Fishing Tournament in Little Compton last weekend. The placement was good enough for him to nail the North Atlantic Championship.

A two-time national champion, he had enough points from the Massachusetts Open and the New York Open earlier this season to be named the 2005 North Atlantic Champion.

Justin Allen of Pembroke, Mass., won the Rhode Island Open with a limit of tautog and striped bass. His bag included the largest fish of the day, a 21.6-pound striper. John Warnock of Pawtucket was second.

"My strategy was to go out there and just enjoy myself, because I really didn't stand a chance in the North Atlantic series," said Allen, a sophomore at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. "I just went out there and hoped for the best."

Divers received a point for every fish landed and a point per pound, with a maximum of 15 points for a striper.

Allen shot five fish worth 53.6 points, Warnock shot six worth 49.2 points, and Murphy had 10 fish worth 43.4 points.

Competitors started and finished at Sakonnet Point and could fish the waters from Warren Point to Church Point. They had to kayak in winds often exceeding 20 knots. At many of the spots that were within reach, visibility was so poor that a diver couldn't see the end of his spear gun. Jay Moore, president of the Rhode Island Freediving Club, said he made one dive in an area that was so murky he found the bottom by bumping into it with his head. "A 75-pound bass could swim by me," he said, "and I wouldn't know it."

Warnock said he was on the bottom in another spot taking aim at a big tautog just swimming into view, when the fish suddenly flipped and died. Allen had shot it, and Warnock didn't even know the other diver was next to him.

"All you can do in conditions like these is to dive to the best of your ability," Moore said, "and hope that the fish will present themselves to you."

Murphy, the 1993 team national champion and 2003 individual national champion, had two plans: "The first was to go way to the east because I had triggerfish up there," he said. "But I was worried about the wind pushing the dirty water there, so I abandoned that and went to the islands out here [off Sakonnet Point]."

Staying on the bottom for long stretches was the key to success for Murphy. "It takes forever for the scup to come in dirty water," he said. "You've just to wait them out. You go to the bottom, lie perfectly still, and wait for them to come to the gun. If you move the gun, they're gone."

Several divers shot their limit of three tautog each. "There are plenty of them," Murphy said. "It's just a matter of getting good ones."

Free lodging for disabled

The Department of Environmental Management is offering free lodging on Prudence Island for disabled hunters there.

A special deer-hunting season for hunters who are paraplegics or double amputees is scheduled for Oct. 11-14 at the South End Management Area on the island.

A second season for disabled hunters is scheduled for Oct. 18-21 at the Army Reserve's Fort Greene in Narragansett.

This season, disabled hunters may stay in the cottage at the Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve on Prudence Island during the special hunt. Lodging is available for up to 10 people, including disabled hunters and their assistants, at no charge, and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. For reservations, contact Paul Hebert at the Prudence Island Research Reserve at (401) 683-4236 by Friday.

To purchase a deer permit, contact DEM's Division of Licensing at (401) 222-3576 weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

'Too many boats'

Capt. Chris Willi of Block Island Fishworks had an adventure last Thursday when he fished for false albacore off Montauk with Greg Snow. "Not too many albies and too many boats," he reported in an e-mail.

" . . . Came back and fished the North Light with my daughter. She lands a keeper on her second cast and proceeds to outfish me for the following hour. All the bass taken on Slug-go's and Spooks. The south side has been good as well."