The big news this week is the 75-pound striper that East Greenwich angler Peter Vican caught about a mile off Block Island's New Harbor (photo at right). The full story about the catch will appear in Outdoor Notes on www.projo.com/outdoors tomorrow and in the newspaper Sunday.

BAY

Stripers weighing from 20 to 30 pounds apiece have been hitting large tube-and-worm rigs on and near Brenton Reef, says Kenny Ferrara of Ray's Bait & Tackle. A few fish in the 25-pound class have hit tubes near Annawan Cliffs, he says. And some keepers have been taken at the Barrington Bridge, reports David Henault of Ocean State Tackle.

Fluke fishing is hot in Narragansett Bay, according to Henault. He said Jim White, skipper of the charter boat White Ghost, has seen some of the largest fluke of the season this week. Earlier in the week, White reported that his grandson was taking big fluke. Henault recommends fishing the waters near the Newport and Jamestown bridges, Austin Hollow, and off Newport in deep water. Ferrara recommends the drift between Goat Island and the bridge, and the drift between Dutch Island and the Jamestown Bridge.

Scup have been biting among the boulders at the southern end of Colt State Park, Stone Bridge and near the Mount Hope Bridge, Henault said. Near Poppasquash Point, he says, Billy Silvia, skipper of the charter boat Can't Imagine, has been chumming with clans to catch tautog, scup and sea bass.

Ferrara says scup have been biting near the green can at Halfway Rock, the pilings at Gould Island and the hump on the northeastern side of Hope Island.

Bluefish and school bass are taking lures and bait at Halfway Rock, Ferrara reports.

BEACHES AND SALT PONDS

A 67-pound bass was taken on the reefs off Watch Hill this week, along with four or five 40-pounders, according to Jim Gray of Gray's Boat Yard. Ray Rao has been catching bass between 40 and 45 pounds apiece on eels in the waters off Point Judith Light, says Al Conti of Snug Harbor Marina.

There are so many sand eels and silversides in Charlestown Breachway that it's difficult for a fly fisherman or light-tackle angler to attract the attention of bass that are feeding on the bait. After many frustrating casts, trying to match the bait, Ed Lombardo said he switched to a shrimp pattern and caught a few fish Tuesday night.

Bass in the 20-pound class have moved onto the reefs off Charlestown and South Kingstown, according to Ron Mouchon of Breachway Bait & Tackle.

"A couple Frances Fleet employees were out in a small boat Wednesday, and reported that they caught fluke for 2.5 miles [off the South County beaches]," reports Frank Blount, owner of the fleet. "They caught loads of shorts with a nice mix of keepers to 4 pounds plus some quality sea bass and platter size scup. Last but not least, some tackle busting bluefish made for even more excitement. Whether fishing to the west or to the east or in between there seems to be no shortage of summer flounder."

"Fluke fishing just keeps getting and better," says Al Conti. A 9-pounder was taken in the waters off the carousel at Misquamicut this week, says Jim Gray. Anglers aboard the charter boat Sea Dog caught several 5-pound fluke Wednesday.

Scup are biting in that vicinity for boaters, and shore fishermen have been catching scup at Watch Hill Light, he said.

PARTY BOATS

"Fluke continues to be our main target, but we do see a few sea bass, too," writes Ray Thimas of the Seven Bs V. "The fluke numbers are actually not all that bad for the past week. I just wish that we could spread them out equally for each trip.

"Capt. Russ Benn tried to hold on to his sanity when it came to striper fishing last week. The number of stripers is short of what we are accustomed to catching at this time of the year."

OFFSHORE

David Henault reports that Chris Leahy has been catching "a mess of yellowfin at the Fish Tails."

The Aerie One released several small yellowfin and two white marlin near the Fish Tails, said Al Conti. The boat landed some 50- to 80-pound tuna.

BLOCK ISLAND

Light-tackle fishermen were taking two bass for every bluefish Thursday morning, says Chris Willi of Block Island Fishworks. In shallow water tight to the shore, bass as large as 30 pounds have been nailing Super Spooks and similar plugs as well as flies and soft-plastic stick baits.

"When you leave New Harbor, turn right for sea bass, left for fluke," Willi advises. The bite for both fish has been active this week.

Bluefish are popping up all around the island, but they're not troublesome.

FRESHWATER

SPRO Frogs are so popular, says David Henault, that he cannot keep up with the demand among bass fishermen. The lures have been taking bass on Johnson's Pond in Coventry, Tarbox Pond in West Greenwich, and other small ponds along the Rhode Island-Connecticut border.

BEST BITES

Point Judith to Stonington:

Bass, fluke, scup

Block Island:

Bass, fluke, sea bass

Whale Rock to Brenton Reef:

Striped bass, scup

HOT BYTES

For more frequent fishing reports, go to Hot Bytes in the sports section of projo.com.

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.”