Striped-bass fishing off Block Island probably will be great this season, according to experts, but they say it will be an expensive trip for mainlanders.

“By the time you pay for bait and gas, it’s a $100 trip,” said Johnny Martini.

“And that’s if you have a new [fuel-efficient] motor,” said Fred Bowman. “If you don’t, it’s going to cost more.”

Martini is a commercial rod-and-reel fisherman, known for catching trophy stripers on live eels. Last season, he caught a 53-pounder. In 2007, gasoline cost well over $3 per gallon at marinas on the mainland and between $4 and $4.25 on the island. Anglers like Martini, who trailer their boats, will save money by fueling at inland stations, but the trip to Block Island will still be expensive.

Basing their forecasts on the last three years of fishing, experts believe the cost of traveling to Block Island should be an investment that pays off for anglers looking for large bass.

Last season, anglers fishing aboard Bowman’s charter boat Bottom Line caught three bass over 50 pounds, 30 fish over 40 pounds and many more in the 20- to 40-pound range.

He fished with hickory shad and eels as bait, and trolled his signature tube-and-worm rigs. By the end of the season, 98 percent of his anglers caught limits, he figured. “It should remain the same this season,” he said. “I’m not looking at it getting any worse. The bass population seems to be holding up with the amount of pressure on it.”

Last year, the striper season started early, with the first keeper landed May 10, said Chris Willi, the island’s harbormaster and owner of Block Island Fishworks. “That’s about three weeks earlier than usual,” he said.

Bill Gould, skipper of the charter boat G. Willie Makit, started his season on Memorial Day weekend. “It was a good run of fish at the beginning of June,” he said, “and then it tapered off a little bit. At the beginning of July, it started to get a little scattered out, and that lasted through August.”

G. Willie Makit generally trolls umbrellas and tube-and-worm rigs on downriggers because it’s an easier technique for inexperienced tourist anglers to grasp.

“People who were using live eels probably had a little more success than we did at times,” he said.

“We had an awful lot of throw-backs,” Gould said. “I think we may get more barely legal fish this year, so the fishing should be better.”

Last season, fishing for bass and bluefish improved in September when small pods of bonito and little tunny, or “false albacore,” appeared, said Chris Willi. “Fall was horrible for us. There wasn’t a lot going on in October and November when there usually is, particularly on the beach.

“There was plenty of bait around. We had a lot of sand eels and an occasional school of peanut bunker. So all the signs were there for a good fall, but it didn’t happen.”

For the last several seasons, Southwest Ledge had held a lot of big bass, but last season state environmental police and the Coast Guard began enforcing a ban on striper fishing in federal waters. “That took away the bulk of the ledge,” Willi said.

He likes to fish the shallow water near Black Rock and other spots on the “back side” of the island. Last season, he said, “I never had a bad day there.”

Fishing for scup, sea bass and fluke has been good for the last few seasons and, Willi said, the coming season looks equally bright.

tmeade@projo.com