The Department of Environmental Management has a plan to expand shoreline access and increase public-fishing sites. The Pier A Year Initiative goes beyond the proposed pier at Plum Point in North Kingstown, although that project is on the list. The initiative’s goal is to build or improve a fishing pier each year for eight years.

“The piers will be well-maintained, handicap-accessible, and will highlight the state’s most valuable environmental and economic resource — Narragansett Bay,” writes DEM spokeswoman Gail Mastrati. An estimated 595,000 Rhode Islanders live within five miles of the fishing-pier locations.

The sites include the Van Zandt Pier in Newport, Burma Road in Middletown, Sabin Point in East Providence, Goddard Memorial State Park in Warwick, India Point Park in Providence, Plum Point in North Kingstown, Rocky Point in Warwick, and Stone Bridge in Tiverton.

In 2005, the DEM evaluated the potential for fishing piers and improvements at 23 sites throughout the Bay.

The study examined the abundance of fish species, water quality, and several other factors affecting fishing piers and access.

In an accompanying survey, anglers selected Plum Point and Rocky Point as the best spots for piers.

A revitalized Van Zandt Pier in Newport is the first fishing pier to be completed under the Pier-A-Year project. In the Point neighborhood, Van Zandt is the only public pier that does not allow boats to tie up.

Improvements included stabilizing the pier, replacing railing and decking, increasing the number of safety ladders, adding a new ramp for easier access, and lowering some of the railings for anglers in wheelchairs.

“The Van Zandt Pier helps to provide access to Narragansett Bay for fishermen, Newport families and visitors alike,” said Senate majority leader M. Teresa Paiva Weed (D-Newport). “It is a great place to fish, swim or simply enjoy a spectacular view. The state’s investment in restoring the pier will help to keep the Rhode Island coastline open and accessible to all.”

A new friend

In last week’s column, a reader said I was fooled by a fisherman who had caught a 65-pound red drum using an inexpensive Zebco spin-casting rod-and-reel from a public fishing pier.

My new friend — even though we haven’t met — David Shepherd, responds:

“For those skeptics who believe you were hoodwinked by the guy with the tale of the Zebco-bested monster drum, refer them to the March 2008 issue of Salt Water Sportsman, page 26, where a NewsLines article titled “Barbie Gone Fishin” documents (with photos) a 4-year-old girl, Phoebe Swann of Rockport, Texas (with her dad’s considerable help, of course), landing a 50-pounder from the dock on a push-button pink Shakespeare Barbie fishing rod loaded for bear with six-pound test line. Even the SWS editors inserted their note of disbelief into the retelling, but the article does state there were witnesses to the tussle.

Odd things happen out there: 100-plus-pound bluefin tuna caught from the beach, a 9-year-old girl winning a prestigious striper tourney with a 55-pounder taken off the back of her dad’s boat while it was docked in Marina Bay up in Quincy (though on what tackle, I have no idea). That a 65-pound drum could be beaten by a Zebco is improbable, definitely — but not impossible.

“Off in search of a grander marlin on a soda can hand line, I’m David Shepherd.”

Shoot for, not at, grouse

The Ruffed Grouse Society has scheduled its New England Sporting Clays Championship for June 1 at Addieville East Farm in Burrillville beginning with a shotgun start at 10 a.m. Five-stand warmups are scheduled from 8 to 10 a.m.

The registration fee for the 100-target , 15-station shoot will be $150 per shooter before May 26 or $175 after, or $600 per four-man squad. Along with the targets, each entry fee includes a continental breakfast, traditional New England-style lobster dinner, open bar for an hour after the shoot, one-year society membership and a gift.

A Gold Cup sponsorship package that includes station recognition, one shooter entry package, Boyt Signature shotgun case and sporting clays bag and a complimentary ticket on a fine grouse gun is available for $1,000.

Scoring will be based on the Lewis Class system. For information contact Jack O’Brien at (401) 568-3185. Reservations will only be accepted by fax at (401) 568-3009 or by e-mail at addieville@wildblue.net.

Charlestown paradise

In a story titled Paradise Found, Outdoor Life magazine named Charlestown as one of “America’s top 200 towns for hunters and fishermen.” With its freshwater ponds, salt ponds, ocean beaches, and woodlands, the town was named among such places as Mountain Home, Ark.; Lewiston, Idaho, and Sheridan, Wyo., the top three.

tmeade@projo.com