Location: Newport RI
Report Contributor: Mike Chace
Notable Gear: HammerHead Benthos 5mm Wetsuit & HammerHead Raptor 95cm Speargun
My phone had been buzzing with good reports from the previous couple of days from friends. This member of the Tog Cult was EAGER to get in the water and see some fish. I set aside some time from the busy days and nights that had consumed my time in the NEF shop for the past couple of weeks. I try to always put my customers needs before my desire to get wet so this had kept me out of the water from hunting some fish for at least 14 days. When i began checking forecast Saturday and saw that the wind would lay down and come out of the NE Saturday morning i thought we might have a great shot at y first dive on the outside of Newport the following morning. Thanks to my good buddy Eric for getting free to go diving with me and luckily the forecast held true and we arrived to unload the kayaks to an image of flat surface conditions and clear water.
We paddled out a short distance to a rock pile we thought might be holding some decent fish. Upon sliding over the side of the kayak I began to chuckle and yelled over to my dive buddy Eric who was getting ready that we had 20 - 25 ft visibility. This was about the beginning of slack tide turning low to incoming at 10:30 a.m.
There was many tautog about. About four minutes into dive I descended to backside of a ledge and as I got settled on the bottom I immediately saw a bass about 32" come in quick to check me out and dart off. I held off on the shot thinking he had to only be the first, wait wait wait the others will come in. During the next 2 hours I saw only one other schoolie size bass. The tautog seemed to be everywhere, many males in the 15-16 inch range out roaming about and the big females tighter to the rock piles and holes.
Then a northern puffer fish presented a shot. I knew that my son Ethan would be excited to eat them, and if there is one there should be more here. It takes a couple to make a meal due to size. Nope, no others. Northern puffers are not poisonous FYI, and the body meat tastes much like a shrimp.
I had already harvested one 17 inch blackfish about 20 minutes earlier when I dropped down the backside of rock drop off to see a much larger tog dart off from the crevasse in the rocky bottom and head around me to my 6:00. I decided to not to chase him because that rarely works out well and surfaced. Recovery breath and breath up trying to hold my position against the mild current by watching a landmark I picked out on the bottom to focus on. Guessing an approach to where I thought the fish headed to I slowly dropped down the front side of a ledge hoping that when i came around the rock he might be held up there. When I rounded it there were at least 5-6 mid size females slowly kicking about and beginning to scatter when I noticed a much larger set of chins under an overhang about 12 feet away. I gave two kicks towards him and as he started to come out and see what was approaching him and slightly turned (as if to dart out of there) which provided me with a shot through the gill plate.
Well as decent size tautog usually do if you do not stone them, he began his crazy twisting death roll they do as I am swimming up to him and as I get two feet away I feel the line go limp. I look under the rock overhang and see my empty shaft lying there. $%^# ! "He tore off I thought to myself". Well as I surfaced and began to reload the gun and started to drift backwards a little I picked up on some movement out of the corner of my left eye and notice it is a nice size fish. I think "It can't be?" And begin to reload the gun quickly but only loading one band this time. As I kicked over I noticed he was nose down with tail up between some rocks directly on the backside of the rock I had shot him under. As he tore off he must of swam out the backside exit and I think at that point he was stunned and hurt and stopped there. I waited a few seconds hoping for a more clear shot free of the rock behind him so I did not blunt my shaft tip. Then I saw an angle shooting down on him from above that would be clear and shoot.
As I strung him on the stringer I thought I was lucky bugger to not have lost him after the shot, a second shot almost never happens. I will take a little luck whenever I can get it. I thank Eric Cadorette for being a great dive buddy to get out with and for taking the still shot of me from his GoPro for the report. Eric harvested a couple of really nice tautog also, so we both had happy stringers.
We can only hope the conditions can hold off for another week and maybe by next weekend see some great bass here for Memorial Day weekend. Cooking up the first fresh blackfish of the season for the family was a treat. I am very anxious to get in another dive this weekend.
Another Day Another Gift from Mother O, a great way to start off the season.
Mike
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