Report Date: July 10, 2015:
Area: Newport - RI
Date: July 10, 2015
Time: 8am - 2pm
Location: Newport - from Third Beach to Jamestown
Tide: Incoming (low was 8:45am)
Surface State: Choppy, 2-3’ sea in most areas, calm when we were out of the wind
Wind Direction: NE 10-15 turning S @ 5mph
Water Temp: 67
Visibility: 3-5 towards the beach / 10-15 everywhere else
Barometric Pressure: 29.95
Atmospheric Condition: Overcast and breezy turning sunny and calm towards the end of the day
Fish Taken: (1) Bass @ 27lbs
Notable Equipment: MARES Viper Pro 75cm Speargun / MARES Smart Apnea Free Dive computer
Notes: We left out of Ft.Adams on the f/v ScottyB and headed towards 3rd beach to hunt some rock piles. Vis was pretty poor over there in most spots but managed some pockets of 3-5 in the deeper water. Got into a school of fish at about 22’ and passed an easy shot on a 30lb fish.
From the beach we headed towards Ocean drive and made a stop near Lands End to look at a rock I found a few years back. Vis was really nice but nothing on the bass front.
We debated a bit about our final spot but decided to make a run west to check out the Rocky Cliffs of Jamestown. Vis was again really good with the incoming tide. On several drops I had smaller fish 30-34” come by along with a few schools of small blue fish. Towards the end of my swim I had a small bass swim underneath me along the 15’ kelp covered bottom. It was near the end of my surface interval so after a short breath up I made the drop to the shallow bottom and set up in the direction the fish was swimming (facing up a gradual slope). The low kelp provided good cover and within 30 seconds a school of bass surrounded me. Most of the fish appeared to be 15-20lbs with a slightly larger one just on the outside of the group. I made the decision to take a mid body shot (given the distance) and the viper struck with lethal precision. The fish bolted for deeper water and assuming I had put a solid shot on the fish I wrapped up on the line and went for a nice ride through the water. It was a good way to end a fun day on the water with friends.
