May 16, 2019 Spearfishing Report - Rhode Island - Dave Gleeson

Date: 5/16/19

Location: Southern RI

Viz: 15-25’
Temp: 51

Gear: Rob Allen Roller 80cm & 90cm

Report Contributor: Dave Gleeson

After a few days of light and variable winds, conditions were beautiful for a spring dive in RI. Visibility ranged from 15-25 feet, and life was abundant, with plenty of tog, stripers, pufferfish and even a scup to keep me entertained. 

I headed out with Aaron Hampton of Tristate to look for some fish taco meat (tog) and hopefully find the first scup and striper of the season. We were thrilled with the conditions upon getting in the water, and quickly loaded up to start hunting. We were both using Rob Allen Roller guns, perfect for clear viz hunting. Even with such clarity, our short guns had plenty of range with the roller’s extra power.

The chop started to pick up, but I quickly found my first target of the day, an aggressive male tog that charged me while I ascended to the surface. I halted my ascent, turned around and placed a shot just behind his eye from the midwater column. Aaron got another soon after in the same size class. 

About 20 minutes later, I dropped into a school of tog and found a single VERY fat scup hiding under an overhang. I froze, and waited as he slowly turned to allow me a shot- I string him through the eyes.

A school of small stripers about 100 strong were sighted a few times during our dive, a great treat in such clear water and undoubtedly a sign of things to come.

The water is clear, the fish are out in numbers and the bigger stripers should be here any day…. Get out there soon!!! I know I sound like a broken record, but if you’re looking for a laser-accurate gun, go grab a Rob Allen Roller from Mike at New England Freedive- I don’t know many guns that can hold their own in both 3ft murk and 25foot clarity.

Get out there and enjoy the spring.

Dive Safe

Dave

May 11 and 13'th 2018 Newport RI Spearfishing Report - Dave Gleeson

Date: 5/11/17 and 5/13/17

Location: Newport, RI

Viz: 15-25’
Temp: 54

Report Contributor: Dave Gleeson

Notable Gear - Rob Allen 80cm Roller Speargun 

5/11: My first dive of the year couldn’t have been much better. Viz was great despite heavy wind and a decent swell, and fish were plentiful. I probably saw close to 800 schoolies during this trip, and even managed to pick a keeper from the group with a 30” bass taken for dinner.

Tog were around as well, and I was able to get my limit without issue.

 5/13: Conditions remained great out front for my second dive of the year. Alex Zygmunt, Baley Rochefort and myself dove slack low tide and the beginning of the incoming, and had great visibility ranging from 15-25’. Tog were schooled up and in good numbers, with lots of fish in the 18” range. I managed to take one male ~22” in addition to a couple smaller fish, and the three of us got out of the water with 6 nice tog.

Fluke are around, as I saw a few shorts and my dive buddy Alex Zygmunt shot a keeper @ ~21.” I also saw a few scup, but surprisingly no large schools.

There seems to be a lot of life around, with plenty of small skates, dogfish, and the largest clearnose skate I’ve ever seen.

The season is definitely upon us- finally! With only two weeks left before tog is closed for the summer, get out there and grab a few. Just try to remember to leave the big females alone, we need them to spawn if we want to keep tog around for years to come.

Happy hunting, DIVE SAFE

Dave 

Props to new diver Alex Zigmunt for getting his first fish (s) this week and very nice fluke ! Way to Do It ZIG ! Nothing makes us happier at NEF Spearfishing then to see new divers getting stoked !

Be sure to check out Dave's breathtaking photography and videography at www.davegleeson.com

May 21, 2017 Newport RI Spearfishing Report - Mike Chace

Date: 5-21-2017
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

May 18, 2017 Scott Bianco Spearfishing Report - 19.26 lb Tautog !

Date: May 18, 2017

Report Contributor: Scott Bianco

Thank you to Scott for graciously taking the time to give us a report of him freedive spearfishing that 19.26 lb Tautog !  Can I call it TOGNASAURUS ?

It all started with a text "got time for a quick after work dive?". After a long day the last thing I felt like doing was trailering the boat down and taking a beating from the south gusting wind. After much debating I decide why not lets do it. At the ramp I almost called it while looking out at the gusting wind figuring there wouldn't be much vis. Brian convinces me to make the boat trip and we head out. Once there we anchor in some shelter from the wind and suit up. Conditions aren't the best, south wind with an outgoing tide, the top five feet had a brown haze making the vis about 2 feet but opening up to great 8' vis below. 

As we swim away from the boat and towards the rocks Brian says to me go left and he will go right. I head off to the left and start to make my first drop of the evening. I start my decent and about 3 feet down I notice a white chin through the haze passing me on my right shoulder. I level off and remain motionless, only moving my eyes to track the fish. The white spot barley visible passing in front of me towards the left, then circles back to dead center.

The words of a great dive friend going through my head ,don't move anything don't move your fins relax and be part of the ocean. I was able to see a little patch of white belly behind the white chin so I knew from the spacing that the fish was of good size.I kept my gun pulled in tight to my body making sure not to "track the fish" waiting patiently for the fish to turn and become centered in front of me. I shot between the two white patches and the spear landed center mass and the white spots stopped moving instantly. 

I swam up to it and got a solid grasp on the barb end of the spear and pulled the fish in tight to my body and started swimming it up to the rocks. Once  I had a grasp on the fish it came to life like they usually do, but this one was different I knew I had something bigger then I have ever shot before. With a good amount of struggle I manage to get me and the fish on the rocks and out of the water. Seeing the fish out of the water really hit home fast just how big this fish really was. I held on with both hands for a few minutes till I knew the fish was dead. The ocean offered up an amazing fish to us that evening. Fish prints will be made to honor the life of the fish.   

Scott Bianco