Aug 22, 2017 Newport RI Spearfishing Report - Dave Gleeson

Date: 8/22/17
Location: Newport
Conditions: Heavy Chop and Swell, Rain. SW 15kt
Visibility: 30ft

I had received a good report of fish and bird activity the night before, and was rewarded with a nice Bass on a last minute after work dive. Good friend John Harrington and I decided to make a morning Bass mission before the wind picked up, as gale warnings were in effect later that day.

We got a later start than we would have hoped, but made it to our spot around 8:30am to dive the slack flood. After hopping off the skiff, I was happy to be able to see the bottom 25’ down with ease- visibility was a clear 30 or more feet. Scup, small seabass and tog were all over the place, along with flocks of terns working pockets of bait all around us.

John and I swam around the area for a bit, spotting small bass here and there, a good sign for sure. Within 10 minutes, we found a large school. After a short breathe up, I dropped into them with my Rob Allen 80 Roller, and John followed me with his camera. I’ll post a video of this dive soon to show the clarity.

The bass were everywhere. With visibility as good as it was, what seemed like hundreds of bass were in my field of view. I had taken two bass in the low 30 inch range in the previous couple days, so I wanted to be much more selective and wait for a larger one this time. Luckily, most of the bass in the school were keepers, and about 50 seconds into the dive, a larger one approached me head on. It was on the lower end of the size range I was looking for, but I decided it was big enough. As soon as it turned, I nailed a stone shot on it with the Rob Allen 80cm Roller. In less than two weeks of using that gun, I’ve taken 25 shots and hit 24 fish- stoning each bass. It’s an absolute laser!!

After bleeding and stringing the fish, we traded gear, and although I found the school a few more times, nothing big was spotted. The current picked up and we decided to leave before the wind increased.

The bass measured out at just over 38”, and was quickly turned into striper bites and marinated, baked fillets.

The fish are here in full force, I’ve seen large schools of bass on nearly every dive this week…. Get out there!

Dive Safe,
Dave

www.davegleeson.com 

August 5, 2017 Newport RI Spearfishing Report - Tristate Skindivers 7th Annual Species Meet 2017

Date: 8/5/17
Location: Southern Narragansett Bay
Conditions: Heavy Chop, Fog, Rain
Visibility: 4-10 feet
Water Temp: 68F
Notable Gear - Rob Allen Tuna 80cm Roller Speargun

The Tri State Skindiver’s Species meet was held this past Saturday, and had an incredible turnout. With 87 divers registered, it was the largest spearfishing tournament on the east coast as far as anyone can tell. Thanks to TriState for organizing the meet, particularly Mike Myer and Mike Landau.

A quick edit of Saturday's species meet. Thanks to @singlebreathmike and @roosterman9 for organizing the LARGEST tournament on the east coast to date, it was awesome! Couldn't have broken into the top 10 without @fogger66 watching my back and @newenglandfreedive providing some of the best gear in the industry. . @hecsaquatic @spearfishing_reviews @spearchannel @newenglandfreedive @tristateskindivers @roballenusa

A post shared by Dave Gleeson (@dgleeson80) on Aug 7, 2017 at 4:58am PDT

Variety was the name of the game, and I set out with Brian Fogg to see what we could find. We opted to sleep in and stick to one location rather than moving around too much, and were in the water at 8:30am. Visibility was poor, but huntable, varying from 4-10 feet in some spots. 

I quickly located a school of bass, but found nothing large enough to shoot for over an hour. I saw small bass on probably 80% of my dives. 

Luckily, the scup were easier to find. I started the day with a quality scup, around 12.” It was swimming with a few tog, but I was able to pick it out of the school with my Rob Allen roller. Shortly thereafter, I found SCUPZILLA, and quickly put him on my stringer with another shot at the edge of my visibility. At 2.8 pounds and 17,” this was easily my largest scup on a spear, and ended up being a new TriState Club record.

A few dives later, I came across a shelf at 20’ that was loaded with small bass. I took a few drops and was lucky enough to find a keeper in the mix, adding a 31” bass to my stringer. Not a monster by any means, but the pressure was now off to find a tournament size striper. I moved on and quickly took my limit of tog in no more than 15’ of water, the third and largest being a 24” 8.3lb male. 

Unfortunately, this was as diverse as my haul would get. I dove for another couple of hours searching from 10 to over 40ft for black seabass, bluefish and fluke, but had no luck. I couldn’t find triggerfish in the shallows either, and we decided to call it quits in the early afternoon. It was a great day on the water, and the weigh in was an awesome way to end the day. Nearly everyone weighed fish, and quite a few divers had some really impressive stringers, showing the abundance of talent in our club.

With tog and seabass open, it’s going to be a great end to an already awesome summer.

Dive safe,

Dave

www.davegleeson.com