Jeff Richard

On July 30th, I encountered excellent fishing off the southwest corner of Block Island.

Two fellow RISAA members and I won a raffle for a charter trip with Puravida Charters out of Galilee, captained by Capt. Jonathan Lewie.

I would highly recommend Pura Vida Charters and Capt. Jonathan Lewie, especially if you're looking for a Rhode Island based trip. 

We left Galilee about 6:30 PM, and motored to the southwest corner of Block Island. We noticed at least 20 boats about a mile away from us, and that number grew throughout the night. Luckily, we were at least half a mile from the closest boat for the duration of the night. This gave us plenty of space to fish in peace. 

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We started our first drift at 7:10 PM. We were drifting eels in 50 feet of water with a 2 knot current, using 3 oz weights. The captain wasn't expecting any action until the turn of the tide around 9:00 PM. However, within the first 5 minutes I managed to hook a nice fish. Over the next several minutes, the fish managed to pull half my spool of 50lb braid! I fought this fish for another 3-4 minutes, when the hook suddenly popped and I lost the fish!

In the past few years, I have won a charter with RISAA four times. On the past two trips, I've fought sizable fish that straightened the hook, so it was easy to become a bit frustrated at this point. 

One of my companions hooked up shortly after this, so I reeled in my eel. On the retrieve I got a massive hit, and was on with a bluefish. I battled the blue for the better part of 5 minutes. When I finally boated her, I realized this was the biggest bluefish I've ever caught! It was an excellent fight, and she even went airborn several times. 

Things slowed down around slack tide, as the sun set below the horizon. During this time I did manage to land a 16" black sea bass, which made for an excellent dinner. 

The fishing  picked up on the other side of the tide. My two fellow fishermen each landed there personal best 32lb and 44lb bass! Each of them had a second bass before I could join them. I was getting some interest on my eel each time they hooked up, but I had to reel in while they fought their fish. The frustration was beginning to mount...

​I was praying that the first missed fish I had at the start wouldn't be the only action I would get! Finally I hooked up, and was determined to land this fish. After a fierce five minute battle, I boated this beautiful 37lb bass... a personal best! However, I had a feeling it wasn't as big as earlier fish that got away. Since we had 3 bass in the boat already, I elected to release her.

Over the course of the next few hours we landed two more in the high 30s, and had several more drops. At 2:15 AM that Captain announced that we had one more drift left before the current went dead and would head back. I was thinking that since I had such a nice hit on the first drift, there would be some cosmic energy to have a take on the last drift as well.

The fishing cosmos answered and sure enough, my line went tight. I could tell it was a very nice fish, and after a ten minute fight I finally landed her. She measured out at 47 inches, and 43 pounds. Now that's what I'm talking about!  We snapped a few pictures, and then revived her. I watched as she swam back to the depths of Block Island Sound. 

I didn't get home until 5 AM, and was only able to catch 3 hours of sleep. However, the tiredness the next day was certainly worth it. 

I'd say go if you are after big girls, make a trip out to Block Island. Again, I highly recommend Puravida Charters: puravidacharters.org/

Tight Lines!