Chris,
I have heard much about the poor shore access there. Fortunately Rhody and Mass are not as bad. I haven't fished there much from shore, just some private docks in Stratford and BP (with caution :P )

As far as the permit goes, I think there is one for the beach after September and I know the lady at Charlestown breachway will usually let you by without paying if you say you're fishing. Didn't seem to make a difference between RI or Mass tags...

yes your right about charlestown . Ive never had a hassle there in the later season . they wave me through I imagine like you said cause I was fishing . I hope to get out to watch hill this year now that I know a of a place to park . Im in need of spring or at least a show this winter is beating me up pretty bad this year . Ill be fishing soon enough i guess .

This is exciting!!!!!!

You betcha Fishpart...

I'm going to start putting a page together later this week for the Striped-Bass.Com Tourneys with the rules and guidelines and all that mumbo-jumbo... But any more questions? And yes, the Ditch is in bounds :o (someone had asked)...

Now, we'll need to get some prospective dates goin here for the "meets"
We're going to want an early season May/June/July and a later season Aug/Sept/Oct... Any recommendations??

NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like Saltheart's idea of fishing with another board member. While it may be difficult to get schedules together it is still a good idea. For me fishing is more than just getting the biggest fish. It is a change from the daily routine and also a chance to meet up with some other interesting people I might not see in a normal day.

I recommend late Sept. on Block Island- afternoon ferry over on Sat. back on mid-morning ferry.

or how about we all list our top 5 picks for location and picks for the time(day) give it a week or 2 then tally the votes and narrow it down that way.

How many striperfests will there be? If we do 1 in May another in june or july then one in sept and one in oct. that might work.

If you guys want maybe I could make a fancy trophy for the tourney.

Block Island or any of the Mass Islands would be tough and costly for this type of Tournament. Not to mention that we would surely get noticed with a caravan of vehicles...

I like breaking them up:
May - Rhody
June - Mass
Late Aug/ early Sept - Mass
Sept/Oct - Rhody

We would need to schedule when other tornaments are not happening like Tri-State, MV Derby and soforth....

Also, do we want to pick locations or areas?? A couple Mass spots I like wouldn't support more than 3 or 4 people at a time... If in Mass, do we want some to go to the Ditch, some to Chatham, or some to Scituate/Plymouth... ??

Good idea Bruce, lets talk about that...

John splitting up with a few anglers sounds like a great idea. It would cut down on some travel time and we could agree on some spots before hand. The ditch is one place that can support alot of anglers and a central meeting place like the Sagamore parking lot under the bridge is a good spot to meet. We could meet here and fish the ditch or some of the beachs close by.

I think fishing with someone else should be optional. I feel that a week or month long tourney with no barrier restrictions is a good idea. I also feel that a slip from a registered scale is the only way to conduct a real tourney, look at the Marthas Vineyard Tourney. If you don't want to weigh a bass than don't enter. Do you think that those die hards out on the island are going to slip a 40 back in the surf!!! Hell no. Anyways, I know that not everyone agrees but personal discretion (like do I keep this 34" fish in a week long tourney, no.) can be used. You can almost eliminate any fish under 40". Anyways. I rather fish alone 99% of the time and am not sweating weighing a fish that would be a contender. Just my .02$. If I have to fish with someone I choose #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&, no exceptions ;)

Cowboy, that's where you can use the weigh-in slip for the year long. If you are going to join in one of the meets, you will be paired up with someone but it probably won't be #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&... besides, I don't think he has left Rhode Island in 2 or 3 years for fishing, maybe even longer...