Block Island Surfcasting
 

Hello all! Been a while for me for saltwater fishing, but still love reading the great posts from all the anglers here!

I'm tagging along with my son and his BS troop on a 3 night camping trip to the Block. Been telling him stories about MV and the Block and some of the guys that have caught 50+ fish from shore. So he asked me to help him and some other scouts get their fishing merit badges. Should be fun!

Just bought a copy of Surfcasting Around the Block by Dennis Zambrotta from Doug at The Surfcaster. Can't wait for it to arrive. Among other prep work I'm trying to pick a well-known, easy-access spot (no secret spots) where 8 to 10 scouts might have a chance to catch a fish from shore. Would love a recommendation or two. We are staying at the Camp Sandsland by the airport, but have vehicles.

Also looking for a place that rents surfcasting setups. Doug said most placed have stopped renting due to damage (sand) being so common. Anyone know of a place that rents on island or coming north on I 95?

Given this is the Block and the standard lottery rules include a fishing house on The Block, count me in for 3 tickets if you run the pool for tomorrow night. One of these days this site is gonna win! Feeling lucky! Maybe this is the draw~!

Be well all!

Great to hear. We are doing our troop fishing merit badge this weekend. But we doing it freshwater so we don't have to worry about one of em getting washed away.
Let me see what I have in the stock for serviceable rods/ reels and based on what I have / willing to sacrifice, I be and touch and we can try to meet up for you to borrow. Anything for the scouts ( well, maybe, but not the VS's and ODM's)
We can work it out. Should be a memorable trip for them and you. Awesome times going down memory lane and passing your knowledge and memories on to them.
Let know when trip is planned and departure / return times so can figure into busy schedule
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Maybe Dorie’s Cove, Grace’s Cove or Mansions beach. Easy access and easy enough to fish.

That's a heck of a trip for their merit badge. One good place that comes to Beach is Charleston beach. Should be easy to hold a small group. Plus it's a good place to catch.
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https://youtu.be/8tOmS8GbAFE

Years ago I saw a video it was not this one. Wrapping a wooden lure with an eel skin. Are there members on this site that have had results using these?

This was it.

https://youtu.be/uCvQz7c6CzU

Twin maples and BI fishworks are the two tackle shops. Id bring rhe kids down to the cut at new harbor with some 7” olive / silver sluggos on 3/8’s oz jig heads at night and you might be suprised what happens.
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Sorry for the delayed reply. Just got back from his baseball game tonight and got the kids to bed.

I've only posted like 3 times since covid. You guys are amazing! Thank you so much for all the info.! I will dig into these spots/suggestions tomorrow and finalize a plan!

Redlite, I am speechless! That is such a gracious offer! Let me give those tackle shops a call in the AM to see if they still rent rods and also work on a final count for trip. If we can't find rentals I'll shoot you a PM. These kids will be mostly beginners so there could be a drop in the sand, etc., but they will receive proper instruction and they are good listeners and responsible. They are also very courteous and get along very well and so sharing rods should work if we are short. The group will be fishing during the day at an easy location so no one will need to get wet.

The trip is Memorial Day weekend. The troops (two from our town) are going over on the Friday afternoon ferry and coming back Monday afternoon, 5/24-5/27. Based on the last two On The Water migration reports I'd say the scouts will be smack dab in the middle of peak or darn close to it at The Block that weekend.

They will all learn a lot and have fun whether we catch fish or not, but it sure would be nice to catch a fish (req'd to get the badge). They can at least check all the other boxes for safety, knots/knowledge, etc. and complete the badge when they do catch a fish later in the season.

Albin, yes, I've heard of eel skins over wood but never tried it and I know the prep takes some work. If eels are the bait of choice then I'll bring some of those rigged black sluggos that Drumcorpfan taught us all to rig on MV in 05. Those are killer baits! (Thanks Leo, hope all is well!). I'm hoping the blues are thick and we can chunk mackeral or toss metal with success. We'll see :-)

Cheers,
K

https://www.onthewater.com/striper-m...map-may-3-2024

https://www.onthewater.com/striper-m...-april-19-2024

PS: This was a last minute decision for us and so the troop ferries were sold out for adding my truck but I got a ticket for Sat. morning and Tuesday afternoon. Planning to get on standby before the crack of dawn Friday if I'm not able to find a cancellation before hand. Wish us luck!

Tie a bunch of rigs ahead of time over whatever you're doing bring plenty of leader, be prepared not to fish yourself because all you will be doing is untangling other kids and their lines as well. I ran the fishing merit badge for my kids troop and while it was challenging it was still a lot of fun.

The times that I've taken children fishing on sandy shores, especially bait fishing...sand-spikes saved the day. Kept the gear off the sand, allowed the kids to technically fish (even when they weren't holding the rod) as the bait was still out there while the kids horsed around on the beach, after all they're still kids...but would still merit the badge
Sand spikes also allow a change of tackle, re-baiting, basically anything you need and you never have to place the rod/reel down...and if you have to share, you could treat it as you would on a tuna-charter. Set up 6 rods in sand-spikes...assign stations by time or by fish (ie: scout catches a fish, he's off rotation until all scouts have caught something, fishful thinking of course. :D .),. Just a thought -

Not sure how big the troop is, but pvc pipes cut at an angle should suffice for a quick fix sand spike, just be sure the diameter of the pvc is large enough for the but cap :cool: ....if you explain what it's for to HomeChepot or Lowes, they may gift it to you..

Teach them rig and knot tying while the bait is already soaking. Just get their bait out there ASAP to increase their catch odds...and don't just think Striper!! There are other fish around the Block at that time too, so gauge your gear & tackle accordingly...a fish is a fish ;)

The s**t chute comes to mind as an easy access spot...

But then again, i have taken some new guys to spots I thought were super safe, and had problems I didnt even consider, so you never know

Chute can be a great spot, but that might be tough with a bunch of kids.

You get washed off the end and you are in deep do do.

Hi,
If I remember correctly the Boy Scout camping area was always in the adjacent area to the New Harbor channel. If it still is you'll have two places (channel and Charlestown Beach) that are very convenient to fish, albeit you'll likely be sharing it with seals nowadays but that could also be interesting for the scouts. For gear you might want to contact BIMI (Block Island Maritime Institute) in New Harbor. They have youth education programs and may also have some gear they can loan you - google it or call (401) 500-3501. Good luck.
DZ

Wow Dennis, This is awesome! Thank you so much! Can't wait to read your book!

All you guys, I am choking up over here tonight with all the replies with so many great suggestions to help make the experience special for the scouts. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I will tell them all about striped-bass.com during the process and hopefully some of them will pick up surfcasting and join the site. I know I haven't always been around like a regular but over the last 20 years, whether I'm fishing hard for weeks in a row on once or twice a year, you guys are simply the best and make it all so much more fun! Thank you all!

Dennis, saw your note a few hours ago and called BIMI but they were closed for the day. Will try again in the morning. The other two tackle shops on are not open for the season yet. Will try mainland shops off I95 for rod rentals after I call BIMI again in the morning.

We are staying at the Sandsland Scout Reservation just east of the airport (map link below).

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sa...l38v?entry=ttu

BSA reservation is next to the airport.
And I don't think this has been mentioned but bring your tick repellent, Full Tick Protocol.

Update: Spoke to BIMI today. Although they do not open until mid June, Erin (VERY nice) is going to speak to her boss about allowing us to rent some rods on Memorial Day weekend. No guarantees, but fingers crossed.

Looking at fishing Charlestown Beach as DZ suggested. Gives us two locations and the high tide on Sat and Sunday is mid-morning which will allow us to fish the turn and the outgoing tide. Hopefully the Great Salt Pond will be spilling out some tasty treats as the outgoing tide picks up!

Dennis, your book arrived in the mail today. Can't wait to start reading. Loved your short youtube video on the 87 snowstorm blitz!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yq7trfIghQ

Tick repellent added to the list. Thanks John!

The scouts are getting pumped for this weekend. Erin came through with 6 surfcasting rods and sand spikes. They do not rent them but made an exception for the scouts as a gift! THANK YOU DZ!

The heat graph for the migration report on 5/17 looks like pretty much peak. Hopefully even better a week later on 5/24. Gonna see if I can head over to Champlin's Friday night and see if I can find some kids jigging squid and jig up a bucket to "match the hatch" and cook up some calamari!

https://www.onthewater.com/striper-m...rt-may-17-2024

Will be back with some pics, hopefully we are holding fish! Thanks again everyone one this thread who helped to us to pull this together! You guys are awesome!

Awesome! If you are able to get the kids to jig up squid they would have a ball. Word of extreme caution, make sure you bring some throwable life rings with you whenever you're going to be having kids near the water with moving currents or high docks.

Remember White Bucktail jigs are fantastic over there and easy for the kids to fish. Be sure to instruct them on the difference between a bath and a blue fish for obvious reasons. Have a ball!

Squiding w/a bunch of kids would be fun.

We had a great time on BI. Wanted to thank everyone that chimed in with all the great advice. You all helped to make this a very successful and memorable trip!

Shout out to John at Twin Maples. He not only told some great stories but helped confirm our choice of location. He also donated a spool of 12 lb test which we used to restring all the rods that BIMI/Erin allowed the scouts to use.

Squid were not in yet although we did get one off the dock at Champlins. Dylan did see a 2 footer in the underwater blue lights of large boat.

We caught mackerel in the opening to the great salt pond. First time for me catching them from shore. They were plentiful mid-tide in the rips.

Awesome,,,, sounds like a great trip, fishin is for the young

Fantastic, excited to hear that things went well! Willing to bet you would untangle a lot more lines than you ever thought you would.