The ultimate Block Island trip for the troops auction

[Big Water]

Back in "85" I had read so much about Block that I decided to spend 4 days on the Island unseen, sleeping in my truck. I stopped in at Cove Edge Tackle on the way to the ferry. I told the shop owner Henry Hetu where I was headed and he asked me to give him a ride to the ferry. When we got off the boat Henry took me for a tour of the Island, all the top spots. He then took me back to the cottage he and a bunch of guys from Rhody were renting. Capt. Don, Tom Behan, Frank, Bill, they were all there. I will never forget Capt. Don (who I later found out was a chef) was cooking fresh tuna steaks. They invited me in and I ate and fished with them for the 4 days I was there. The first night we fished Ballards Beach. Tom had taken a 58 1/2 and 56 1/2 years prior so it was a special place for him. I was fishing next to Tom and Capt. Don. We were all throwing black needlefish. All of a sudden Tom gets a hit in close and breaks off immediately. It sounded like a gun going off. He yells "Dam, Big fish!" Next thing I know Capt. Don's drag is screaming. It seems like this fish would run forever. I am next in line and up on my toes waiting for my turn. It never came, Dons fish was an even 40 pounds. The next night they all wanted to go to Black Rock. After the night before I wanted to go back to Ballards. Henry said he would go with me. The other guys said they would try Black Rock for a while and then if there was nothing they would come back to Ballards. They never came back!
They said when they got down the bluffs it was still light and they could see all these big bass tails sticking out of the water. They were grubbing for sand eels.They threw everything at them, but it didn't turn on until it got dark, then all hell broke loose. There was one big rock out in front of them and the bigger fish kept taking them around it and breaking them off. Frank landed the biggest fish at 38 pounds. A storm blew in the next couple of days and I only ended up catching one small schoolie that trip, but I was hooked. I took their offer to come back, and I fished with those guys at Block for the next ten year until we all took a break from the Island and fished the mainland. Most of those guys are gone now, and I feel very fortunate to have fished with them! Gary