Tuna Fishing Rhode Island

Every September, as the weather starts to cool, the Phenom team makes the journey north for the Newport Boat Show. While we all love working the show and enjoying the food and scenery around Newport, this year, we were determined to get out and do some fishing. We have a fantastic Phenom 37 customer who lives locally, and he promised to show us what the fishing grounds had to offer.

Immediately following the boat show, we headed towards Point Judith and went straight to the fuel dock. After fueling up and icing down our customer’s Phenom 37 and our factory demo 37, we loaded the boats with gear and prepped for an early morning departure.

We pushed off the dock around 3 a.m. under a full moon, greeted by a disorganized sea state. The forecast called for 3-5 ft waves at around 7 seconds with a 10-15 mph east wind. We plotted our course south of Block Island towards the shipping lanes and began the 70+ mile run. The Phenom 37s handled the swell effortlessly, cruising at 30-35 mph. The goal for the day was to catch some tuna and hopefully a few dolphin/mahi along the way.

Upon reaching the fishing grounds, we deployed a spread consisting of Chatter Lures squid bars and Joe Shute/Ronz lure combos, planning to troll south in search of warmer water fingers sticking off the Gulf Stream. After several hours of trolling, we were still searching for our first bite. Thick, scattered sea grass made it challenging to keep the baits clean.

Joining us was Wess Merten from the Dolphinfish Research Foundation, who was hoping to tag some dolphin/mahi throughout the day. We decided to switch gears and check some of the longline buoys for any sign of life. It didn’t take long before the first dolphin/mahi started coming over the gunwales. Although most were small, Wess managed to tag several with traditional tags.

We decided to deploy additional squid teasers from the outriggers and ran a naked split-bill ballyhoo right up the middle on the flat line in the prop wash. It didn’t take long before the flat line rod started screaming. After a hard fight, a 50-pound yellowfin tuna made its way into the cockpit. Yellowfins are rare in South Carolina, so this was a nice treat. Unfortunately, it was the only tuna bite of the day, so we headed back inshore towards the Gully, where the bluefin tuna bite had been hot in recent days.

The Phenom 37s opened up on the ride back inshore, cruising at 40-45 mph. Upon arriving at the Gully, we were greeted by numerous other boats and humpback whales. Although bluefin bites are typically best in the early morning or at dusk, we circled around, trying to mark fish on the sounder. Several times we stopped and dropped jigs with no luck. Even though the fishing was slow, the whales put on a show that made the stop well worth it. After about an hour without a bite and a fog bank looming on the horizon, we decided to head home while visibility was still good.

Back at the dock, the two crews made quick work of cleaning the boats. Everyone was excited to enjoy fresh yellowfin sashimi. We all headed back to our customer’s house, where we were greeted with a home-cooked meal fit for royalty. We sat around the table, shared stories from the day, and dined on fresh sashimi, shrimp eggrolls, and clam linguine. This experience truly showcased the hospitality of the Northeast and the friendships we’ve built with our customers along the way.

Bringing fish back from trips usually presents a problem because of flying, but not this time. We packed the leftover fish into the fish box of our demo Phenom 37. When the boat arrived back at our facility in South Carolina days later, the ice was still solid, and the fish was fresh and ready to enjoy. Next year will be even more exciting as we’ll do it all over again on our new Phenom 43 model.