Extreme Rhody Fishing

If you recognize the guy in the photo above, it's probably because you've seen him say "WHAT'S UP YOUTUBE!" at least a time or two. Leo Sheng is currently a full time fishing youtuber. More than that, he is a life-listing, multispecies fishing youtuber. That is his job right now. That's how he keeps the lights on and the refrigerator stocked. He has been putting out quality content on his channel, Extreme Philly Fishing, for long enough to build quite the following, especially considering the type of fishing he is doing. Multispecies and life-list fishing, though it is growing, isn't the largest demographic. But within that group, Leo is a recognizable figure and an important voice. So how did Noah and I end up on a cliff in Rhode Island, looking out over a piece of water we though might hold some interesting saltwater species even in the dead of winter, with Leo Sheng talking to his audience about the fish we were there to seek via GoPro next to us?

That's a long story. 

Suffice to say, Noah and I had both been watching Leo's videos for years, somehow or another he found some of my social media stuff, and eventually we were messaging each other on a pretty regular basis. Ultimately, Leo, Noah and I fish for pretty much the same reasons. This text, ripped right from the Extreme Philly Fishing channel description, says it all: "Ultimately, this Channel is all about pursuing and collecting DIFFERENT SPECIES OF FISH! Recall, folks: every fish is unique, and every Species has its own role in nature! There is no such thing as 'trash fish.'"

We were going to get along just fine.
Leo wanted to do something unusual and mysterious this winter, and Noah an I had just the thing. The shoreline of CT and RI historically has had many winter fisheries. From whiting and tomcod to cod and pollack, there were productive fisheries in the surf and inshore zones of our states. Human activity has taken its toll though, and these fisheries are basically non existent now. Whiting, or more accurately hake, are almost completely gone from our shores. Beaches where whiting would wash up in such large numbers that locals would only need to walk the shoreline with a basket to get enough for dinner now appear totally lifeless. Bridges that were once tomcod hot spots may not see a single angler all winter. The beaches where surfcasters once sat by a fire at night, watching for rods with salted clams to bend under the weight of a cod, may see dog walkers and surfers in the winter, but rarely a fisherman. We only have ourselves to blame for this. Humans lead to the decline of these fisheries, and humans are now the ones forgetting they were there at all instead of demanding we get what was taken from us by the draggers, long liners, and polluters back.
But there are still whispering of some of these fish being around. Every once in a while some brave soul searching for their last beach front striper of the season will catch a cod, or some tomcod will show up in a net somewhere. They can't  all be gone. So, while other saltwater fisherman were either at home lamenting the fact that there is nothing to catch out on the beach or sucking it up and paying for a trip on a cod boat, Leo, Noah and I ventured to the space between to see if we couldn't find some sort of fish in the cold January surf.

We chose to start in Jamestown Rhode Island. In the winter most fish push into deep water, and the cliffs of Jamestown would give us access to that, with holes as deep as 164 feet deep not far off the shoreline. Diving videos Noah found showed abundances of sculpins, most likely shorthorn sculpins.  These are cold water species. Lumpfish, little sculpin, and rock gunnels are also possible wintertime visitors to these waters. The cliffs make for a dramatic landscape and good fishing at times, but are also dangerous. People have lost their lives fishing in this area. Caution is mandatory.

Visually the place looked desolate, though a few species of diving ducks and a lobster boat working pot to pot told us there was life. Putting bait in the water hammered that point home. Our offerings were getting messed with, almost certainly mostly by crabs, but there were some incidences that had us wondering. We can say with near certainty our bit never got in front of a sculpin, for they are not shy, and being like saltwater frogs (a big mouth and stomach with appendages) they would have taken our baits with little hesitation and a lot of rod tip fanfare.

After a few hours we decided it was time to move. After a stop for salted clams we were soon walking out onto the West Wall. I'd been out here on colder days, in fact the latest I'd ever caught a little tunny was on the wall on November 7th, 2017, and that was a much colder, windier day. But I'd never been in January. Rumors of cod brought us here. One of the historically productive cod beeches, Matunuck, was just down the road, and every now and then a cod does get caught still from this mile long strip of rock. Funny enough, we weren't the only nut cases out there, just on the other side of the inlet another fisherman was leaving as we arrived. We fished out there on the long wall until sunset, and it wasn't without its brief moments of excitement. Noah and I both had definite takes, he on the salted clams, me on the fly. It was a little disorienting, being out there in that famous tunny and bonito spot, fishing my 10wt with a fast sinking line, and getting multiple blatant takes an one brief hookup on a half and half. What it was I will never know. Another mystery fish.

We skunked there, but I left feeling excited that we had clearly found some sort of fish out there. These winter fisheries are mostly gone, but not completely. Every now and then a pollack swims into casting range or some tomcod venture up a creek. I would like to be there to meet them.
But if they were coming in the next two days we'd be fishing with Leo, we weren't going to be in the right place. The weather really threw us a curve ball.
Until next time.

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, an Leo for supporting this blog on Patreon.