Worst Fishing Article of all Time

This month's issue (March) of New England Game and Fish has article about the "Best March Fishing in the New England States" There is a little write up about each state. It is suggested in New Hampshire to ice fish Lake Winni. Vermont has Champlain and Mass the Deerfield River.

Well, well, well, the writer wrote that the best March fishing in Rhode Island (page 24) is (drumroll, please)

Striper Fishing from Watch Hill and Misquamicut Beach

That's right in Rhode Island, the author Steven Carpenteri, says the best March fishing is from the  beach and lighthouse for striped bass. This three paragraph write up had misinformation and lies in almost every single sentence. First off, there aren't stripers along the oceanfront in March. Secondly, no one is fishing for them. When guys do fish for fresh stripers it is at the West Wall and some backwaters. I assure you, if you go striper fishing in March at Watch Hill, you will have the place to yourself AND you won't catch stripers.

The article goes on to read that fisherman should concentrate on fishing mornings and evenings because of sunbathers, tourists, and non-fishermen being in the way. In March? Have you ever gone to any beach in March no matter how nice the weather and had to contend with so many sunbathers that it was uncomfortable to walk never mind fish? Correct me if I am wrong, but sunbathers are not a problem in March at Rhode Island beaches.

The article goes on to explain that most of the fish will be schoolies but persistent fishermen should hook into bigger fish. First off, there aren't any fish there. Secondly, the first fish to show which happens in April are tiny. Most are under fifteen inches. A good one is twenty inches. To think you are going to hook into keeper stripers is a delusion of grandeur. There are some holdover fish in the backwaters that are above keeper size. If the article said that, I'd be okay with it, but they did not.

I have never seen such an untrue article in my life. I wrote the editors of New England Game and Fish a three page letter detailing all of the faults in the article. I signed my name and gave them my email address. I told them I stand by everything I wrote. I also gave them the names of five Rhode Island tackle shops. If they want to fact check all they have to do is call anyone of them and ask about the " terrific March striper fishing in  Rhode Island". I told them it was so bad they owed their readers an apology in the next issue. I don't know if it will do any good, but I feel better knowing I sent it.