Here's how to cook those stripers you caught

Striped bass fishing is hot. Anglers are catching keepers (28 inches to less than 31 inches) in our bays, estuaries, salt ponds, and out in front from Watch Hill to the Sakonnet River. Block Island is starting to light up, too.

Anglers are catching them with swimming and surface lures of all types, Atlantic menhaden chunks or live-lining them, trolling tube-and-worm or umbrella rigs, and the craze this year, flutter spoons that drop through the water column to the bottom much like an injured fish.

So, with all this catching going on, here is a recipe for grilling striped bass from the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association Cooking Your Catch columnist Paula Smalec. She modified the original recipe, which was from New England Open-House Cookbook: 300 Recipes Inspired by the Bounty of New England by Sarah Leah Chase."I recommend cutting the fillet into smaller portions based on its thickness," Smalec said. "Allow the thickerportions to cook for a bit longer than the thinner ones."

Ingredients:

⅓ cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 plump shallot, peeled and finely minced

4 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for oiling the grill grate

1 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh tarragon

4 fresh striped bass fillet portions (6-8 ounces each)

salt and freshly ground black pepper, lemon wedges, for serving

Instructions:

Combine the white wine, lemon juice, and shallot in a small nonreactive bowl. Let stand until the shallot softens, about 10 minutes. Whisk in the olive oil, parsley and tarragon. Place the fish fillets into a Ziplock bag and pour the marinade over them. Seal the bag and allow the marinade to cover as much of the fish as possible for 30-45 minutes.

Preheat your grill to medium high. When you are ready to cook, oil the grill grate. Remove the fillets from the marinade and place them flesh-side down on the grate. Grill the fillets until cooked through in the center (they will flake easily when tested with a fork), 3 to 4 minutes per side, turning them once.

Season the fish at the table with salt, pepper and freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Striped bass and bluefish. "Everyone is catching striped bass. Fishing is hot in the East Passage in Bristol, Barrington and all the way up the Providence River. Customers are still catching monster bluefish with larger bass being caught off Newport out in front," said Tom Giddings of the Tackle Box in Warwick. Last week, we caught keeper bass (28 inches to less than 31 inches) and large bluefish north of Conimicut Point using light tackle with tube-and-worm with Bob Donald of North Kingstown catching bass to 33 inches. Mike Swain of Coventry, a large bass fishing expert, said: "We caught our largest bass of the season this weekend live-lining a pogie in the upper reaches of the Providence River. The striped bass was 30 pounds." "East End" Eddie Doherty, a Cape Cod Canal fishing expert and author reported: "The action had come to a screeching halt on the Canal until Tuesday morning when the breaking tide brought a good-size school of striped bass in from Buzzards Bay. … High hook goes to "Paulie the Painter" Gravina of Sandwich, who was throwing his Hog Island Canal Pencil that fooled an energetic striper weighing 31 pounds." Declan O’Donnell of Breachway Bait & Tackle in Charlestown reported: "The bass bite out in front and around the island and up in the Bay has been great this past week, with some aggressive surface feeding going on at times. The bass are chasing sand eels, bunker and squid. There has also been good action for bass back in the salt ponds and there have been a few small hatches this week. Bass in the salt ponds have been finicky but customers are still able to get some by switching to smaller profile baits or throwing eels in the evening. There are still some big bluefish around, especially around Point Judith and the Breachways."

Scup, black sea bass and summer flounder. "Fluke fishing is hit or miss but picking up," O'Donnell said. "Some anglers are doing very well and others still struggling to find the fish. The best reports for fluke seem to be coming from 40-plus feet of water. Scup are starting to show up in better numbers and there were reports of a few black sea bass caught last week." Neil Hayes of Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle in North Kingstown said: "Anglers are starting to catch scup, keeper black sea bass and the fluke bite continues to improve both in the Bay, particularly around the bridges, in front of Wickford and off our coastal shores." Giddings said: "The scup and sea robin bite has been good at Conimicut Point, Rocky Point and in Greenwich Bay with commercial fisherman saying they are catching fluke in the Bay."

Freshwater fishing remains strong for both largemouth bass and trout in ponds that have been stocked. "Customers are catching great largemouth using shiners but are now using drop shot with success," Giddings reported. "The water is still not real warm, so the trout are still biting, too."

Dave Monti holds a captain's master license and charter fishing license. He serves on a variety of boards and commissions and has a consulting business that focuses on clean oceans, habitat preservation, conservation, renewable energy and fisheries-related issues and clients. Forward fishing news and photos to [email protected] or visit www.noflukefishing.com.