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Angler's Profiles
by Mike Lanni
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| A series of articles introducing RISAA members to the rest of the club. |
| (From the January, 1999 Newsletter) ROBERT HEALY |
It's been said that "it takes all kinds of people to make a world."
With this in mind, we all tend to place people into different categories
based upon our personal observations about them. Well, anyone who has
had the pleasure of knowing Bob Healy would surely have to place him in the
"nice guy" category, and you don't have to spend a whole lot of time with
this guy in order to make such a determination. Bob is the kind of
guy who wins you over quickly with his warm smile and friendly disposition.Not long ago, Bob walked into Quaker Lane Bait & Tackle and noticed a stack of RISAA newsletters. After skimming through one for a few minutes, he was immediately impressed with our club's organized efforts on environmental and legislative issues, so he filled out a membership application that day. From what I can see, both our organization and Bob are equally benefiting from his membership. Since becoming a RISAA member, Bob has become involved in just about every activity that the club has promoted. His perfect attendance at monthly meetings, Fisheries Council (RIMFC) meetings and DEM public hearings indicate that Bob is serious about making an impact on how our state manages its fisheries. In addition to the time he puts in for us, he also devotes a lot of time to another club, the Jamestown Striper Association. After retiring from the Pawtucket Housing Authority in 1983, Bob has had a lot of time on his hands, and evidently has used his time quite productively. Of course, when you're retired, there is also a lot of time for doing what we all love most - fishing! Bob gets out on the water at least a couple of times each week in his 16 foot runabout, fishing the many productive spots around the island of Jamestown. Some of his favorite spots are Beavertail, Brenton Reef, Kettlebottom Rock and the Newport Bridge for bass, blues and tautog. Hull Cove and Mackeral Cove are favorite fluke locations. Bob has boated stripers to 32 lbs, blues into the mid-teens and blackfish to 9-1/2 lbs, and also does a limited about of angling from Jamestown's ragged shoreline. Being retired, living in Jamestown with a boat slipped at Fourt Weatherill Marina - sounds tough to take, dosen't it! I asked Bob if he'd been fishing with any of our club's members and he mentioned Dave Fewster. Knowing Dave, I was immediately prepared for the wacky story that proceeded to unfold. It seems that on a recent fishing trip, Dave unveiled a new method of "limiting out" on tautog. Fishing had been real slow that day, and Bob and Dave had returned to the ramp with only 3 fish in the boat. At that time, they noticed that some guys who had just hauled out ahead of them were releasing a number of nice sized tautog back into the water. They must have been informed that they had exceeded the bag limits, and didn't want to take a chance with the DEM. So here were these semi-conscious fish flopping about in shallow water, and Dave "No Shame" Fewster starts picking them up with his bare hands! Now Bob knows how embarassing it can be to fish with Dave! As mentioned previously, Bob lives on the beautiful island of Jamestown, having established residency there about 13 years ago with his wife, Barbara. He has a son, Bob Jr, and a daughter, Colleen. From time to time you may see him swinging golf clubs at the Jamestown Country Club, but his true passion is fishing. He told me that he sometimes has a tough time finding people to fish with, especially during weekdays, so some of you guys and gals that don't have boats might want to "hook up" with this friendly guy when you get the chance. I'm sure you would enjoy his company, and I'm sure you would also learn a thing or two about fishing the many productive fishing holes in and around Jamestown. |
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ANGLER PROFILES
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