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| 6 ARNOLD ROAD, COVENTRY, RHODE ISLAND 02816 |
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Angler's Profiles
by Hugh Markey
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| A series of articles introducing RISAA members to the rest of the club. |
| (From the March, 2002 Newsletter) ROBERT MOELLER |
It’s sunset on a warm Jamestown night in
June. A young boy and his dad stand side by side in knee deep
water. Like the conspiracies of many parent-child fishing teams,
this location is known to outsiders only as “the secret spot.”
The two are using bait in hopes of catching stripers, an experience
that would be a first for the youngster. Suddenly, something takes
the boy’s bait. Something much bigger than he expected.“William’s eyes were as big as quarters,” recalls RISSA member Bob Moeller about that night last season, the one he names as his most memorable. “He had never visualized catching 
something that big. He fought that fish for a long
time, and he just managed to get the fish to shore when the hook
fell right out of his mouth!” In spite of the close shave, William,
then eight, managed to land the fish, which turned out to be an
eleven pound first-time striper. For both father and son, it’s an
experience not soon forgotten. INVOLVED WITH RISAA
Now in his second year with RISAA, Bob Moeller
is an active member. His "real" job is as a real estate agent
with the East Greenwich office of DeWolfe Real Estate, but he devotes
much of his free time to RISAA. His first exposure to working with RISAA was when he would pitch in with preparing the newsletter for distribution. He has recently been elected Secretary of the Tournaments Committee, and is now a member of the new Tag and Release Committee as well. The latter was formed after contact from the American Littoral Society, and Bob brings personal experience to support the idea. Moeller tagged five fish along the Rhode Island shoreline last year. In an extremely unusual circumstance, Bob learned that one of the fish he had tagged had been recaptured – only one month later and swimming off New York! At the same time, Moeller acknowledges the tag and release idea may take a while to become a part of every fisherman’s habits. “A lot of guys aren’t comfortable with it," said Bob. "Keeping the thing out of the water - punching a hole in it - they’re concerned with fatality.” Nevertheless, he believes tagging is important to learning more about the habits of stripers, and he cites his own experience with the “New York bass” as proof that such concerns may be unfounded. As for the Tournaments Committee, Moeller has noted a significant increase in interest. “Certainly there has been more participation in the tournaments this year than last. The tournaments are being marketed a bit more to shore fishermen, and the general increase in fish has created a lot of excitement. Bob's attitude is, "if you’re going to keep it anyway, take it in and weigh it.” A FAMILY TRADITION
Fishing with family members, including William
and his 14-year-old daughter Abigail, has been a tradition
in Moeller’s life. Growing up in Nebraska, Bob remembers spending
many happy hours fishing for bullhead or carp with his own father.
“It was a great experience,” said Bob, “just being out there, seeing a smile on dad’s face, having a sandwich together.” Those boyhood memories remained in the back of his mind when he came to Rhode Island, and quickly grew interested in fishing salt water. SPECIAL BASS
In fact, some years back, Bob managed to convince
a girlfriend to come along on what he calls a “fishing-picnicking
trip” along the shores of Newport. Bob was in search of his first
striper. The two were sharing the “picnic part”of the evening when
Moeller noticed a spike in activity from the fishermen along the rocks.
He quickly grabbed his rod, rigged with a Silver Creek Chub popper,
and headed over to investigate. “It was dark, and the rocks were slippery,” Moeller says. "Not wanting to irritate, I tried to keep a respectable distance from the other guys. I remembered reading about the idea of working around the outside edge of a school and started casting there. Sure enough, the thing took a big run. It took my line out a long way.” Part way through the struggle, Bob fell victim to every fisherman’s nightmare: the bird’s nest. He managed to crank himself some slack and untangle the mess. The fish was still on, and when he finally got it to the rocks, Moeller found he had landed a thirty-six inch striper. “The other guys came over to look at it. It was the largest one of the night. I still get the same feeling every time I catch one.” Mary Beth, the girlfriend on the beach, apparently shared in the admiration of the other fisherman. Whether there might have been a bit of jealousy mixed in with that same admiration is something that you still might ask her. She married Bob, and since then the two have shared many “fishing-picnicking" trips together! |
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ANGLER PROFILES
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