Block Island’s North Rip surges and churns today off Rhode Island just as it has for millennia. Swells from the Atlantic scrum with the tides of Block Island Sound, battling along a mile-long sandbar that eventually drops away into 120-foot depths.
For surf casters, this is hallowed ground. Where the bar rises to meet land at Sandy Point, a washing machine of whitewater creates the perfect hunting ground. Bass, bluefish, false albacore and bonito patrol the drop-offs, preying on baitfish disoriented by this upwelling of currents. Heave a big popper or tin into these waters, or double-haul a Clouser, then hang on. Except now, it is unfishable.
Sure, you can still make the long walk over cobble and sand, past the stately granite North Lighthouse, and stare in awe at the foamy
