The month that many consider the optimal time of year for striped bass fishing is upon us. The moon phase that striper anglers look forward to most is in our midst. Those two factors alone should motivate several of you to wet a line this weekend. Perhaps the following report will encourage the rest. A smorgasbord of bait in Narragansett Bay is providing anglers with great striper and blue opportunities. Reefs off Rhode Island and Connecticut are heating up with bigger fish on their way. Fluke action is steadily improving in the area, including some doormats that could be mistaken for halibut. Not to be outdone, recent freshwater news consists of monster walleye and trout, plus epic stream hatches.
Rhode Island
The Bay is loaded with an all-you-can-eat buffet of bay anchovies, squid, herring, menhaden, and clam worms. The striper fishing has been so good that Captain Jack of Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle said if he didn’t catch another bass all year he’d still have one of his best seasons to date. Jack suggests carrying a mixed bag of offerings due to the different types of feasts one can encounter in the Bay right now. To cover all the bases, he said to bring poppers, spook-style lures, lipped-divers like Rapala X-raps, soft-plastics from 4 to 9-inches like RonZs and Slug-Gos, paddle tails like Cocahoe Minnows and Storm Shads, as well as snagging hooks in case pogies are showing. The Bay has also been invaded by large bluefish, which can be a pain for those targeting bass with live bait. If you are having trouble locating stripers, Jack recommended switching tactics to freestyle vertical jigging for blues. He noted that they serve as a good opportunity to learn how to butterfly jig. Jack’s been having great success lately with 3-ounce Pt. Jude Deep Force Jig and the new Shimano Shallow Water Jigs, especially the “Slidend” models. Out front, Rudy from Saltwater Edge told me about finicky bass keying in on swarms of small bait along beaches in the Newport area. He also said that fly and light-tackle spin anglers have the upper hand on this sometimes-frustrating action. Flies like sparse Clousers or teasers such as Red Gills are good matches for the small sand eels and silversides. Rudy suggested having topwater offerings on hand in case you spot birds working over bait.
Mike at Watch Hill Outfitters reported consistent striper action on Watch Hill Reef, with keeper bass up to 36-inches falling to sand eel imitations at the beginning of the incoming tide. Chris at Block Island Fish Works is experiencing good bass action around the southwestern part of the Island in low-light conditions and recent fog has kept the going longer into the day. He said there hasn’t been anything huge reported just yet, but a lot of stripers in the high-teens to low 20-pound park taken throughout the water column on Slug-Gos and RonZs on jig heads.
The fluke fishing along Rhode Island beaches has been great in terms of numbers, but finding consistent keeper-sized fish remains tricky. Captain Steve at Breachway Bait and Tackle ventured out in the fog on Saturday and boated 30 fluke in 3 hours despite a lackluster tide. However, not one of his fluke were legal size. Steve was using a ThomCat jig in pink and white with a squid strip in about 50 feet of water. Not everyone is having trouble finding big flatfish though. Steve informed me of a monster 15.1-pound doormat weighed in at Snug Harbor Marina by commercial rod and reel angler Joe Filipkowski, reportedly from about 30 feet of water in the vicinity of Green Hill.
In the freshwater scene, Dave at River and Riptide spoke highly about the best hatches on the Wood River that he’s ever seen. He joked that the clouds of March Brown and Light Cahill egg-laying spinners have been so thick lately that you can’t see through them. Recent stockings have the Wood River teeming with trout. Dave said the fishing is so good that he’s going to the Cape Cod Canal on Friday morning and shooting home to hit the trout stream in the evening.
Connecticut
The major tidal rivers are still holding plenty of striped bass and even bluefish, yet better action seems to materializing outside the rivers and on the reefs. Jack at the Fish Connection said the Thames River is still fishing OK, although the numbers of bass there are down from just a few weeks ago. Small keeper bass and 4 to 12-pound bluefish can be found scattered throughout the river and pods of bunker are still being spotted between Norwich and Montville. Jack is hearing better news outside the Thames and on classic reefs and structure spots such as Bartlett, Plum Gut, Sluiceway, and the Race. Diamond jigs from 12 to 16-ounces for heavy current have been producing some decent fish, as well as three-waying bucktails and trolling parchutes on wire. Blaine at Connecticut Outfitters said it has been a fairly depressing season so far overall on the Connecticut River. Muddy conditions are the latest cause of frustration, stemming from recent heavy rains in Vermont. Along with the chocolate milk-colored water, he noted that the river is about 7 feet higher than average for this time of year in the Wethersfield stretch. He did point out that the river mouth is fishing better than upstream, yet still not great and added it’s not worth going unless you have an outgoing tide. Due to the weak river action, Blaine has started hitting the reefs around Niantic a week earlier than usual, which have a little ways to go before they are ‘lock and load’. On a charter this week, Blaine spent 3 hours trying to catch enough scup to make a worthwhile reef run, only to have 4 baits mauled by bass with none coming over the rail. Pat from River’s End said while there are some nice-sized bass roaming the Connecticut River mouth, it’s been a constant hunt for picky fish. Pat echoed that the ebb tide is strongly preferred and recommended fishing rigged Slug-Gos across the surface.
Cappy at Captain Morgan Bait and Tackle reported a red-hot weekend striper fishing in the mid-Sound area, particularly along Southwest Reef, Six Mile Reef, Cinder Bottom south of Faulkner’s Island, and the Branford Beacon for those drifting eels and bucktails or chunking fresh bunker. In the western Sound, Nick rattled off buoys 11C, 28B and the obstruction buoy as good places to look for striper action, as well as 60 feet of water south of the Norwalk Islands, where anglers imitating sand eels with Deadly Dicks are scoring bass near the surface. Nick also mentioned that Norwalk Harbor has some bunker, so chunking, live-lining, and trolling bunker spoons in the area can be productive. He had customer Frank Pellicone weigh in a 37.5-pound bass taken on bunker this week.
For fluking in Long Island Sound, Matt at Hillyers said it has been good when anglers have been able to get out. Overall, Matt said weather conditions have been tough recently, especially wind and fog, which are cutting in on angling effort. That being said, there are fluke to be had and Matt suggested 40 to 60 feet of water as a good starting point. He had customer Rich Williams weigh in a 31-inch, 10.75-pound doormat this week, as well as Jim Birtles who brought in a 27-inch, 8.3-pounder on a foggy Wednesday morning from Sara’s Ledge.
In freshwater, the insane walleye bite this spring in Connecticut continues, yet this time a monster came from Candlewood Lake, not Squantz Pond. John from Valley Angler reported than an angler was pleasantly surprised with a 12-pound walleye taken on a spinner bait at night recently. John also noted that the smallmouth and largemouth bass fishing on Candlewood is also good at the moment, with many nice fish being caught in 8 to 10-feet of water using the drop-shot method with a 1/4-ounce weight and a Jackall Eye Shad. As for trophy trout, I know firsthand that the Saugatuck Reservoir isn’t an easy place to land a wall-hanger, but you’d think differently after hearing what Chris at Stratford Bait and Tackle had to say. In the last couple of weeks, customers Steve Dunn landed 4 trout over the 6-pound mark and Jono Braos caught 3 over 8-pounds while casting and retrieving 5/8-ounce Krocodiles in silver, metallic perch, and lightning shad patterns. You can only fish from the western shoreline at the Saugatuck Reservoir and Chris sells the necessary daily or seasonal permits at his shop.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Between the June new moon, strong tides and favorable weather, all signs are pointing to a good weekend of striped bass fishing. Try cashing in on the cornucopia of bait in Narragansett Bay or head out to Block Island to intercept bass that are arriving daily. Boaters can take advantage of encouraging tides on the reefs in Connecticut and Rhode Island with diamond jigs, bucktails, as well as drifting bait like scup or eels. If you haven’t given up on the Connecticut River mouth just yet, focus on the ebb tide with 9-inch Slug-Gos. The fluke bite in both states is starting to pick up steam too. You may have to weed through a lot of shorts to secure your limit, but chances are you’ll encounter a lot of action. Try bucktail jigs with squid strips in proven areas in anywhere from 30 to 60 feet of water.
did you know some people fish from shore?
Yea! Where are the bass hot from shore??