From all indications, fishing effort was incredibly high over Columbus Day weekend, which is not surprising with the summer-like weather we experienced. The best reports came not from Rhode Island or Connecticut, but from New York. Montauk’s legendary fall blitzes are in full swing and hordes of anglers from far and wide have been cashing in.
The saltwater news in our own backyard hasn’t been as noteworthy, but there are still plenty of things to stay positive about. All of Narragansett Bay is chockfull of pogies and bluefish. Pods of false albacore continue to pop up sporadically from Newport to Watch Hill. And the blackfish bite is red hot in Long Island Sound.
In freshwater, quite a few lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams have received their fall trout stockings. And walleye fishing is picking up in certain Connecticut bodies of water, as they move into the shallows.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island striped bass fishing seems to be feast or famine compared to the last few weeks. The top three results from the Hab’s Memorial Striped Bass Tournament last weekend were impressive: Dave Anderson took home top honors with 35-pounds, 6-ounces, Mike Veracka finished second with 32-pounds, 1-ounce, and Bob Melody rounded out the pack with 31-pounds, 14-ounces. However, quite a few participants, especially those along in South County, experienced poor results under a bright moon and unseasonably warm temperatures.
Peter at Saltwater Edge said fishermen throwing live eels at night from Sakonnet Point to Westport are having good luck finding our striped friends. Also, OTW contributor David Pickering found an abundance of schoolie bass keyed in on bay anchovies along the Narragansett shoreline this week. He said the answer for the finicky fish was to go with very small offerings. Perhaps more seasonable weather will improve the fishing for this weekend’s surf-club challenge to support the MS Society. Surfcasting clubs from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut will battle it out from 6 PM Friday to 8 AM Sunday inside borders of Napatree Point and the Narrow River. The winning club will be decided by the combination of the three heaviest bass and three heaviest bluefish.
Healthy amounts of blackfish are being found amongst Rhody rock piles, although the keeper to throwback ratio remains low. According to Jack at Quaker Lane Outfitters, some anglers are catching up to 50 fish per outing with only a few keepers to show. The largest one weighed in at his shop so far has been around the six-pound mark, but Jack believes as the water continues to cool, the bigger fish will come. If you’re after tog this weekend, he suggested testing the waters with green crabs around Whale Rock in Narragansett Bay, Beavertail, and Deep Hole.
The local baitfish situation has been positive overall. Narragansett Bay is absolutely loaded with pogies. In fact, at least 82 different schools were spotted during recent RI DEM flyovers. However, Jack said for the most part just mini bluefish have been harassing them.
Mike from Watch Hill Outfitters informed me that the scup fishing is ridiculously good all over the place right now. He and a friend went out on Wednesday morning near Napatree Point and slammed some good-sized ones with clams on high/low rigs and five-ounces of lead to hold bottom.
Dave at River & Riptide Angler visited Watch Hill Reef on Sunday and said it looked like the area had Red Tide because of the thick plumes of bay anchovies. He said a mixed bag of false albacore, bluefish and keeper bass were picking off the baitfish, yet weren’t easy to fool. Dave also added for freshwater anglers, that the Wood River has been heavily stocked with trout and is fishing well. He gave it a quick dipstick this week and banged out four rainbows on a caddis pupa pattern in 40 minutes. The flows are good for wading at the moment.
Block Island
Even Block Island has suffered a slight downturn in striped bass action recently. John of Twin Maples told me fewer anglers are reporting, but the information that is coming in hasn’t been overwhelmingly positive. He said the best striper reports are coming from the east side of the Island by boaters drifting live eels and surfcasters tossing needlefish plugs at night and spook-style lures during low-light, especially Wave Jammers by Lemire Plug Works. The best news around Block Island this week has been the black sea bass bite off Clay Head, where 20 to 30 boats had worked the area each day last weekend.
Connecticut
The Montauk blitzes have been so epic lately that many boats leaving Connecticut ports are doing B-lines right for New York waters. Jack from The Fish Connection said it’s the best he’s seen it in over 25 years with literally miles of fish busting bay anchovies on the surface. He brought clients there Monday morning at 7:45 AM and they limited out with keeper bass by 8:30 AM. Then they went around the corner to the south side and found false albacore. Later that afternoon, Jack brought out another batch of clients who landed bass up to 45-inches on small epoxy anchovy fly patterns. The predominant bait around Montauk are bay anchovies and many non-fly anglers are adding teasers above their plugs or metal lures to better match the hatch.
Eastern Long Island Sound has been stacked with bluefish all hours of the day recently, and some folks are squeezing out nice bass at night. Bob from Hillyers saw a 15-pound gator blue tip their scales this week and noted that areas like Harkness, the Race, the Sluiceway, and Plum Gut are all loaded with big toothy critters. Evan at J&B Tackle said the night bite at the Race has been consistent during both tides for those three-waying bucktails with pork rinds and added that drifting live eels is the ticket when the tides are in their weaker stages. Q at River’s End had the best striper news of the week with a 53-pound bass weighed-in by a 78-year-old angler who was slow-trolling a live eel along the Old Saybrook shoreline when the beast hit. Q also added that three-waying eels on Long Sand Shoal has been a good tactic for bass this week during morning and evening shifts.
Overall, the most impressive reports coming from Long Island Sound as of late have been for early season tautog. Andrew from Fishing Factory III told me he sold nearly 600-dozen green crabs over the weekend to eager tog anglers. The biggest entry in their blackfish tournament with River’s End is an 11.05-porker weighed in this past weekend from the Clinton area by Pete Hawley. Andrew added that while eastern Sound has good action, most of the larger specimens have been coming from waters west of the Connecticut River. He suggested trying some Andrus blackfish jigs tipped with a half or whole green crab in rocky areas such as breakwalls or jetties. Instead of actually jigging the jig, just drop it down to the bottom and hold steady until you feel a tap.
Nick from Fisherman’s World said the porgy action has been excellent in the western Sound on any given rock pile and the average size just keeps getting bigger. He added that diamond jigging the markers 11B and 28C are producing some hefty bluefish and the occasional striper and that a few pods of false albacore are still popping up here and there in 25-feet of water around Middle Passage.
In the freshwater scene, John at Valley Angler told me that the walleye in Squantz Pond are once again entering the shallows. Shore fishermen are finding success by using crank baits and live alewives or shiners, or by dragging night crawlers across the bottom. He also added that a surprise 42-inch northern pike was caught on Candlewood Lake this week by a bass fisherman throwing plastic worms. The actual bass bite has been rather tough, but should get better as they start moving onto their coldwater humps in the foreseeable future.
Best Bets
Montauk is officially on fire. The crowds are easier to handle on weekdays, but the blitzes have been so crazy that it warrants a little combat fishing if the weekends are your only shot. Small teasers or flies will best match the predominant bait, bay anchovies. Another worthy option is to hang around the bunker schools in Narragansett Bay. There are plenty reports of bluefish terrorizing them, but one could venture to guess that striped bass are lurking underneath or nearby. Try live-lining or chunking the pogy-infested waters after dark. Tog fishing in Long Island Sound is nothing to sneeze at right now. It’s still early in the season so that means shallow water. Grab a bucket of green crabs and try soaking them along a breakwall near you.