The true fall weather is starting to settle in and along with it are the signs of another good fall run in northeast waters. Bait of all sizes can be seen across the region and while the false albacore haven’t arrived in full force they are beginning to poke their shiny heads through our door. The abundance of bait has large stripers and bluefish actively feeding inshore and it looks like its go time for the fall run any day now.

Rhode Island Fishing Report

The word across most of Rhode Island and Connecticut is that the striped bass fishing has once again started to take off after a bit of a prolonged August doldrum. Newport has seen a number of large stripers come from the local reefs this week, according to reports from The Saltwater Edge in Middletown. Similar to Newport, the bass fishing around Block Island has hit an upswing this week, with consistent reports of 30-40 lb class fish coming in from the island’s southeast side. Anglers drifting eels and bucktails in the deeper water off Old Harbor Point took the majority of the larger fish. False albacore reports around Newport have been scarce but large schools of bay anchovies have been prevalent, which equals a recipe for success in the upcoming weeks. Scup fishing remains very good in the area and tautog fishing has picked up with a number of larger tog being reported this week. In offshore waters, the longfin tuna bite that has been so strong all season has continued to be just that, at about 50-60 miles out. Alongside the longfin are a good number of mahi as well as a few large (100 lb+) yellowfin.

In the upper Narragansett Bay the pogy schools that have been around for a few weeks are still there and some larger stripers have finally spotted them. Greg, at The Tackle Box in Warwick, weighed in bass of 30 and 35 pounds Wednesday morning that fell victim to livelined pogies. Bluefish in the 12-14 pound class are also chasing the pogies around, so if you can find a school of bait and you can be rewarded with an exciting multi-species day. Greg also noted some larger tautog this week, including one that tipped the scales at 12.25 lb. Tautog appear to be getting into their fall patterns and can be found on all of the shallow water rock piles and mussel beds.

At Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle in North Kingston, Steve reported a slow week overall for local surf-casters. One positive report came in from a friend who scored a mixed bag of small keeper bass and some bluefish from the Jamestown surf. It’s not all bad news however, as mullet have made their September arrival inshore and things should be picking up exponentially. Steve attributed the tough week to a bright moon and some tough winds that kept a lot of surf-casters inside.

At Watch Hill Outfitters in Westerly, Mike was happy to report a good number of false albacore reports coming in from Watch Hill to Weakapaug on Tuesday. Albie schools were sporadic but they did pop up throughout this range, with many being within casting distance to shore. Watch hill reef is loaded with small bait, which should keep the albies in the area and is providing forage for a ton of small stripers and bluefish. Fly-fishermen have been scoring good catches of bass; blues and false albacore from the reef, while anglers drifting live bait have consistently scored larger bass up to 30 pounds.

Connecticut Fishing Report

The improving striped bass bite was felt inside eastern Long Island Sound this past week as well. Matt, at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle in Waterford, reported that plenty of quality bass have been on the feed locally. Bartlett’s reef and Black Point have produced some nice bass to anglers drifting live eels and scup and it is no longer just a nighttime game, as the daytime bite has started to strengthen. A few local charter captains ran out to The Race and Plum Gut this week to drift the full moon tide after dark, where catches of bass up to and exceeding 30 pounds were reported. Bluefish remain prevalent throughout the area and can be found surface feeding on bait schools at most of the local reefs and rips. The scup fishing is at its peak in the eastern sound with more than enough large keepers to go around, while the black sea bass fishing remains excellent at Fisher’s Island and Block Island. Snapper bluefish have continued to increase in size and could be caught just about anywhere in the Niantic River.

Andrew, at Fishin Factory 3 in Middletown, was happy to report that he finally found some false albacore this past weekend, just south of Fisher’s Island. Unfortunately the nostalgia was short lived as the fishing has been sporadic and his trips since have been much less successful. Schools of small bait are settling into the area and he believes it won’t be long until the albie fishing is lock and load. In other news, Andrew reported that bunker is still concentrated in the lower CT River and anglers that have been livelining have seen some good catches of striped bass and bluefish at Long Sand Shoal, Black Point and Bartlett’s Reef. Andrew also reported that the northern pike fishing has caught fire in the upper CT River and it appears these fish are fattening up for the pre-spawn/early winter. This bite should remain hot over the next month and is one of the best inland opportunities CT has to offer. For your chance at a trophy northern try tossing large soft plastics, spinners and swimbaits in bright colors.

In the western sound some big bass and bluefish have found their way into shallower water to feed on peanut bunker and mullet. Rick, at Fisherman’s World in Norwalk, reported good catches of bass and blues in the shallows around the Norwalk Islands, mainly at night. By day, some bass and big bluefish continue to fall to diamond jigs in the deeper rips around 11b. Last week it had appeared that scup fishing had started to tail off but they came back with a vengeance this week. Large keeper scup and some legal black sea bass have been reported from Peck’s Ledge over the past few days. In the Norwalk River snapper bluefish remain plentiful, as do the blue crabs, which should be around in good numbers for a few more weeks.

Best Bets for the Weekend

False albacore are starting to kick down the door and with the abundance of bait that has finally started to show up it should blow open any day now. In the meantime, take advantage of the start of the fall run and go after some linesiders. We are just about at that perfect time of year where quality bass can be had from the surf, light tackle and fly, along with drifting live bait and bucktails. For the freshwater angler, or those looking for a change of pace, give northern pike a try. The first time you see one of these giant gators blow up on an artificial you will be a believer.