It looks like the “fall run” may have arrived as news of blitzing fish is coming in all across the Rhode Island and Connecticut coasts. Striped bass and bluefish are plentiful and are ready to crush a top-water offering; while bottom fishing across the region remains consistent. Fall patterns in the fresh water are beginning to take shape as well, as reports of hungry walleye and northern pike are starting to come in from multiple Connecticut inland water bodies.

Rhode Island Fishing Report

According to Greg, at The Tackle Box in Warwick, the water in upper Narragansett Bay has reached that magic temperature (64 degrees), and the fall fishing light switch has been turned on. Greg spent Tuesday on the water and was able to manage seven different species of fish. The bay is alive with bait of all sizes and there are plenty of gamefish hot on their tails. Large bluefish remain the most prevalent of the species in the bay and most times they can be found following the large schools of pogies around. Some quality stripers have been around in the early morning hours and have been falling to live pogies and fresh chunk bait. The biggest surprise of the season has been the abundance of weakfish in the bay; which now seem to have hit their peak. Greg managed close to a dozen weakfish Tuesday while bottom fishing for scup and tautog.

At The Saltwater Edge in Middletown, the talk of the week was of the football field sized blitzes that are now widespread through the area. Large blitzes of bluefish, striped bass and bonito have been seen all over the Jamestown and Newport areas over the past few days and anglers from both the boat and surf have been scoring great catches. Large schools of bait have invaded the area and fall run fish are starting to get moving; which equals a recipe for success for anglers in the upcoming weeks.

The bottom fishing for black sea bass and scup remains excellent in the area and surprisingly the fluke fishing remains steady inshore around Newport and off the south side of Block Island. The slightly above average temperatures have kept the fluke around and the die-hard doormat hunters have been cashing in.

Steve Mckenna, at Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle in North Kingstown, reported a good rise in activity for the nighttime surf-fisherman in the area. Local surf-casters have reported a consistent striped bass bite around Jamestown and at the South County beaches. Beach blitzes are still sporadic and the majority of the bass in the area have been cruising the shallows after dark. The bass have still been on the smaller side with most being right around the 28 inch mark, however; increasing reports of fish upwards of 40 inches have been coming in and have everyone excited.

While no reports from the Block Island surf have come in over the past few days, the boat anglers have had nothing but good things to report to Steve. Trophy-class stripers have continued to fall to anglers drifting the rips along the islands’ Southwest Ledge, with live eels and bucktails under low light conditions being the top producers.

Mike, at Watch Hill Outfitters in Westerly was happy to lament the fact that the fall run has started to take shape in the Watch Hill area. 25-30 pound bass are being caught with good consistency along the Watch Hill Reefs and in the South County surf. Dale Sawle, a Watch Hill Outfitters customer, brought in a bass that tipped the scales at 50 pounds 12 ounces that he managed while drifting the Watch Hill Reefs over the weekend. Mike also reported that the sea bass and scup bite remains very good on all the South County hard-bottoms from Westerly to Narragansett. Some true “dinner plate” scup are being taken on the shallow rock piles and while keeper black sea bass have been hard to manage, they are out there if you can weed through the shorts.

Connecticut Fishing Report

In eastern Connecticut the top-water striper bite remains hot with the quality of the fish being caught seemingly increasing daily. At Hillyers Bait and Tackle in Waterford, Matt reported a 46 pound bass that was recently taken by a customer on a homemade top-water plug. That bass was fooled at Bartlett’s Reef in the middle of the day, yet another sign that the fall run may be starting in these parts. Bluefish have thinned out just a bit but still remain very thick; anglers have found success diamond jigging for gator blues at Bartlett’s Reef, Hatchett’s Reef and Plum Gut. Snapper bluefish have really jumped up in size over the past two weeks and are putting up a great fight on light tackle. Snappers remain fairly easy to locate between the bridges in the Niantic River and along Pleasure Beach. Fluke appear to have finally vacated eastern Long Island Sound but the scup fishing remains excellent on any and all of the rock piles. The elusive false albacore appears non-existent but a few bonito have popped their heads up locally at The Race and Bartlett’s.

Similar reports came in a bit further west at River’s End in Old Saybrook, where surface feeding bass on the local reefs have garnered a good deal of attention. Reports of small surface feeding bass also came in sparingly from South County Rhode Island this week. Larger bass have been falling to anglers drifting live eels after dark at The Race, Bartlett’s Reef and Hatchett’s Reef. A few reports from surf-casters from eastern Connecticut have been positive this week although lips have been sealed for the most part.

Bunker remains thick in the Connecticut River although it is starting to be spotted outside the river on points just to the east and west and the migration appears to be starting. Hickory Shad have been being caught very consistently and River’s End reported that it may be the best run of Hickories in recent memory. Slammer bluefish have been hanging tight in the river and feeding heavily on the remaining bunker and hickories, and anglers fishing fresh chunk bait near the mouth of the river have been seeing some of the biggest blues of the season.

At Fishin Factory 3 in Middletown, Andrew had a first-hand report from the eastern sound where he had a great day fishing top-water plugs around the shallow boulder-fields. Andrew lost count of his keepers which always equals a great day and reports from customers have been very similar. Andrew mentioned that the bulk of the action was closer to dawn and suggested getting out early to optimize your shot for a memorable day. In the sweetwater, the northern pike bite remains pretty good in the Connecticut River, although Andrew thinks it won’t really get going until we break this hot streak and get a few cool days and hopefully a bit of rain.

In other sweetwater news, Candlewood Bait and Tackle in Danbury, reported that the fall walleye bite has started to take shape at Squantz Pond and the Saugatuck Reservoir. Anglers fishing live shiners and alewives under low light conditions have scored some great catches and things should only improve as temperatures drop.

Best Bets This Weekend

The tremendous saltwater season across the northeast isn’t ready to quit just yet as the “fall run” is just starting to hit its stride. No matter where you may be located across the region your chances of finding top-water blitzing bass and bluefish this weekend are very high. Take advantage of the excellent weather and do some fish-hunting this weekend, as a memorable day in the salt is only one blitz away.