The saltwater fishing across New England is beginning to show signs of slowing, but it is far from over. For the saltwater enthusiast, there are ample angling opportunities: migrating striped bass and bluefish are actively feeding along the Rhode Island and Connecticut coasts, while a fierce fall blackfish bite continues to be the talk at most area shops. For the freshwater fans, the fall trout and bass bite is heating up as fish are on their pre-winter feeding patterns.

Rhode Island Fishing Report

The “fall run” appears to be upon us, according to the guys at The Saltwater Edge in Newport. An influx of small squid has invaded eastern Rhode Island and the striped bass fishing has been excellent from Charlestown to Newport Bay, with emphasis on the Matunuck area. Hungry linesiders have been tight to shore at times providing a good bite for both shore and boat anglers. With the dip in water temperature over the past week, the tautog bite has changed to a deeper water bite but has remained very good. Anglers dunking crabs in 25 to 40 feet of water have scored nice limits of tog this week, despite less-than-ideal wind conditions. Black sea bass continue to take up residency in Rhode Island and keeper sea bass are being caught with great regularity by anglers targeting tautog.

The word from Galilee Bait and Tackle in Narragansett is that the shallow-water tautog spots in the area are starting to become a bit barren and the bite has recently started to pick up in 30 to 40 feet of water. Schoolie to small keeper-sized bass are still abundant around the Point Judith and Narragansett coast, while bigger bass are showing up with good regularity in the waters around Block Island.

Steve McKenna of Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle in North Kingstown took a couple days off this week to cash in on the strong striped bass bite across the area. Mike reported that Steve and some fellow customers have been scoring some excellent striped bass catches from across Rhode Island’s South County surf. The striper bite has been strong from dusk through the night hours for anglers tossing bucktails and large swimming plugs. Live eels also continue to be a big producer and are responsible for most of the larger bass being hauled in. The tautog bite is reported as excellent across most of the Rhode Island coast, with 40 to 50 feet of water seemingly providing the best shot at some quality keepers this week.

Connecticut Fishing Report

Pat, at River’s End in Old Saybrook, reported that striped bass in eastern Long Island Sound are becoming less widespread and are starting to school up. The best fishing has been in the vicinity of the lower Connecticut River, where bunker was still being spotted with some regularity this week. Both shore and boat anglers have reported some good striper catches from Old Lyme to Westbrook, with larger fish coming on fresh chunk bait and mainly schoolies falling to artificials. Some large and long-lasting surface blitzes were reported this week from the Branford area and on the Westbrook and Clinton reefs. Gator bluefish have been popping up at The Race, Plum Gut and on the eastern sound reefs, but largest concentration of true gators remains around the mouth of the CT River. A local angler reported an excellent day of bluefishing earlier this week, with over 40 fish on the boat ranging from 13 to 17 pounds. All of those fish came on fresh bunker snagged just outside the river, in close proximity to where they were fishing on Long Sand Shoal. Similar to Rhode Island, Pat reported the blackfish bite on the shallow breakwalls has slowed, while the action on the deeper reefs has picked up.

Andrew, of Fishin’ Factory 3 in Middletown, reported that the talk of his shop over the weekend was of the slammer bluefish being caught in the lower CT River and its adjacent reefs. Multiple customers reported snagable bunker around the river mouth and plenty of eager bluefish willing to take a live-lined bait. Andrew has also been seeing a ton of customers coming through to pick up blackfish bait whenever there has been a break in the wind. Anglers fishing shallower water have been seeing predominately short fish; while anglers fishing the deeper reefs and rockpiles have been scoring keepers with good consistency.

Western Long Island Sound water temperatures remain a bit higher than out east leading to a shallow-water blackfish bite that hasn’t died yet. Mike Roy of Reel Cast Charters had a number of successful trips this week, where he was able to get his clients on their limit of blackfish in 12 to 20 feet of water. Mike also reported a great deal of bunker outside of Milford Harbor, unfortunately they have been swimming unmolested much of the time. School-sized bass have showed up in good numbers in the western sound and have been providing a great light tackle bite.

Housatonic River anglers have been reporting some decent schoolie action from Derby down to the mouth, according to TC Marine Bait and Tackle in Shelton. While school-sized fish dominate the inland sections of the river, some bass in the 40-inch class have been showing up in the Devon area in Stratford. Reports of excellent white perch fishing have been coming in from Sunnyside and will likely stay strong through the remainder of the fall.

Dan, at Fisherman’s World in Norwalk, has been seeing plenty of customers this week who are cashing in on the strong and steady action in Western Connecticut. Schools of Atlantic herring have been showing up in the 5-mile River and Norwalk Harbor and plenty of hungry stripers and heavy bluefish have been right behind them. Livelined baits have been fooling stripers and bluefish in the shallows after dark; while fresh chunk bait in the western sound hot spots has been producing both species by day. The shallow-water blackfish bite remains red hot, as customer Ray Cook can attest to. Ray weighed in a beautiful 10.5-pound blackfish from the Norwalk Islands this week, along with some nice scup, which are still plentiful out west.

The trout fishing in the western Connecticut rivers and streams remains excellent, with flows being slow to moderate at most spots. Red Wooly Buggers have been the ticket for fly-anglers in the Farmington and Norwalk Rivers, while Atlantic Salmon have been falling to large inline spinnerbaits on the Naugatuck River. In Lake Lillinonah and Candlewood Lake, recent bass reports have been excellent for anglers flipping jigs and tubes on deeper humps and rockpiles.

Connecticut and Rhode Island Fishing Forecast

The greatest part about being an avid New England angler is the lack of a true off-season. No matter the season, there are always plenty of excellent options, and this time of year really illustrates that. If you’re not ready to give up on the salt just yet, there are plenty of hungry stripers, blues and blackfish to keep you busy this weekend. If you’re ready for a change of pace, there are abundant inland opportunities, whether it’s stalking trout on a quiet stream or hunting trophy largemouth and smallmouth bass in one of the vast number of lakes across our region.