Spring striped bass fishing continues to improve across Rhode Island and Connecticut, as more and more river herring start to show with each warming day. Another telltale sign that spring is finally here are the trout-stocking trucks that are loading up the lakes and streams across our region, with opening day being this Saturday in Rhode Island and Saturday the 19th for Connecticut.

Rhode Island Fishing

Schoolie striped bass are starting to account for a good portion of the angling efforts across the Ocean State. Thom, at Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle in North Kingstown, reported that Steve Mckenna was out of the shop Wednesday and was out searching for some of his first stripers of the year. School-sized fish are starting to show at their usual April haunts and reports from the west wall of the Harbor of Refuge have been promising. Ocean temperatures are still on the cold side for early April, and some bass have been congregating in the shallow waters of the upper Narragansett Bay and the south shore salt ponds, where water temperatures are warming much quicker. Small jigs have accounted for most of the bass at all locations with pearl white Cocahoe Minnows on half-ounce jigs being the artificial of choice.

Howard, at Galilee Bait and Tackle in Point Judith, also confirmed the reports of schoolies in the mouth of the harbor falling to small bucktails tipped with curly-tail plastics. River herring are beginning to show up in increasing numbers at all the local freshwater tributaries and with water temperatures slowly rising some larger migratory bass will be making their way to the northeast shortly.

Freshwater anglers have had continued success with largemouth bass on live shiners and small jigs as inland water temperatures have risen rapidly this past week. Most freshwater anglers are now changing their focus to opening day of trout season; which is coming up this Saturday the 12th. RIDEM has completed most of their spring trout stocking and flows are beginning to settle after the rain of earlier this week, so opening weekend promises to be another good one.

Many local shops will be extending their weekend hours to cater to the large crowds this weekend, including Ocean State Bait and Tackle in Providence, which will be open all night Friday into Saturday for the early-birds. Cardinal Bait and Tackle in Westerly, will be opening up early Saturday morning and will have the shop stocked with all your trout fishing needs, as well as plenty of breakfast refreshments.

Connecticut Fishing Report

Similar to Rhode Island, many anglers across Connecticut have been focusing much of their attention on the springtime stripers that can be found in all of the state’s major tidal rivers. Andrew, at Fishin Factory 3 in Middletown, reported that there have been plenty of schoolie striped bass spread throughout the Connecticut River for anglers dunking sandworms. Keeper-sized bass have been few and far between in the Connecticut but some reports of a few larger bass have come in from the Housatonic to the west and the Thames to the east.

The state has continued to stock trout in just about all of the trout streams across the state and while opening day is still ten days away the Trout Management Areas continue to fish very well for the catch-and-release crowd. The Connecticut River is on the rise once again and the high flows coupled with dirty water have hampered spring pike bite. Many of the better pike reports from the river are followed up with 2 to 3 unsuccessful trips without so much as a follow. The white perch bite on the lower Connecticut River continues to be a good one and has provided a more stable option for river anglers.

Both tautog and winter flounder have opened in Connecticut, but below-average sound temperatures have kept the tautog reports to a minimum. Some reports of keeper winter flounder have been coming in from the western sound harbors where temperatures are rising quicker in the shallows.

The Housatonic River continues to produce striped bass with some consistency in both the upper and lower stretches. Mike Roy of Reel Cast Charters hit the lower river over the weekend and was able to find plenty of small bass willing to hit light jigs. The river temperatures were still in the low 40s and are keeping the bass very lethargic so a small and slow presentation has been crucial.

Sparse reports of herring in the upper stretches of the Housatonic have continued to come in and there have been a few larger bass coming to anglers fishing herring-imitation plugs around Derby and Shelton. The vast majority of the bass being caught remain smaller holdovers and we will likely need another week or two of warming to get the spring-run in full swing.

Fishing Forecast for Connecticut and Rhode Island

The highlight of the fishing season for many anglers in our area is opening day of trout season, and that day is finally here for Rhode Islanders. The weather looks like it will cooperate and there should be some excellent trout fishing in Rhode Island, as well as in the TMA’s across Connecticut. In the salt, the spring striped bass run has yet to hit full stride but there is plenty of life and activity across the regions’ tidal rivers and estuaries. Schoolie to small-keeper striped bass are widespread and can be found without much travel, no matter where you live in Connecticut or Rhode Island.