Rhode Island Fishing Report 7-10-14

A steady breeze that lingered across the Northeast after the remnants of Hurricane Arthur made their way through created enough dirty water and unsettled seas to keep the masses off the water, but those who ventured out continue to report productive saltwater fishing across the region.

Rhode Island Fishing Report

Howard, at Galilee Bait and Tackle in Narragansett, reports that the striped bass bite has remained on the inconsistent side, and the weather over the past few days hasn’t helped things. Block Island remains the hot spot for anglers hunting trophy linesiders, but the pick of fish has been sporadic and often requires some searching. Fluke fishing has continued to pick up around Narragansett and the South County shoreline, and with good numbers of fish in the ponds; anglers have not had to travel very far for good fluke. Scup have settled in nicely across Rhode Island and provide another great fishing option, along with black sea bass, which continue to bite as well as they have all season.

The storm surge and precipitation from Arthur made a mess of the upper bay, and even brought with it a couple of sharks that made for some interesting pictures around the Hurricane Barrier. In the days since the storm, the water has receded and fishing is getting back to normal, according to Greg at The Tackle Box in Warwick. Scup have invaded the bay, and on a recent trip south of Hope Island, Greg was able to quickly limit out with a pile of scup in the 12- to 13-inch range. Fluke fishing has also been good in the bay, but a high short-to-keeper ratio has made things a bit more difficult for anglers recently. With water temperatures rising rapidly, the daytime striped bass bite has slowed, but an abundance of pogies are bringing in plenty of bass and gator bluefish after dark.

Mike, at Watch Hill Outfitters in Westerly, reported that things are starting to get back to normal after the storm, with great sea bass and fluke fishing both locally and around Block Island. Scup fishing has continued to improve since they first appeared a few weeks back, and the Watch Hill Reefs are holding good numbers of dinner-plate sized fish. Shore-bound anglers are also reporting good catches of scup at the breachways and around the lighthouse. Striper fishing has remained inconsistent across the area but has been better around the moon tides, giving some serious promise to the upcoming weekend.

Fishing Forecast

An early July full moon may be just the fuel we need to fire some more bass into our water’s and blow things open. With scup fishing taking off, and keeper sea bass and fluke hanging around, a little groundfishing may be a good idea after your early morning striper trip has concluded.