Rhode Island Fishing Report 7-17-2014

Slowly but surely more striped bass have settled onto the Rhode Island reefs, while keeper fluke and black sea bass continue to go strong.

Rhode Island Fishing Report

Steve McKenna, at Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle in North Kingstown, has had much more success in July than he did through most of June when it comes to finding striped bass in the Rhode Island surf, and this week is no different. Steve made 4 night trips recently and found some bass willing to bite plugs on all of them. Most of the fish have been on the smaller side but the quality action in Narragansett and Jamestown is a positive sign following the dismal June. Surf fishing also remains very consistent at Block Island, where a number of anglers reported having no difficulty finding keeper bass to 25 pounds this week. Steve’s customers have had nothing to complain about when it comes to bottom fishing as keeper fluke, black sea bass and scup are being caught with regularity from Newport to Narragansett.

Robert Taylor, of Newport Sportfishing Charters in Newport, reports that the striped bass bite remains fierce both locally and around the island, as his stellar charter season continued this week. Loads of sand eels and butterfish have invaded local waters and kept the bass around, including a 51-pound beauty that was caught and released off of Beavertail earlier this week. Captain Rob was able to put another 15 quality keeper bass on the boat that day, all of which coming on live eels and light tackle. Fluke trips have also been very successful in the same areas and Rob recommends looking deep, as the majority of his keeper fish have been from 80-110 feet of water.

At Breachway Bait and Tackle in Charlestown the striped bass fishing took an upswing around the full moon as some better fish were reported from the breachways and salt ponds. Anglers drifting a tube and worm in the ponds reported good catches, including a few hefty keepers; while anglers fishing live eels after dark have seen bass to 30 pounds in the breachways this week. The Watch Hill Reefs are holding more and more bass each day and sizes are generally improving. The Watch Hill Reefs are also continuing to hold good numbers of keeper sea bass, along with just about all of the small rockpiles across South County. Dinner-plate sized scup are showing up for boat anglers in Watch Hill, as well as shore anglers under the lighthouse and at the breachways. Keeper fluke may be outnumbered by shorts in local waters, but a few good keepers to 6 pounds were reported off the Westerly and Charlestown beaches.

Best Bets for the Weekend

It is no surprise that it has been a tough season for striped bass thus far, but for the second week in a row signs of improvement are popping up all over. Some quality bass are on the reefs for the night crews and early birds, and with the bright moon receding this should be a good weekend for the surf crew. Groundfishing remains consistent across the board.