Water temperatures have yet to really plummet too much in the salt, and if your boat isn’t winterized there should be plenty of tautog chewing across Rhode Island this weekend. Freshwater options are plentiful throughout our region and using the extended weekend to go after some small stream trout or bigwater pike is a good idea before this white stuff becomes much more common.
Rhode Island Fishing Report
Roger at The Frances Fleet in Narragansett reported a tough weather week for the fleet, but they were able to string together a couple of successful trips. Two Sundays ago, the weather was perfect and the fish were cooperating, with plenty of keeper cod to 20 pounds and sea bass to 5.5 pounds. This past weekend provided much more of a challenge in the weather department, but the brave souls on board brought many keeper sea bass and a few keeper cod over the rails on Saturday. A few tautog trips sailed during the breaks in weather last weekend and also found good success. The cod, sea bass and tautog fisheries aren’t showing many signs of slowing down, so as long as the boat sails customers should be in for some good fishing. Sea bass and cod trips are now running Monday, Wednesday, Friday and the weekends; while tautog trips are running every day. Be sure to keep an eye on the sailing schedule, as these trips provide some good fishing and some great table fare for the holidays.
At The Saltwater Edge in Middletown, reports have been quiet over the past couple of days and most boats have stayed in port while waiting for a break from the wind. Squid numbers are still good in Newport and Point Judith and are providing a successful close-to-home fishery. A few surfcasters made it out this week and are reporting some large schools of herring from Matunuck to Watch Hill. There have been some decent numbers of bass on their tail, but for the most part they remain of the schoolie variety.
At Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle in North Kingstown, Steve didn’t have much to report this week due to the weather. He did mention that just about everyone who was able to sneak a tautog trip in found some success and believes the fishing will remain strong through the end of the month. The cod fishing around Block Island is reported as decent and improving and most of the cod boats are actually reporting better success with black sea bass than cod, in the same waters.
Fishing Forecast
Weather has been a challenge, but bottomfishing remains steady across Block Island sound, and freshwater fishing continues to improve.