Rhode Island Fishing Report - July 2, 2015

A wave of fresh striped bass have woken things up in eastern Long Island Sound, fluke fishing continues to improve in Rhode Island and scup fishing has blown open just about everywhere.

Rhode Island Fishing Report

Captain Russ, of Seven B’s in Narragansett, reports that their fluke fishing trips have remained very steady as of late, with good numbers of keepers and pool fish in the 8-10 pound range. Along with the fluke, some good numbers of bluefish and scup have been coming up on the fluke rigs. The overnight striped bass trips have been more inconsistent but most of the fish have been large, including a 48-pounder that came over the rails last weekend. As of July 1st the fleet is now sailing twice per day for fluke, with the first trip sailing form 8:30 A.M. to 12:30 P.M., and the second taking off at 1 P.M. and returning at 5 P.M. Striped bass trips will continue to sail on Friday and Saturday nights from 7 P.M. to 1 A.M., depending on conditions and amount of interest. Be sure to check out their website for detailed sailing schedules.

Over at The The Saltwater Edge in Middletown the guys reported that the local striped bass bite has picked up once again and local charter captains are scoring good catches on the local reefs and southwest ledge; while some are still finding quality fish around the bunker schools in the bay. Large bluefish can also be found with some regularity in the bay. Scup fishing is really strong on all of the local rockpiles, inside and outside of the bay; while fluke fishing has been best in 40-60 feet of water off of Sakonnet. The offshore bite is still producing some bluefin just south of Block Island, although the fish seem to be moving, while shark fishing for all species is picking up in most of the local hotspots.

Howard, at Galilee Bait and Tackle in Narragansett in Narragansett, reports that fluke fishing once again took a turn for the better this week, both locally and at Block Island. The deeper water outside the Harbor of Refuge accounted for some decent doormats over the past few days, while Block produced more keepers than dogfish for the first time in a while. Multiple 45-50 pound bass came through the shop this week, and all came from around the island. The Block Island regulars are reporting that while the quality fish are there, it has been a lot of work to find them and get them to eat. In local waters 15-20 pound bass are fairly common, and are being caught from Narragansett to Charlestown by shore and boat anglers. The bluefin tuna bite slowed down since last week, but a few fish are still being reported from Cox’s ledge over the past few days.

Mike Wade, of Watch Hill Outfitters in Westerly, saw some nice bass on the local reefs off of Watch Hill this week. Results have been good for anglers trolling wire during the daytime tides and drifting eels after dark. Surf fishing results haven’t been quite as good, but some blitzing bass were found in the breachways earlier in the week. Fishers Island and The Race also saw a better push of fish this week, which can be a good sign for the weeks to come. Fluke fishing has been up and down, but mostly solid results were reported this week from the pink house, and in 50-60 feet of water on the south side of Fisher’s Island. Scup have no inundated the area, with fish to 2-pounds reported by shore and boat anglers just off of the lighthouse.

Connecticut Fishing Report

Lou, at Hillyers in Waterford reported that the Long Island Sound scup bite finally took off this week, and most of the rockpiles in the eastern sound and in Niantic Bay are holding fish. Black sea bass fishing has been excellent as well on Bartlett’s and at Black Point, with most fish coming from 60-80 feet of water. For the first time in a while the local reefs saw a good push of fresh striped bass this week, including a few around the 40-pound mark at Bartlett’s. Fluke fishing has been much better in Rhode Island, but local anglers were able to manage a few quality doormats on the deep end of Black Point this week. Bluefish have gotten pretty easy to find, and Millstone remains the steadiest hot spot.

Andrew, at Fishin Factory 3 in Middletown, reported that the lower Connecticut River is still producing bass in the 15-20 pound class for anglers fishing topwater plugs and livelining around the bunker schools, but more encouraging news was that the local reefs finally seemed to be fishing a bit better this week. Fresh, sea lice covered fish were found at The Race, Bartletts and Black Point this week; which is hopefully indicating that they are settling into their summer patterns in Long Island Sound. Scup fishing is in full swing, and good results were reported from Black Point, Harkness and Watch Hill. Fluke fishing remains inconsistent and Andrew recommends putting time in and fishing deep for a chance at a Connecticut doormat.

James, at Rivers End in Old Saybrook, reported that the mouth of the river and the area just outside of it has come alive with schools of quality bass feeding on bunker over the past few days. Word of fresh fish on the reefs came in from the eastern sound reefs, but they also have seemed to make an appearance on Southwest and 6-Mile reef. Plum Gut has also fished much better this week for bass and bluefish. Scup and black sea bass can be found all over the Long Island Sound rockpiles, while most fluke anglers are heading to Isabella Beach or Rhode Island for much better fluke results.

Captain TJ, of Rock and Roll Charters in Clinton, had another successful week on the water, and while numbers of bass may be down from the past years the quality certainly isn’t. Many fish over 30-pounds, and a few pushing 40 came over the rails this week, including a beautiful 35-pounder caught by long-time customer Lindsay Urban. Black sea bass has been as good as ever, and with the 8 fish charter limit everyone on board has been going home with plenty of fish for the fridge.

In the western sound the big news of the week was the 65-pound bass caught on a fresh chunk off of Bridgeport last weekend. Rich, at Fisherman’s World in Norwalk, reports that things have slowed down a bit but there are still some very heavy bass roaming the western half of the sound. The Norwalk Islands are producing very good numbers of keeper fish on both chunks and topwater plugs, with the best results coming in after dark. The western sound rockpiles are producing loads of keeper black sea bass, scup and some decent fluke over 5-pounds.

Best bets for the weekend

An excellent holiday weekend is starting to shape up both in the weather forecast and the fishing forecast. The tough striped bass fishing across most of Connecticut seems to have turned a corner over the past few days, as a fresh wave of fish have entered the sound. Bottom fishing for scup, sea bass and the recent opening of tautog season could make for a great weekend on the Connecticut rockpiles; while fluke and scup fishing is going strong and will keep Rhode Island anglers plenty busy.