A steady bonito bite has kept anglers busy, and also keeps them chomping at the bit for the false albacore, which have not yet really flooded into Rhode Island or Connecticut. Big bluefish are plentiful, while bottomfishing for all species remains steady in both states.
Rhode Island Fishing Report
Captain Russ, of The Seven B’s in Narragansett, capitalized on some excellent drift conditions this week and had success with fluke and sea bass on most of their half-day trips. The Jeanie B took a private charter out on Wednesday and managed a limit of sea bass to 4.5-pounds, and plenty of fluke to go around. Half-day trips run Monday through Saturday from 8:30 to 12:30 and 1 to 5. Sundays feature a half-day trip in the morning and an extended twilight trip in the evening that runs from 1 to 8. The Saturday night striped bass trip saw some decent action of bass to 20-pounds, big bluefish and a good number of throwbacks to keep the action steady.
Things are still a bit quiet at The Saltwater Edge in Middletown as most anglers are awaiting the false albacore to come in and take notice of the massive schools of bait. Anglers are still reporting decent bonito catches but the sightings have continued to drop over the past ten days or so. The Point Judith and South County shorelines seem to be producing a bit better than the Newport area. A handful of false albacore sightings were reported this week, but confirmed catches remain close to zero. Black sea bass are still cooperating on the deeper rockpiles, while tautog reports have been very good on the shallower pieces of structure. Fluke fishing in local waters took a turn for the better this week, as anglers have reported multiple quality keepers just outside and inside the bay. The fluke are likely starting to take notice of the good numbers of squid that are still in the area.
According to Howard, at Galilee Bait and Tackle in Narragansett, Block Island remains the place to be if you’re looking for quality striped bass fishing. Boat anglers are once again reporting good catches on the ledge, but the better fishing remains in the shallows after dark. Surfcasters around Block Island are reporting good catches on each side, which would make sense with the bass now moving into the shallower water to feed. The local bass bite has been on the slow side, as we remain in the summer doldrum weather patterns, but a few surfcasters managed some 30-pound fish from the Narragansett shoreline. The bonito bite has been steady around the west wall and in the Watch Hill/Weakapaug area, while the false albacore have yet to make a real appearance. Tautog fishing has greatly improved on the shallow rockpiles this week, and squid anglers are having success jigging the well-lit docks in the harbor and the salt ponds.
Mike Wade, of Watch Hill Outfitters in Westerly, reports a quality fluke and sea bass bite on the south side of Block Island, which has been holding steady for most of the season. Some decent catches of both species have popped up locally this week, but most of the larger fish have come from the island. A bit further off the south side of the island, a very good mahi bite has been going on for most of the week. The striped bass fishing has also been best at the island, but the Watch Hill reefs accounted for a few steady trips with fish in the 20-30 pound class. The local surf has been quiet, other than some schoolies around the light house and at Napatree. False albacore have yet to hit South County, but most anglers that targeted bonito this week found their target species close to home. Blackfishing has been very good in the shallows for both shore and boat anglers, with the same anglers reporting some monster scup in the mix.
Connecticut Fishing Report
Fishing for multiple species remains steady in the eastern sound according to Hillyers in Waterford. Keeper fluke catches picked back up this week, as a nice push of squid made their way into the area. Multiple fish in the 5-6 pound range, and one true doormat of 12-pounds hit the scale over the past few days. The deeper ends of Black Point and Hatchets Reef seem to be top fluke producers this week. The striped bass bite slowed down at The Race and Fisher’s, but a few were picked off by anglers fishing the night tides at Bartlett’s and around Harkness. There are a ton of gator bluefish in the 10-15 pound class at The Race, Plum Gut and also in local waters, with anglers reporting good catches on topwater and while drifting at Black Point. Most of the scup being caught aren’t huge, but there are plenty of keeper s to go around. Shore and boat anglers fishing tight to Pleasure Beach and Harkness are reporting good catches of scup in the shallows. Keeper black sea bass remain easy to find at Black Point, and bonito reports have remained confined to the Rhode Island shoreline.
Andrew, at Fishin Factory 3 in Middletown, reports that not much has changed as we remain in our summer patterns. Schools of bait, both big and small, are all over the Connecticut coast and a few lucky anglers found some bonito in the eastern sound this week. The bonito bite has been much better in Rhode Island and at Block Island, and the majority of anglers are heading east for their fix. Big bluefish are everywhere, and both shore and boat anglers are cashing in. Anglers fishing fresh bunker in the mouth of the river have had plenty of bluefish to play with, and boat anglers working the reefs with topwater plugs have had the same. The bass bite has been slow, but a few decent fish have been plucked by the die hards working the late night tides.
Captain TJ, of Rock and Roll Charters in Clinton, had a bit of a tougher week due to the strong moon tides making drift conditions unfavorable. When he was able to manage a decent drift, he has had no problem getting clients on keeper fluke and sea bass. The striped bass fishing was also a bit slower this week, and TJ chalks that up to them being keyed in on smaller bait. Despite this, they have had a decent pick of keeper bass on most trips, along with some hefty bluefish. Scup fishing remains the most consistent, and limits have been very easy to come-by every time they’ve tried. With some cooler weather and weaker drifts ahead, the fishing should start to pick up once again this week.
Mike Roy, of Reel Cast Charters, reported that the September topwater action has really picked up with the turn of the calendar. The great majority of his trips this week consisted of throwing big plugs into blitzes, and his clients were rewarded with gator blues to 16-pounds and a steady pick of bass to 20-pounds. He was also able to manage a few of each species on the fly rod this week, which makes for an excellent battle. As we get deeper into the month these blitzes will increase in frequency, and we should start to see bonito and false albacore in the mix very soon.
Best Bets For The Weekend
The early arrival of bonito in our inshore waters has many anglers out in search of false albacore, which are usually right behind. These bonito are indeed a few weeks ahead of schedule, and it doesn’t appear that false albacore are will be on the schedule this weekend. A front is set to hit our area Friday, which should help to move the fish along, but in the meantime a weekend of hunting bonito and big bluefish on topwater should be on the agenda. Bottom fishing is still going strong in both states as well, and Rhode Island anglers should look into an early fall tautog trip. The tautog seem to be filling in the shallow rockpiles nicely, and these early weeks tend to be productive; as you can pound the well-known areas before the rest of the fleet does.
From the boat of Rusty Hook’s on this past sunday north of cox ledge, 1 blue fin and 4 false albacore. All albacore caught off the bird with daisy chain.