A heavy blow, tropical storm, and dirty moon tides weren’t enough to shut down the fishing in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Things picked right up after the weather, with excellent surf fishing for bass, blues and false albacore. Tautog is going strong in Rhode Island and the Connecticut opener this weekend should be a good one.
Rhode Island Fishing Report
Captain Russ, of The Seven B’s in Narragansett, made a few trips early last week before conditions took a turn for the worse, and continued to find good catches of large scup and black sea bass. Trips were put on hold through the weekend and the early part of this week, but the fleet is now back on the water and conditions are favorable for most of the weekend. Full day multi-species trips will run from Wednesday thru Sunday from 7-4, with private charter trips still available aboard the Jeanie B. Around the 18th of the month Captain Russ anticipates starting to target tautog as well, as long as the interest is there.
Peter, at The Saltwater Edge in Middletown, reports lights out fishing from Watch Hill to Newport. The dirty moon tides, heavy blow and tropical storm were not enough to push the massive schools of peanut bunker out of the area, and anglers are reaping the benefits. Quality striped bass, gator bluefish to 15-pounds and the occasional false albacore are being taken from the surf both day and night. Light tackle and fly fishing enthusiasts are in their glory, as fish are all over the place and haven’t been too picky. Boat anglers are doing just as well, with light tackle casters finding bass and blues in the shallows, while anglers fishing the deeper reefs are scoring bass to 40-pounds. Tautog anglers are having success on all the shallow hard bottom local areas, and there are still plenty of sea bass and scup in the mix.
At Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle, reports from local surfcasters are excellent from Watch Hill to Charlestown, and also along the Jamestown shoreline. Striped bass and bluefish are feeding voraciously on peanut bunker, and are more than willing to hit just about any swimming plug. A few anglers reported insane periods of action, with bass on every cast. Black sea bass and tautog also continue to cooperate, with the latter being caught by shore anglers in front of the breachways, Watch Hill lighthouse and the Pt. Judith breakwalls.
Mike, at Watch Hill Outfitters in Westerly, also reiterated the excellent beach fishing from Watch Hill to Quonnie Breachway. Bass, blues and albies can be found throughout this stretch feeding on peanut bunker, and over the last few days some adult bunker showed up; which resulted in bigger, less-picky bass. False albacore numbers are down, but Mike expects that bite to pick up as the water cleans. In the meantime, Mike reported a good albie bite in the cleaner water around Fisher’s Island. Striped bass anglers targeting bigger bass on the reefs this week have also had great success. Drifting live eels after dark is a proven technique but Mike mentioned that the largest fish this week have come on bucktails right off the bottom. Tautog fishing has been very good for shore anglers at the lighthouse, and has also been excellent for anglers fishing all over the Watch Hill reefs. The reefs are still producing quality scup and sea bass in the deeper portions as well.
Connecticut Fishing Report
At Hillyers Bait and Tackle in Waterford, reports are that the weekend storms didn’t have much of an effect on the bluefishing. There are still very good numbers of big bluefish all over the water column at The Race. The Millstone outflow, Niantic Bay and inside the Niantic River are all still holding good numbers of smaller bluefish that can be taken on lighter tackle. Bass fishing has been a bit slower in the area, but anglers fishing live bunker at Bartletts managed a few heavy fish this week. The fishing for black sea bass remains steady, with good fish coming from 80-100 feet of water at the Bloody Grounds and at Hatchet’s. The snapper bluefish bite is strong in the Connecticut and Niantic rivers, and tautog season opens up on Saturday, and will get a lot of attention from local anglers.
Rivers End in Old Saybrook saw boat reports dwindle due to the weather over the weekend but shore bound anglers continued to find success for bass and bluefish. Big bluefish blitzes were going on all weekend around the mouth of the river, and most of them took place all day long. Angler’s livelining bunker around the mouth of the river reported good catches of decent sized bass this weekend, as it seems more bass are moving back into the river. Reports of massive schoolie blitzes in the Essex area came through the shop over the past few days, and that bite should intensify as it usually does later in the fall.
Captain TJ, of Rock and Roll Charters in Clinton, had a rare weekend off due to the rough conditions, but reported great bluefishing and the most consistent bass fishing of the season prior to the weather. The fishing for bass and blues should pick up right where it left off this weekend, as will the sea bass and scup fishing; which was also excellent in the early parts of last week. With the tautog opener right around the corner, TJ is starting to take reservations for tautog trips from the Saturday opener through November 15th.
Andrew, at Fishin Factory 3 in Middletown, saw a number of surf anglers come through the shop this weekend to pick up some heavy plugs to fish the swell. Most of them reported the same thing that South County Rhode Island has been on fire since the storms. Surf anglers in Connecticut are also finding some quality bass, but not in the same numbers as Rhode Island. The heavy blows didn’t push all of the bunker out of the river, and gator bluefish can still be found taking fresh chunks and topwater plugs around the mouth. The storms did seem to push many of the false albacore out toward Long Island, as a good bite was reported from Gardiners to Montauk this week. All hope is not lost for Connecticut anglers though, as a few reliable reports of some funny fish around Napatree just started to filter back in. Andrew is all geared up for the tautog opener this weekend, with plenty of rigs and jigs. He will once again be hosting his annual tournament with a $10 buy in.
Best bets for the weekend
The fall run is in full swing across southern New England and options are plentiful. The striped bass and bluefish bite doesn’t get much better than it is in Rhode Island right now, and in most cases you don’t need a boat to access a good bite. False albacore don’t seem to have completely left our area just yet, and you still have a good chance to find some close to home. Tautog will be open in both states this weekend, and as usual the first weekend of the season tends to be the best.
hmm, I’ve been all along the oceanfront the past week to 10 days, and its dead as a doornail.
No bait no fish, no birds. I went down 95 and saw birds over bait in Long Wharf New Haven area, but RI ocean front is all quiet. The bait that was around probably moved into LI sound and the fish followed. The water is cooling, WTH happened to the rest of the fall run ?? September was good, the NE winds kicked up the surf and the action departed quickly. Everyone I saw fishing wasnt catching anything. This report is at odds with how it really is. Still plenty of bait in the bay, maybe when that bait moves south it’ll pick back up ?
I can back that up – was all over the RI oceanfront for three days this week and NADA