Bottom fishing stays strong, while more and more bonito catches are coming in from Rhode Island.
Rhode Island Fishing Report
Captain Matt, of The Frances Fleet in Narragansett, continues to report excellent fishing on the Monday marathon trips. By 930 AM they had 125 fluke and 100 sea bass landed already. They ended the day with an easy full boat limit of fluke and sea bass and headed back to the dock early. They only have 2 marathon trips left and they are filling up fast, so be sure to cash in on the tremendous fishing. Captain Greg also reported sustained quality fishing on the full day fluke trips and most of the half day trips. Fluke limits have been common, with fish to 8-pounds; while full boat sea bass limits are almost a guarantee.
Captain Russ, of The Seven B’s in Snug Harbor, reports steady fishing on the half-day trips this past week, with a good mix of fluke, sea bass, bluefish and scup. Most of the trips are seeing pool fish in the 7 to 10 pound range, so the quality has been there. They will continue to run half-day trips in the morning and afternoon from Monday through Saturday, and then on Sunday’s they run a morning half-day trip followed by and an extended 1 to 8pm trip in the afternoon. “6 pack” charters are also available on the Jeannie B, but spots are filling up fast. Be sure to call soon!
Dave, at Ocean State Tackle in Providence, told me that anglers are still finding some green bonito throughout South County. While the pods may be sporadic, many anglers are reporting catches; so there are enough around to give you a pretty solid chance of hooking up. Bottom fishermen have focused their attention on black sea bass, as there remains plenty of fish around in the 3-5 pound range. The canal picked up quite a bit with the new moon cycle, with anglers reporting both good numbers and quality over the past few nights and mornings. The blue crabs are now thick throughout the state, with plenty of keepers in the salt ponds and backwaters of the bay.
Watch Hill Outfitters in Westerly reports some very good local fishing, with solid black sea bass and scup on almost every reef and rock pile. The Watch Hill Reefs, along with most of the structure around the east end of Fishers is producing some big fish of each species. Fluke anglers are still finding some nice fish, but most are looking in 70+ feet of water. Striped bass anglers drifting eels at Block Island continue to be rewarded handsomely, and the Watch Hill reefs are starting to put up some better bass as well.
Connecticut Fishing Report
Andrew, at Fishin Factory 3 in Middletown, was able to get out this week and stumbled upon a few pods of the elusive green bonito in Rhode Island waters. He was also able to put some nice sea bass and fluke on the boat, and told me that the fluking remains good in deeper water (75-100+). As far as striped bass, the majority of anglers are still heading to Block Island, but some decent fish are coming from the eastern sound for those eeling or soaking chunks after dark. Scup action is great all over the hard bottom, and the blue crab fishing is great in the estuaries of the river.
Lou, at Hillyers in Waterford, reported that not much has changed in terms of the local fluke fishing, with a strong bite going on at Hatchets, Black Point and outside of the Thames. The local striped bass action has hit a bit of a summer lull, outside of a few decent catches from The Race and Bartletts after dark. Scup fishing remains red hot, while sea bass action remains solid at Black Point this week.
Mike Roy, of Reel Cast Charters, reported that some bigger bluefish have finally showed up in decent numbers, and they are providing some great light tackle action. Fly anglers were able to dial in to some great bluefish action this week, along with plenty of smaller striped bass. There are some bigger bass around, and Mike has found quite a few while fishing live baits around dawn and dusk.
Heather, from Black Hawk Sportfishing, told me they had another strong week full of jumbo porgies, big sea bass and doormat fluke. Some hard fighting trigger fish have been in the mix as well, and patrons are going home with full coolers and big smiles. Iris from Harley, NY came on Friday’s trip and caught her limit of both porgies and seabass, then switched over to fluke and ended up with 4 nice keepers to 8 1/2 pounds. Congratulations are also in order for the Black Hawk’s own deckhand Mike, who went shark fishing with some friends on their private boat and caught a 235 thresher shark, and released another. Great job Mike! Our schedule continues to be Monday-Friday, one trip daily at 7am. (No trip August 16) Saturdays and Sundays we head out at 6am and 1pm. What we fish for on these weekend trips can change due to fishing conditions. We are currently booking private charters for August, so contact us soon to get your group on the calendar. There will also be more night striped bass trips to be posted soon!
Rivers End Tackle in Old Saybrook reported that the striped bass fishing has hit a bit of a summer lull, outside of continued great action at Block. There have been quite a few school fish around Hatchets, Bartletts and Seaside; while a few bigger fish are being taken around Valiant Shoal after dark. Valiant is also producing some decent bluefish, along with Plum Gut; and it appears that the bigger gators are at least starting to filter into the sound. Snapper reports remain strong, with the best catches from the DEEP Docks and the Causeway. Fluke catches have been steady in the deeper water around Hatchets and Black Point; while the Connecticut River is putting up a lot of fish, but mostly shorts. Most deep structure in the sound is holding sea bass; while pretty much all structure is holding scup.
Captain TJ, at Rock and Roll Charters, had good luck with striped bass this week on most trips. Quality fish to the low 30-pound class are in the mix and the majority of fish are over the 28-inch mark. Some big bluefish have finally moved into the area, which has really ramped up the action. The scup bite remains red hot, with a few nice fluke and sea bass mixing in. The summer is far from over so be sure to book a trip for the fall run!
Captain Bruce on The Otter had another excellent week of bass fishing in the eastern Sound. Most trips saw big numbers of big bass, with the larger ones falling in the 41-49 inch range. Both the morning and night trips are producing well and Bruce expects it to only improve as we heads towards September.
At Fishermans World in Norwalk, the guys are still reporting some nice bass in local waters. Fishing after dark with eels or fresh bunker has been the ticket and most of the fish are in the 20-25 pound class. Bluefish are still not around in any kind of numbers, but there are a few to be had. Snappers, however, are all over the place and have helped accelerate the fluke and striped bass bite. Fluke anglers have found some good action around 11B and Smithtown, while scup has been great on all the local structure. Sea bass action has been best on deep structure for anglers dropping bucktails or flatfall jigs.
Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
Summer doldrums haven’t brought the striped bass fishing to a complete halt, with some great fishing still going on at Block. Locally, anglers fishing after dark are scoring some good fish and there are loads of school bass in the sound for light tackle enthusiasts. It’s been a strong fluke season and it continues to go strong. Good catches are still coming from all over Rhode Island and the deeper structure in LIS. There are plenty of sea bass and scup in the mix to help fill the cooler; while sporadic but somewhat good numbers of bonito are making things interesting in Rhode Island.