Rhode Island Fishing Report
Captain Matt, of Frances Fleet in Narragansett, reported some tricky weather earlier in the week, but was still able put a decent day together on the marathon trip. They put about 75 keepers in the boat, with a few around the 10-pound mark and a couple more in the 8-9 range. High hooks took home limits, and an easy limit of sea bass to 5-pounds was obtained. As of right now, they’re planning 2 more marathon trips this summer. The half day trips have been solid as well, with Captain Mike reporting a plenty of quality sea bass, a few fluke and a ton of chub mackerel. The Sunday cod trip was a success, according to Matt. They finally found some great drifting conditions and it paid off with a nice haul of keeper cod fish. High hook took home 8 fish to 20-pounds, and they saw an additional 5 fish over 15-pounds. They are planning one last marathon cod trip on August 25th.
Captain Wade, of Booked Off Charters told me that they had a few days of some great bass action, with action on the troll and on eels. They had fish to 51-pounds and released a pile of fish in the 35-45-pound range. The jumbo sea bass are still around and continue to provide easy limits. The fluke fishing took a positive swing this week, with a new body of fish moving in. They were able to boat an 11.4-pound slammer doormat this week, with many other quality fish in the mix. Shark fishing seems to be remaining strong and more mahi appear to be filtering in.
Captain Brian, of Big Game Sportfishing, reported continued consistent striper fishing around the island, both day and night. Action is strong, limits are easy and fish over 40-pounds are relatively common. The sea bass fishing also remains lights out in the same areas, with easy limits in the 3-4-pound range. The almost daily offshore trips are also still happening, and they have been doing very well on tuna to 60-inches on jigs and spinning gear. The shipping lanes continue to hold some nice mahi up to and over the 30-inch mark!
Dave, at Ocean State Tackle in Providence, told me that the bonito are starting to show up with more regularity in Newport, around the Harbor of Refuge and outside of the breachways. Hogy epoxy jigs are a steady producer, along with Daddy Mac jigs. They seem to be keyed in on silversides and squid, so bone, pink and olive jigs are a safe bet. The Providence River and Warwick Light area are starting to produce some nice bluefish, and there is still a strong fluke and sea bass bite in Newport, Sakonnet and around Block. The chub mackerel continue to show up just about everywhere and provide a nice light tackle pivot if you can’t find the bonito.
Captain Kelly, of C-Devil II Sportfishing in Narragansett reports that they’ve had a mixed bag type of week out there. They had a couple days of short fish that were reluctant to eat, but the big girls returned mid-week and made up for it, with several fish over 40 inches. Keeper fluke are getting harder to come by, but bottom fishing is still producing big sea bass and scup. There is still plenty of offshore action, with several acrobatic mako’s and feisty blue sharks on this week’s trips. Be sure to check their Facebook page for updated reports and a live booking calendar!
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Fishing Report For Connecticut
Andrew, at Fishin Factory 3 in Middletown told me that the bunker has really filtered in well and the snappers are starting to pile in as well. A nice slug of big bluefish has hit the mouth of the river and are keyed in on that bunker. Fluking seems to have slowed down recently, but there are still some quality fish in the eastern sound. Black Point, Bartletts and the area inside of Fisher’s are all holding some fish, but you need to start looking deep (100 feet or so). Sea bass action has been strong locally as well as around Block, and the same can be said for scup. The blue crab action is steadily improving in the lower CT River marinas and estuaries, specifically those closer to the mouth.
Josh, at Three Belles Outfitters in Niantic, reports huge schools of small bait in the eastern sound, and all predatory species have taken notice. Schoolies and cocktail blues are eagerly hitting pencil poppers, and are being landed with mouthfuls of tiny forage. Larger bass and blues are keying in on bunker and hickory shad further into the sound. Large schools of chub mackerel are marauding the small baitfish as well, and we also heard a report of a Spanish mackerel being caught by one kayak angler. Bonito seem to be here today gone tomorrow in state, but Rhode Island is putting up good numbers of funny fish around Point Judith. Fluke fishing has been tough locally, with mostly shorts being reported. Scup is lights out when you find them, and sea bass has been consistent too. Snapper blues and blue crabs are starting to invade the estuaries and backwaters in good numbers. In freshwater, largemouth and smallmouth bass fishing has been good with the consistent weather. The CT. River has been a bit tough with the amount of baby shad and herring available, not to mention the high water temps. Pike fishing seems to be up and down, but cooler nights and shorter days will kick them into feeding mode over the next couple weeks.
Captain Greg, from Black Hawk Sportfishing told me that the sea bass and jumbo scup reports have simply been red hot. Customers have had no problem filling their coolers with limits of sea bass and scup, and there are still a few nice fluke in the mix. They’ve been bouncing back and forth from the Watch Hill area and Montauk depending on trip size but finding good fish at each locale. The lack of quality bluefish at The Race has been alarming, but luckily the groundfishing has picked up the slack. Be sure to check the website for updated scheduling and reports, and keep the fingers crossed that the bluefish decide to show up.
Mike Roy, of Reel Cast Charters, told me that the chub mackerel continue to be around in big numbers, and are providing some great light tackle action. Bonito are also showing up more consistently and there are plenty of schoolies in the mix on topwater plugs. Bigger bass are starting to take topwater plugs at dusk, as well as eels and bunker after the lights go down. Bigger bluefish have started to show up right behind the bunker schools, and Mike has been finding a nice gator blue bite on diamond jigs. He’s filling up quick for the fall run, which is right around the corner, so be sure to book today!
Joe, from Diorio Guide Service, told me that the striped bass bite remains consistent at Block and around Montauk. He continues to find big fish consistently and saw at least 1 50-inch fish on just about every trip. The massive amount of bait has also helped things out; Joe has seen sharks all over the place between Fishers and Block, and the chub mackerel certainly haven’t decided to leave the area just yet. Joe is also finding easy limits of big sea bass, and while the bonito action wasn’t as strong as last week, they continue to pop up here and there.
Captain Mike, at Light Bite Charters in Norwalk, reports that good numbers of schoolie bass are still hanging around the Norwalk Islands, while bigger bluefish remain available in deeper water and on the reefs. Snappers and smaller blues are inshore and are providing some great light tackle action. There is quite a bit of small bait filtering into the area, making a strong fall run look more and more likely.
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Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
Consistent catches of striped bass are coming from Block and Montauk, while inshore reports have started to improve a bit across the eastern sound. A good pile of gator bluefish has also invaded the eastern sound, a good sight to see after nearly none were caught last year. Snappers are showing up in better numbers, providing good light tackle fishing close to home. Sea bass and scup catches remain large and consistent; while fluke fishing has been a bit tougher. There are still some quality doormats out there, but you need to start looking deep and covering some ground.