Despite up-and-down temperatures, February has been good to ice fishermen in Rhode Island. Thursday felt spring-like and anglers took advantage, loading up on bait and heading for the safe ice in northern RI. The weather looks good into the weekend, and places with 5 to 8 inches of ice should hold up, but as always, be safe.
In Harmony, Will from Big Bear Hunting and Fishing had plenty of ice fishing reports. The shop has been selling loads of bait to ice fishermen in northern Rhode Island who have been catching largemouth bass, yellow perch, pike, crappie and trout. Big Bear is promoting an ice-fishing fishing tournament this weekend, the “Between the Cracks” tournament. Entry is via a $25 donation. The event is Saturday at the Crystal Lake Country Club Golf Course Pond.
Also happening at Big Bear this year, the team is organizing fishing tournaments using an app called “Fishing Chaos”, which allows tournaments to be created based on location. Their tournaments are set state-wide as long as there is safe ice, and they measure success by fish length. There have been sizable recorded catches for black crappie, yellow perch and largemouth bass in these tournaments, and they are entirely open to the public. Check out the fishing reports as they happen, or join in real-time by fishing in one of their free tournaments!
When I asked the Frances Fleet about the cod fishing, the response was “We’re looking forward to fluke season.” Unfortunately, the weather windows have been few and the fishing reports have not been great. Keep an eye on their website in case they have an opportunity to sail.
There’s plenty going on in the water’s just outside of Rhode Island as well. Connecticut’s ice fishing season is in full swing, with thick ice in the northern reaches of the state and around 5 to 8 inches on average in CT. Be sure to have a valid freshwater license for Connecticut if you plan on fishing out of state.
Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
You can wait patiently for the cod boats to venture out, or enjoy ice fishing in spring-like weather this weekend before cold moves back in on Sunday. Exercise caution when checking the ice going forward, and you may be lucky enough create your own fishing report for the coming week!
Connecticut report is Rhode Island report