Rhode Island Fishing Report
The Frances Fleet in Point Judith has been making trips for tautog, as well as cod/sea bass, and recent reports have been strong for both. Captain Cole has reported a couple strong days on the blackfish grounds, with many limits around the boat, and some quality fish close to the double-digit mark. Some black sea bass and scup are still mixed in with the tautog, so full coolers have been plentiful. The cod/sea bass trips have been seeing many boat limits of black sea bass and some decent numbers of quality cod. Reservations for both trips can be made on their website or by calling the office.
When I spoke to Jay, at Pamela May Charters, he told me that he took a break from the tautog fishing this week to go search for some topwater/light tackle action, and the results were strong! They found a huge biomass of migrating striped bass along the South County beaches that were blitzing on peanut bunker just about everywhere. Most of the fish were in the 24- to 32-inch range, however there were some bigger fish mixed in, and they were all willing to hit topwater offerings. There has also been some big bluefish and false albacore in the mix, so you never know what you will come across out there. The tautog fishing was as steady as ever last time they went, and they will be hitting the tog grounds hard once again this weekend.
Captain Connor, at Tall Tailz Charters told me that the fishing has remained electric this week! The water temperatures are slowly creeping down, resulting in more and more tautog slowly creeping in. Their last trip saw a full 6-man limit in less than an hour! Over the course of the week, they have seen 9 fish over 10 pounds, with each trip being more productive than the last. Tall Tailz tog jigz in super glow and blue crab have been killer, and have been outfishing the rigs. Big knuckle head sea bass have been in the mix, along with some quality cod. The bay is still loaded with bait, including a nice recent push of squid. This has resulted in albies, bullet mackerel, and bass blitzing consistently all over the area. Decent reports of late season tuna close to home are popping up as well, so there are still plenty of great fall-run options.
Dustin, at RI Kayak Fishing Adventures, told me that the false albacore and bonito bite was winding down, but there was a nice late season push over the past few days. The tautog fishing has been great, with most trips producing plenty of keepers, along with some nice black sea bass in the mix. There are still some big masses of bait in Narragansett Bay, so it is easy enough to find some big striped bass and bluefish that will chew. Freshwater anglers are busy with largemouth, crappie, and trout; reporting that the fall freshwater bite is in full form! Dustin still has some dates on the calendar for kayak and/or shore fishing trips, so be sure to check out www.rikfa.com to book a trip!
Ralph, at Crafty One Customs reported that the local tautog fishing continues to produce well, with many limit catches of fish to 10 plus pounds being reported. There are still some scup and sea bass in the mix, but they have started to thin out, which is a positive for dedicated tautog anglers. Those targeting big sea bass are finding them out by Block Island, along with a few nice cod. Striped bass fishing has remained consistent around the islands and in the mouth of the bay, along with some nice bluefish catches. The false albacore fishing has slowed over the past week, but anglers are still seeing some sporadic schools popping up inside the bay.
Captain Rob, at Newport Sportfishing Charters, told me that the tautog fishing continues to go strong in his neck of the woods. His trips continue to see full boat limits, along with some giant whitechinners on most trips. The fishing should only get better from here, as the keeper ratio has been steadily improving. Rob has been focusing most of his attention on tog, but for those looking for striped bass, there has been no shortage of mixed size fish across the area. Rob also reported a nice late push of false albacore, as he has seen them pop up on most of his tautog trips this week.
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Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
Strong, steady, and action-packed are all good ways to describe the current fall run across Southern New England. Massive blitzes of striped bass, bluefish, and albies can be found daily across Rhode Island and Connecticut, while bottom fishermen are reporting better tautog results on nearly every trip.
Anglers heading out in Rhode Island that are looking for blitzing fish should have no problem finding some. The majority of the blitzes have been mixed sizes of striped bass, which are assaulting bait all over the surface from Westerly to Newport. Albie action had started to show signs of slowing recently, but it appears to have fired back up, with increased reports coming in over the past few days. Tautog action may be starting to hit its fall peak, with bigger fish and better keeper to short fish ratios being reported across the board. Sea bass and cod action has been decent around Block Island, and there are still some tuna in the area, so fall options remain abundant.