Rhode Island Fishing Report
The Frances Fleet in Point Judith is still running full day trips and half-day trips targeting fluke and black sea bass. Fluke fishing has been holding up well on both the full and half day trips, and customers now being able to keep two black sea bass is a welcome addition. Other species that might come over the rails on these trips include scup, mackerel, striped bass, bluefish, and sea robins. Their full schedule can be viewed online, and you can also make reservations for upcoming trips on their website or by calling the office.
Dave at Ocean State Tackle in Providence has reported strong striped bass fishing over the past few weeks but reports that things improved even more this week. A plethora of bait has entered the lower bay and the bass have taken notice. If you can’t find stripers on big artificials or live bait, the tube and worm bite is reportedly as consistent as ever, and there are still solid reports of anglers finding bass on eels along the South County rockpiles. While they wouldn’t exactly call the bluefishing consistent, most anglers are finding some gators in the mix inside the bay. The first month or so of fluke fishing has been better than any recent year, with a solid keeper ratio and plenty of double-digit fish. The sea bass have been mixed in with the fluke nicely, while the scup fishing remains strong at Rocky Point and Conimicut Point. Freshwater anglers are reporting a strong largemouth bite across the state on Senkos and Zoom Lizards, as well as live shiners.
Rob at Newport Sportfishing Charters told me that the bass bite has continued to improve, and once again the fish have taken another step up in the quality department. Some bigger bait has infiltrated the lower bay, and with it came a wave of some monster stripers. The bluefish have thinned out a bit, but there’s been solid enough numbers of gators on most trips to keep things interesting. Striped bass fishing has maintained the interest of most clients, so bottom fishing reports have been minimal, but word is that there is a glut of sea bass and scup. Fluke reports have trended negatively, as the bait has spread out and the fish are being culled out, but there’s still more than enough action to make it worth it.
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Jay at Pamela May Charters told me that the fishing remains steady locally, as they continue to fish the structure out front. The striper fishing has been up and down in Narragansett but has picked up greatly out in front of Newport. Some big fish have been setting up on an early summer pattern, where they’re up in the shallows feeding early then on the deeper rips and reefs mid-day. Word from Block Island has also been solid for anglers drifting eels or throwing topwaters at dawn. Fluking still continues to be good on the south shore, although it appears the bigger fish have been culled out or started to disperse. A nice mix of scup and sea bass has been picking up the slack.
Dustin at RI Kayak Fishing Adventures reports that, despite the hit or miss start to the striper season, the last week and a half has seen a lot of big stripers caught in the bay and along the ocean front. We can only hope that this trend continues. Big bluefish have been caught, but there haven’t been nearly as many gators at this point in the season as we’ve seen in previous years; however, the season is still young, and the activity should pick up again soon. Bottom fishing continues to get better as the water temps warm up and fish are a little deeper. Some days are better than others as far as keeper sea bass and fluke, but the numbers are there. Largemouth bass fishing is also pretty solid early in the morning when fishing shallow water close to structure and cover. Usually around mid-day, largemouth are either caught in deeper water or fishing a frog or swim jig through thick pad cover. Unfortunately, the June schedule is pretty busy for Dustin, however mid-July and beyond has some solid available dates for those looking to book their kayak fishing trip!
Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
The recent heat wave has things feeling like summer, and the fishing trends have been following suit. A strong start to the fluke season has waned, as expected, as the fish (and bait) spread out. That being said, there are still plenty of fluke to be had for those pounding the bottom, and the scup/sea bass bite has improved exponentially, so bottom fishing options remain plentiful. Striped bass continue to be prevalent throughout Rhode Island, with some much bigger bass continuing to enter the bay on the tails of the pogies schools, but there is a now a nice slug of resident fish hanging out on the local reefs out front. Bluefish numbers have waned a bit, but there are still enough around to keep things interesting, and that trend should only continue with this influx of big bait. Tuna reports have been quiet, but only to the point that it hasn’t fully blown open yet. There is enough interest and talk of offshore pelagics recently, that I except some epic big fish reports in the coming weeks.