Rhode Island Fishing Report - August 29, 2024

Above: Dustin Stevens of Rhode Island Kayak Fishing Adventures reported that the cool mornings have brought some great striper fishing. 

The Frances Fleet in Point Judith had another strong week of fishing when they were able to get out. There was a good deal of improvement in the fluke fishing once again, which saw anglers limiting out, and a couple fish coming in over the 10-pound mark. Sea bass fishing also remains very good, with plenty of limits, along with plenty of dinner plate scup. Their full schedule can be viewed online, and you can also make reservations for upcoming trips on their website of by calling the office.

Dave, at Ocean State Tackle in Providence told me that the striped bass action has continued to slowly but surely improve. There are still bass in all their usual late-summer haunts out front, but there’s also been a few more bass in the bay and rivers, along with some reported blitzes around Colt Park and Ohio Ledge. Bottom fishermen are reporting a few nice fluke catches before the move out, sea bass and scup fishing is consistent, while tautog reports continue to improve each week. Mixed sizes of tuna are still being caught with regularity, although it has been a bit more up and down, which is likely due to the weather and boat traffic. Some fish are still being taken on the troll, but most are still coming on jigs, which is loads of fun if you can find them. As many of you know, Dave has a medical procedure in the coming weeks, he will remain open until then, but will be only offering window service to avoid any complications.

Captain Connor, at Tall Tailz Charters provided the following report after another strong week on the water; “Fishing this week has once again been nuts. With the fair weather, most of our trips have been on the nearshore tuna grounds. Each trip we’ve been catching quality fish with many more over-sized tuna being caught with regularity. The troll bite and jig bite have both been very consistent. Reports of nearshore yellowfin on the chunk have been trickling in as well. Hopefully that bite blows up soon. We’ve also been able to find a few hammer mahi on the pots close to home. When we’re fishing inshore, we’ve mainly been targeting stripers. The bass bite has been lights out, with loads of big fish. I’m mainly fishing tube and worm and seeing fish to nearly 50-pounds with some regularity. Mixed on the edges of the bass schools are gator bluefish which are always a blast! The seabass jig bite is still holding well for us when killing time around the slack tides. Fishing is epic!”

Captain Rob, at Newport Sportfishing Charters reported that things have remained status quo since last week, with strong fishing throughout the area. Most of the nearshore tuna haunts are home to some massive feeds. The key has been to find some clean water, once you do, you should be greeted with bait and plenty of pelagics, including a few more yellowfin joining the party this week. While tuna fishing is catching quite a bit of attention, Rob also noted that the striped bass fishing has remained tremendous this week, whenever he’s targeted them. Bass are taking topwaters during big portions of the day and can be caught all day long on live bait and jigs. Rob hasn’t done much bottom fishing this week, but sea bass reports have been steady, and the tautog fishing continues to slowly tick-up as well approach fall.

Dustin, at Rhode Island Kayak Fishing Adventures told me that earlier in the week the striper bite was going strong during those cool mornings, however the bite windows tightened up and made things tougher later in the week. The closer we get to September, the more it seems that blues are getting more fired up, making for some awesome fights on the kayak. Bonito are starting to trickle back in after a lull in the great bite from a few weeks ago. There haven’t been any credible albie sightings or reports at this point but that can change any day. The tog bite is getting better by the week and October and November should be lights out for them. Fluke and seabass are still around but it’s really more of a day-to-day luck of the draw bite. With some of the best of fishing coming up there’s still time to book your fall run kayak adventure. Head over to Dustin’s website to book soon!

Jay, at Pamela May Charters told me that some bonito have filtered back into the area, as the weather has settled down, but a big push of chub mackerel have shown up as well. They’re still waiting for the arrival of false albacore, but they’re likely right around the corner. There hasn’t been much topwater activity around the Narragansett area just yet, but there is plenty of bait to support it. Solid striped bass and bluefish can be found on structure inside the bay and out front along South County. They’ll make a brief appearance on the surface around dawn/dusk, but during daylight hours look for solid structures or bait schools. Bottom fishing hasn’t changed much, it still seems to be in summer patterns, with a few big fluke hanging around, plenty of sea bass/scup, and slowly improving tautog fishing.

Fishing Forecast for Rhode Island

By the time I’m writing to all of you next week, we may have seen a massive Labor Day hardtail invasion. The results aren’t there quite yet, but they’re trending in the right direction. The bonito have started to filter back in across Rhode Island and are finding no shortage of small bait. False albacore reports to the immediate east have intensified once again, so we should be mere days away from everything popping off. Striped bass and bluefish can still be found in all their usual haunts out front, no surprise for the last week of August, but we once again saw a better push of bait and predatory fish up the bay, and into the rivers. Bottom fishing has remained steady across the state, with strong scup and better sea bass results from the deeper wrecks and rockpiles. Fluke fishing has been difficult once again in terms of numbers, but there were a handful of double-digit fish caught, which should help inspire fluke anglers to give it one more shot. Tuna reports have been up and down, mainly because of the weather and crowds. That being said, the anglers that have it dialed in are finding no shortage of fish when they avoid the crowds, and the weather allows. The next few weeks are very promising, with real tuna biting consistently, false tuna knocking on the door, striped bass and bluefish entering fall mode, and tautog taking another step towards the fall bite.

Striped bass fishing had been up and down throughout the recent weather changes in CT, but things are starting to trend for the better big time throughout the state. Striped bass are being caught throughout the sound and in its major tributaries, with the eastern sound reefs starting to take charge this week. Areas from the central to eastern sound also saw many more surface feeding striped bass, feeding on juvenile butterfish and peanut bunker. That same area has also seen a nice push of Spanish mackerel, which is usually a great pre-curser to the false albacore season. The western sound has rebounded following the recent storms, and word of big bluefish, a better striped bass bite, and loads of Spanish mackerel are coming in from points west. The scup bite is as consistent as ever, with no shortage of hubcaps throughout the sound. Scup are coming from just about every piece of structure, regardless of depth, while the sea bass season has kicked into gear on the deeper structure. The late summer tautog season ends this weekend, but is usually very productive. If you have a chance to get out in the next two days for a late-summer white chinner, you should capitalize on that. Another one of our summer visitors, brown and thresher sharks, are continuing to show up close to home for anglers looking for something pelagic, without traveling too far.