Rhode Island Fishing Report
The Frances Fleet in Point Judith has picked up their full-day mixed bag trips and has had a pretty successful week on the water. These trips leave the dock at 7 A.M. and see a nice mix of black sea bass, cod, scup, and some fluke. The weather forecast is looking much better after Thursday, and the trips have been solid whenever they’ve been able to get on the grounds. Recently, most anglers have been seeing a limit of black sea bass, plenty of scup, some nice cod, and hake. These trips offer a great opportunity for anglers to come home with a nice bag of filets for the dinner table. They are also looking forward to kicking off their tautog season in about 10 days or so and have already been doing some pre-season scouting. Their full schedule can be viewed online, and you can also make reservations for upcoming trips on their website of by calling the office.
Ralph Craft at Crafty One Customs said that customers are still finding some bonito inside the bay and along the south shore beaches, but they have started to thin out compared to the last few weeks. There have also been a few false albacore around, but they are still sparse. Striped bass fishing remains very good with plenty of topwater action taking place during the day, especially the cloudy windy days last week. Tautog reports are improving, and more anglers are starting to turn their attention to targeting them, so we should continue to see reports ramp up. Most anglers are reporting solid sea bass numbers mixed in with the tautog as well. Registration is still open for The Rhode Island Tog Classic, which is scheduled for October 13th. Visit ritogclassic.com for more details.
Dustin at Rhode Island Kayak Fishing Adventures told me that with the start of the new month things have started to shift a bit, but overall, the bite has been similar to mid-September. There has been a lot more activity in the upper Bay, due to a massive influx of bait. The first-light striped bass bite up there has been great, and because the area is sheltered, its been on almost every day, regardless of weather. As you move further south, you’re apt to find blitzes of striped bass, bluefish, and/or bonito on most trips. Dustin has only had one good false albacore trip so far, but there’s still time for the bite to fire up. While the gamefish activity has been great, the tautog bite has been incredible. Dustin has had multiple days of easy limits over the past few weeks. Although the weather is a little cooler, there is still plenty of time to get a kayak fishing trip in before the “peak season” is over. Head over to Dustin’s website to book!
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Jay at Pamela May Charters reports that his week was full of stripers, stripers, and more stripers! The bay, out front in Newport, and the South County shore has been lit up with striped bass of all sizes. Most days you can find them crashing bait on the surface, which is what most customers are interested in. The late-season shallower reefs and rips are still holding big bass as well, and they can usually be taken on the tube and worm or with live eels. The bonito bite has remained consistent as well, and they tend to pop up at some point on just about every trip. The false albacore still haven’t hit the area in full force, but luckily those bass/bonito blitzes have been keeping the fall run fire burning. Large bait schools are all over the state, so if you’re not seeing anything right away just keep moving around and you’re bound to find some fish in one of the usual spots. The tautog are waking up as well. Jay was catching quality tog, sea bass, and big scup on the same jigs they were tossing to the bonito and stripers. All signs point to the gamefish bite continuing, along with another tremendous fall tautog bite.
Captain Rob at Newport Sportfishing Charters saw some improving weather this week and used it to get back on the nearshore bluefin bite. Most trips were successful, with a nice mix of unders and just-overs coming on jigs and relatively light tackle. While tuna has been the main focus the last few days, Rob also mentioned that the inshore striped bass bite is going strong and is still being fueled mainly by the mullet run. Mullet and some big piles of peanut bunker have continued to drive some nice topwater blitzes. Rob will be turning his attention to tautog shortly, as reports have been very strong from other local anglers this week. Rob also noted that the sea bass fishing is “super”, with a nice mix of fish in the same areas as the tautog, as well as on the deeper structure/cod grounds.
Eric at The Saltwater Edge in Middletown reports that most local anglers are either cashing in on blitzing gamefish or getting into fall tautog mode. The hardtail season remains strange locally, with big numbers of bonito and a serious lack of false albacore. They’ve seen one of the best bonito seasons in years, and after a little lull due to weather, the bite seems to be firing back up nicely. These fish will hit a variety of tins/soft plastics, and the bite should continue for a few more weeks. False albacore reports remain sparse, but there’s still time for a late arrival. Striped bass blitzes have been most common, with huge schools of mixed-sized bass from Watch Hill to Little Compton. These fish are generally on smaller bait, so matching the hatch with small offerings like a fly on a casting egg has been the ticket. There are some larger bass pushing up into the Bay, and these fish can be caught on a variety of large offerings from soft plastics to swimming plugs and topwaters. Tautog fishing is in full swing, and anglers are starting to spend more time targeting them. Good reports are coming from as shallow as 5 feet and as deep as 65 to 80 feet, on both jigs and rigs. Sea bass fishing is excellent as well, and similar to the tautog, you can find them across a variety of depths on bait or jigs.
Dave at Ocean State Tackle in Providence reports that the striped bass fishing has been a major draw in the area this week. The fish are feeding heavily as they prepare for the migration and can be found in good numbers throughout the Bay, and just out front along the beaches. There are also some decent schools of bluefish, bonito and a few false albacore along the Newport coastline and South County beaches. This is providing some good light-tackle action for boat, kayak, and surf anglers. There have also been a few confirmed reports of weakfish through the Bay this week, which is a nice fall surprise! Inshore anglers are also paying more attention to tautog recently, and the early reports are good within the bay, rivers, and rockpiles out front. These fish can be found throughout a variety of different depth ranges, but most anglers are preferring jigging in 30 feet or less at the moment. Anglers who still have the tuna bug are reporting a good giant bite southwest of Block and around Montauk, and there have been enough small fish around to keep recreational anglers busy as well. Rhode Island DEM has started their fall trout stocking for freshwater anglers. Check out the DEM website for the stocking areas and schedule. Dave is still recovering, and the shop will be open on some limited fixed and pop-up hours. Be sure to check the OST Facebook page for updates.
Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
As the calendar flipped to October this past week, the full transition to the southern New England’s fall fishing season seems to be upon us. With the exception of poor false albacore numbers, everything else is right on time. Striped bass are feeding heavily as they prepare for the fall migration. Reports from the upper Bay have improved greatly this week, with morning blitzes of quality fish being a common occurrence. Some larger bait in the area has called in some bigger bass, and provides a nice refuge on poor weather days. As you move south, you’re apt to continue to find large schools of bass around the mouth of the bay and along the beaches. A nice mullet run has fueled some blitzes of bigger fish in these areas as well, along with some giant schools of smaller bass feeding on small bait.
The bonito reports have quieted a bit, but you’ll generally come across a few chances at them on any given day. The same can be said for bluefish, which are scattered throughout the area as well. Now that it’s October, a lot of anglers realized it’s time to start focusing on tautog. Early reports have been good in the bay and out front, with fish coming from a wide range of depths. There are plenty of sea bass in the same areas as well, along with solid sea bass and cod results on the deeper structure.
The tuna bite has also fired back up as the weather has settled down, with good reports of bluefin from giants to footballs for most anglers heading out after them.
Another staple of October fishing is fall trout fishing, and the DEM has started up their fall stocking program this week.