Rhode Island Fishing Report
The Frances Fleet in Point Judith continues to offer customers fall tautog trips as well as trips targeting cod and black sea bass. They lost quite a few trips to the wind over the past few days, but when they got back out early this week, they had a number of quality fish. High hook landed 13 keepers, and everyone on the boat went home with some meat in their coolers. Each trip is starting to see more and more keeper-size cod as well. The rest of the week/weekend looks much better than the previous couple of days, so they should be able to sail most days. Be sure to check their website, Facebook page, or call the office for updates. Their full schedule and reservations can be found on the website.
Dave at Ocean State Tackle in Providence is now closed for the season and wanted to thank everyone for another great season. You can keep an eye on his Facebook page for re-opening updates. As far as fishing, the main interest for anglers across Rhode Island continues to be hunting for big tautog. The weather, wind, and temperatures were more difficult this week, but when anglers got out, they were able to find some success. Hard structure in the usual areas are all producing as they should, but the fish are transitioning to deeper water. Anglers that are still targeting striped bass are finding a few small fish out front, but most of the striped bass attention is on holdovers in the rivers and salt ponds. Freshwater anglers are reporting excellent trout fishing, following more fall stocking and improved flows in many of the streams.
Ralph Craft at Crafty One Customs said that fishing for tautog remains solid when the weather cooperates and there have been some double-digit fish caught over the last week around the Newport area. The best news has been that the majority of local anglers are releasing these monster tautog, so they can pass on those superior genes to the next generation. Squidding remains solid around Newport and Jamestown and there are still stripers to be had as well. Anglers targeting schoolies are finding them out front, throughout the bay, and in the salt ponds.
Captain Connor at Tall Tailz Charters provided the following report as he hits the pinnacle of his late fall tautog season: “Tautog fishing is in full swing for us. The temps are finally settling down. On most drops, I’ve been seeing 55 degrees or lower. We’re still getting plenty of action with quality fish coming from 40 to 60 feet of water. We’re also seeing bigger fish out in the deep. Green crabs and spider crabs are working good in shallow, while the white crabs are doing the job in the deeper water. This week we’ve seen some fish over 15 pounds on the jig! We’re also getting some quality sea bass and cod as bycatch. With water temps still warmer than usual, I expect a longer inshore season for us in RI!”
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Captain Rob Taylor at Newport Sportfishing Charters is still getting after it on the bottom fishing grounds. No surprise, but tautog fishing continues to be the main show in town. The weather was a bit more challenging to navigate this week, and Rob hasn’t seen any giant “mid-teen” fish, but there have been plenty double-digit fish and easy limits. Rob also mentioned that he has continued to see encouraging cod results, along with keeper sea bass. With the tautog starting to transition deeper, we should continue to see a nice mix of cod and sea bass.
Dustin at Rhode Island Kayak Fishing Adventures provided the following report for the week: “Cooler water temps have changed the tog bite a little but they are still chewing. Plenty of big black sea bass are still being caught while togging, which is never a bad thing. Although few and far between, good-size scup are in the mix as well. There are still small bass around out front, but the holdover striped bass bite should be more consistent going forward and become the center of attention for bass anglers. Last but not least on the saltwater side of things, the squid bite has been pretty solid and is a very fun species to fish for. In freshwater, trout are still a very reliable target. They will be stocked several times over the next few weeks. The largemouth bite is there, but slowing down your presentation will be the key to success as the water cools down. We will be fishing year round so don’t hesitate to reach out to book your kayak fishing trip!”
Jay at Pamela May Charters told me that he lost a few trips this past weekend due to the weather, but local reports indicate that things have remained status quo. The tautog fishing has been as steady as ever, whenever anglers have been able to get on the grounds. Most anglers are leaving with full coolers. Tautog are still spread out across a number of depths but are finally starting to transition to deeper water, as the temperatures dropped a bit more this week than in previous weeks. Jay is also hoping to get on some more waves of stripers moving out of the bay—they are still around, but growing scarce. This will likely be their final weekend of fishing for the season and Jay is hoping to come away with multiple species once again!
Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
Some colder temperatures, wind, and cold rain made things quite nautical as we get ready to enter December. Despite the poor weather, tautog fishing remains red hot, whenever anglers have been able to anchor out of the wind or find a weather window. Inside the bay, tog fishing has been great on those days when you need a bit of a shield from the wind, and all of the deeper wrecks and rock piles out front are fishing great. This week’s weather has really ignited the transition of tautog to deeper water, so while that may hurt for anchoring purposes, it helps in terms of bycatch. Much improved numbers of big cod fish and knothead sea bass are coming from the tautog grounds this week.
Striped bass fishing has been more inconsistent, but a plethora of small bait is still keeping some fish around out front. Holdover striped bass fishing should start garnering more attention this week, both in the rivers and salt ponds.
Late season trout fishing has been excellent across the state following the RIDEM fall stocking, and flows should finally be improving after this week’s rain.