Rhode Island Fishing Report
The Frances Fleet in Point Judith reports that that that have been doing well targeting a mixed bag of black sea bass, tautog, and scup on recent trips. The tautog fishing has been especially strong the last few days, and you don’t have to travel too far from home to find them, which is helpful with the east wind all week. There are also still some nice fluke around when the conditions line up. Their full schedule can be viewed online, and you can also make reservations on their website.
Dave, at Ocean State Tackle in Providence, told me that the talk around Rhode Island has been the influx of false albacore, which is comingled with the large schools of bonito in the area. These fish have been in their usual haunts inside and outside the bay in Newport, Sakonnet and Tiverton over the past week. Over the last couple of days, the fish started to spread out to the west and are being caught from Narragansett to Charlestown. These fish are hitting the usual offerings, including, Albie Snax, Epoxy Jigs, Resin Jigs and Whip It Fish. Anglers are finding some solid schools of striped bass in the same general areas as the hardtails. Anglers targeting stripers are reporting more aggressive feeds, as the days have become shorter and temperatures cooler. Bottom fishermen are starting to target tautog with more regularity, and results have been good on all the local hard bottom. Some bigger sea bass are mixed in with the tautog, and there have been a few reports of some solid fluke within the bay and out front. Blue crabbing and clamming has also been productive for those who have tried, and freshwater fishing is starting to regain some steam, and will continue to do so with the upcoming trout stocking later this month. Dave is fully stocked with all your hardtail needs and is now open 530-7 Monday through Friday, 5-7 on Saturday and 5-4 on Sundays!
Dustin, at Rhode Island Kayak Fishing Adventures, told me that albie fever is officially here! Although a bit later than most years, this past week of albie fishing has been great. Bonito are also mixed into the same schools. Dustin hasn’t caught any Spanish Mackerel, but they’ve been caught frequently over the last week. Striper fishing has been more hit than miss, but it’s the fall run so patterns change quickly. The only bluefish that Dustin has been running into this week have been very small, but there are a few around. Tautog still is super reliable and should only get better. In the fall run you can never know what to expect but there are so many species around that he makes sure to get on a good bite whether it be game fish or bottom fish. There’s still plenty of time to get on the calendar for kayak fishing this year. Book your trip asap!
Captain Rob, at Newport Sportfishing Charters reported that he spent some time targeting giant bluefin once again this week, with high success rates. The bluefin fishing has been strong for anglers looking for giants, as well as catch and release unders on the jig. An increased number of yellowfins have shown up as well, although they are still a bit further out range-wise than the bluefin. Between tuna trips, Rob has been bottom fishing and has been finding great success for black sea bass and tautog in local waters. Rob hasn’t spent much time striper fishing recently but told me that he is marking massive schools of big fish around Block and is also seeing increased striped bass activity when he’s leaving port in Newport. Rob also mentioned that he’s been seeing a good deal of inshore hardtail activity. The false albacore bite exploded locally this week, and there are still big numbers of bonito in the same areas, so it doesn’t appear that the albies have bullied the bonito out just yet.
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Eric, at The Saltwater Edge in Newport, provided the following report for the week; “The false albacore bite has only intensified, as we move deeper into September! We have a great mixed bag on the south facing shores of Rhode Island. The eastern portion of the state has been more consistent in terms of hardtails, but the fish seem to be spreading west pretty quickly. You might find a pod of bass, followed by bonito, followed by albies. The bait is small, and the most prevalent bait is peanut bunker. Stock up on the Hogy Peanut jigs or similar for the best action. Anglers specifically targeting striped bass report that some lower water temperatures have really started to fire up the bass bite. Surf fishing and shore fishing for stripers is improving, but you need to find the bait. The boat fishing for striped bass is fantastic at the moment and you don’t even need to be an early riser, just pay attention to the tides and check your usual honey hole. Tautog fishing continues to improve, and some of those smaller sea bass from earlier in the year seem to have grown up. We are getting more reports of consistent keeper seabass every day. The fluke bite is good if you can find them but not as consistent as it was a week or two ago.”
When I spoke to Jay, at Pamela May Charters, he was in the midst of a great week targeting false albacore locally. There are enormous schools of bait all over the area, which is driving large feeds of false albacore, bonito and striped bass. The northeast wind over the past few days seems to have really kicked things into gear. Jay hasn’t been doing much other than dealing with albie fever this week, but mentioned that sea bass fishing is still strong, and is a good way to pass time while you wait for the hardtails to pop back up. Tautog fishing has been good for anglers who have been targeting them, and there are reportedly still some fluke around in deeper water.
Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
The false albacore bite has really started to hit its stride across Rhode Island over the past few days, and most anglers have caught the hardtail fever! Large false albacore feeds materialized from Sakonnet to Newport, and they seem to be moving west to Narragansett and points along the South Shore. Bonito are also still plentiful and can usually be found in the same areas. There’s no shortage of small bait in the area, so hopefully these fish hang around longer than they did last season. Striped bass and some schools of smaller bluefish can still be found in all their usual haunts out front, and in the bay, and remain prevalent on topwaters during the morning hours. Bottom fishing has remained steady across the state, with strong scup and improved sea bassing this week. The sea bass really seem to be putting on the fall food bag, with reports of big keepers across multiple depths. Fluke fishing is probably in its latter stages, but this is usually a time where you have one more chance for a doormat before they migrate. Tautog interested doesn’t usually peak until October, but those that are targeting them are being rewarded for getting the early jump on things. Tuna reports have started to slow down a bit, mainly due to the catch and release only bluefin regulations, but most anglers that are targeting them are at least finding a few. There has been a nice influx of yellowfin this week as well, which is always a nice late-summer effort before the fall really settles in. The next few weeks are very promising, with real tuna biting consistently, false tuna busting all over inshore waters, striped bass and bluefish entering fall mode, and tautog taking another step towards the fall bite.