Rhode Island Fishing Report
The Frances Fleet out of Point Judith missed a few trips this week due to residual swells from the hurricane, but bottom fishing was solid before that, and seas are looking much nicer for the end of the week. The fleet has been doing well targeting a mixed bag of black sea bass, tautog, and scup on recent trips. Sea bass fishing took a considerable turn for the better this week, prior to the swell. The weather looks much better for the weekend, which should result in a number of successful trips. Tautog fishing is steadily improving as well, and the fleet will start to dedicate more time to targeting tog as we move into fall. Their full schedule can be viewed online, and you can also make reservations on their website.
Dustin at Rhode Island Kayak Fishing Adventures provided the following report: “With the past storm, the bite has changed a bit. Bonito seem to still be around post storm, but the false albacore numbers have thinned out. Things could go two ways: either the albie bite will fire up again, or the magical run could be over. In the near future, we’ll be doing striper trips in the bay and soon after that, we’ll be focusing on tautog, which should be excellent. With trout stocking underway the freshwater bite should fire up. There’s still plenty of time to get on the water. Reach out to book your kayak fishing trip ASAP!”
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When I spoke to Jay at Pamela May Charters, he told me that albies are still around but the fishing has gotten a bit tougher. There are schools of albies, bonito and stripers along the coast from Point Judith to the West Passage, but they are on micro bait and can be quite finicky. The fish have been a bit more scattered, but there is no shortage of pods to play with. Striper fishing has been much more consistent in the backwaters and estuaries, which has provided a good bite with some shelter from the big swells. Giant schools of rain bait are prevalent throughout the area, both out front and in the estuaries, so there’s no signs of the hardtail run slowing down just yet. Jay’s early returns on this tautog season have been very good, with shallow rockpiles producing a bunch of keepers and a few quality sea bass. He’s currently booking tog trips for October and November, so reach out to reserve a date before it’s too late!
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Captain Rob Taylor at Newport Sportfishing Charters has spent the past week close to home doing some inshore fishing while waiting out the swell. Things have gone nicely on the tautog and striped bass fronts. The storm helped to kickstart the mullet run and has also pushed more bait, along with striped bass, bluefish, and bonito, into the bay. Rob continues to find bass from slot-size to 40 pounds, with a good deal coming on topwater. There are a few schools of bonito and false albacore crashing the party as well. Rob also used his time inshore to get on his early fall tautog spots, and the results have been very strong. He’s had limits on most trips, with fish approaching the double-digit mark. There are some bigger sea bass showing up as bycatch, and it should only improve as we make our way through October.
Dave at Ocean State Tackle in Providence told me that the majority of inshore anglers across Rhode Island spent their time dodging large swells this week, but are now focused on false albacore and of course tautog, as the calendar flipped to October. Albies have been on the move quite a bit, so you may have to do some looking around, but the bite has been consistent. The Newport area was solid before the swell, but a lot could change as the weather settles. The upper Bay/Providence River area has been a hot spot this week as anglers seek shelter from the weather. There’s plenty of bait, and thus, good numbers of striped bass, bluefish, and bonito are being caught. Anglers in South County reported good bass fishing before the conditions went south, and there should still be some fish around this weekend, but you may have to deal with some weeds and dirty water. Bottom fishermen are starting to target tautog, and like clockwork, some much bigger fish were reported as soon as we reached October. Some keeper sea bass are mixed in with the tautog, and there have been a few reports of solid fluke within the bay and out front. Freshwater fishing is starting to regain some steam and will continue to do so with the trout stocking later this month. Dave is fully stocked with all your hardtail, striper, and tautog needs, so stop by the shop!
Eric at The Saltwater Edge in Middletown provided the following report: “Togtober is here! The first day of October feels a lot more like fall, and that means it’s time to think tautog. The inshore bite has been steady with plenty of fish taken from boat and shore. We really are lucky with our tautog fishery here in RI. Albies and bonito are sticking around, but we’re curious what this storm is going to do to the bite. Sometimes it will drive them in and sometimes it drives them out; we’re hoping for the former. Striped bass fishing is going great, with the surf bite picking up across the shorefront statewide, and big schools of bass working bait balls further out for the boat crowd. Make sure you have a selection of different lures and profiles ready, because there are plenty of different baitfish around.”
Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
With the calendar turning to October and a brisk bite to the air this morning, it’s hard to not think about fall tautog fishing in Rhode Island. Local anglers found a strong bite across a range of depths this week, with the best action in shallow. Keepers can be had out front, but are also chewing well in the Bay, which was a good thing due to the large ocean swell. The tog bite will only improve from here, but fishing pressure is sure to increase, so try to work some lesser-known pieces of structure. Keeper sea bass numbers have improved for a second straight week, and they can often be found mixed in with the tautog.
The crisp autumn air also reminds anglers that the hardtail season can be cut short, and while there are still albies and bonito around, they have been a bit tougher to locate and catch. False albacore feeds are sporadically consistent, if that makes any sense, from Point Judith to Newport. When you do find them, they are often on micro bait and can be finicky. You will need to exercise patience and downsize your offerings. Whether it was the large swells or the abundance of bait this week, the upper Bay and Providence River have seen better fishing for striped bass, bluefish, and bonito. These fish haven’t been nearly as finicky as the albies out front.
Prior to the large, dirty surf, shore anglers were finding plenty of striped bass along the south-facing shoreline. More bass will fill in as things start to clean up, and we should see some blitz activity as the fall run progresses.
Offshore reports were minimal this week, but there should be a few more weeks of good C&R bluefin and yellowfin fishing within range for many.
With RIDEM starting up their fall stocking program, trout fishing will be another great option in the coming weeks.