Rhode Island Fishing Report
The Frances Fleet out of Point Judith once again lost some trips this week due to the weather, but the tautog fishing has been solid when they have been out on the grounds. Many of the trips have seen triple digits (in terms of the number of fish being caught), with a fair amount of limits across the boat. The water temperature is dropping, so some of the deeper spots should be fishing well once conditions settle; these are often spots where they start to see some double-digit fish come up. The weather looks better for the next couple of days, and they will be sailing daily at 6 AM. Reservations can be made through their website.
Dustin Stevens at Rhode Island Kayak Fishing Adventures provided the following report: “The tautog bite is on fire with lots of solid-size fish being caught. If you made it out between the gale winds and small craft advisories this week, you were likely rewarded with some of the best fishing of the year in terms of quality. Bonito reports have been quieter this week, but there are allegedly still a few around. The ocean front striped bass bite has quieted down quite a bit, however, there is still a pretty reliable bite in the bay, so it hasn’t been hard to salvage a trip. The squid bite is pretty hot right now and took another turn for the better over the past few days, especially around Newport. The holdover striper bite is already setting up and should be reliable until spring, albeit 90% smaller fish than what we’re dealing with the rest of the fall. With water temperatures cooling down quite a bit, the trout bite has become a reliable option, and largemouth are still relatively active in shallow water. As mentioned, before we never close, so reach out to book your kayak trip any time!”
Captain Rob Taylor at Newport Sportfishing Charters provided the following report after a strong week of tautog fishing: “Fishing this week has remained top-notch, however, the wind still remains a hindrance more often than we would like. Temperatures are finally starting to drop closer to their November range, and the tog are really chewing. This is the magic part of the season where you can have great days in depths from 30 to 100 feet of water, which provides a nearly endless amount of good structure to fish in the area. We’ve switched over to deep dropping with rigs for the most part this week, but we’re still scoring some nice fish on the jig during the slower tide periods, or on the shallower pieces. Each trip we continue to get easy limits, with a nice handful of double-digit fish in the mix. I’ve been using an even mix of both green and white legger crabs. Building the bite has been paying off well for us. It’s only going to get better as the temps continue to drop!”
Jay at Pamela May Charters reports that tautog is in full swing. They had another good week, despite some wind. Fish are available at all depths, with the “sweet spot” continuing to drop deeper as the water temperature decreases. The fish are still all over the place though, so you can still find them on the less-pressured pieces of structure, and/or in spots in the lee of the wind. The lesser-fished humps are still the best places to find some bigger fish, as well as the bonus keeper sea bass. Speaking of sea bass, they made a bit of a resurgence this week, with some of the largest keepers of the year mixed in with the tog. Striped bass activity is decent, with healthy numbers of mixed-sized fish dumping out of the bays and estuaries, but there are also some fish moving into their winter holdover haunts. Bonito reports have slowed, but there were a few caught this week, so don’t forget to bring your light-tackle gear out when tog fishing. Jay still has some openings for tautog charters over the next few weeks—give him a shout before it’s too late!
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Eric, at The Saltwater Edge in Middletown, provided the following report: “Things are still happening here in the Ocean State! We have acres of diving birds with bass and bonito under them, and some giant tautog that are being caught from shore and boat. We’re hoping we get a few more weather windows before things quiet down, but if not, plan on getting out there in some snotty weather. Most of the bass we’re seeing are being caught on smaller soft plastics and surface lures; think about your springtime arsenal and give some of those lures a try.”
Dave, at Ocean State Tackle in Providence, told me that the fishing across Rhode Island has remained good whenever the weather allowed. As we all know at this point, the weather has been uncooperative to say the least, but anglers taking advantage of short windows have been rewarded. Tautog fishing continues to steadily improve, with another uptick in the size department over the past few days. Most notably, the state record for tautog has been broken once again by an angler aboard Tall Tailz Charters. Most tautog reports are indicating bigger fish being caught throughout the bay, as far north as the Washington Bridge. The Lower Bay and South Shore are fishing just as well. Anglers are still catching tog on jigs during the weaker tide periods and in shallower water, but the bigger fish are starting to show up on deeper structure and are coming on rigs. Most anglers are reporting that the latter has been more productive recently. Striped bass fishermen are still reporting some migratory fish in the neighborhood, with the best results coming for anglers tossing plugs at night from the South County shoreline. Another thing Dave mentioned is that a late-season push of squid has arrived off Newport, and a number of anglers are cashing in and reporting large sizes! Dave will have crabs, squid jigs and everything else you need for some weekend fishing. The shop will be open for limited hours Friday, and will also be open 6 AM to 4 PM on Saturday and 6 AM to 2 PM on Sunday. Dave also offers shipping on squid jigs/supplies to New England, New York and New Jersey. On the days that he is closed, he offers shopping by appointment only.
Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
It feels like late fall in Rhode Island, as heavy winds continue to present a challange and cooler nights have lead to a significant drop in water temperatures. Tautog fishing remains red hot for anglers that have been able to anchor out of the wind or find a weather window. The Rhode Island shoreline is certainly not devoid of hard structure, and right now you can still find quality tautog anywhere from 15 to 100 feet of water, but the better reports lately are coming from 40 feet and deeper. You’re likely to find plenty of big sea bass in the mix still, with many anglers seeing some of the largest sea bass of the year coming over the rails this week.
Striped bass fishing is becoming more inconsistent, but a plethora of small bait is still firing up some blitzes. Fish are dropping out of the bays and salt ponds, so the mouths of these areas on a falling tide are good places to fish. Running up and down the South County beaches also provides a good chance to find some bass and a few bonito.
Fall squid fishing has been very good in most of the usual haunts. There is a nice push of large squid being reported from the Newport area over the past few days for both shore and boat anglers. The cooler temperatures have also helped to kickstart the fall trout bite across Rhode Island, so consider doing some freshwater fishing when the conditions are less than ideal for tog, squid, or stripers.