Rhode Island Fishing Report
The Frances Fleet in Point Judith opened up their squid and fluke trips at the tail end of last week and through the weekend. Friday night’s squid trip was mostly successful with many customers filling buckets while others went home with more than enough for a few meals. Over the weekend they were able to get started on their fluke season. Unfortunately, the wind and big seas came on early, but the fleet was able to manage a few nice fish before the drift got too quick. Based on the amount of bait they are seeing on the grounds, including all the squid that moved into the area, they are anticipating a strong season! They will be sailing daily, weather permitting, so check the website for schedule and reservations.
Dave, at Ocean State Tackle in Providence, reports that the striped bass fishing took another turn for the better, especially around mid-bay. Stripers in the 40-inch class are being reported from Quonset all the way to Portsmouth. The Upper Bay and the rivers are still producing as well, and the first solid reports from the South Shore are starting to trickle in. Add that all up, and there should be no shortage of chances to find some stripers, regardless of where you’re fishing in the state. There are also a few bluefish showing up in the mix over the past few days, and they’ve generally been big. The usual bait offerings are working well for bass and flutter spoons continue to be popular. Metal lips are producing around the herring and pogie schools in the Providence River and anglers trolling the tube and worm are finding bass in the shipping channels of the Upper Bay. Bottom fishermen reported better tautog fishing, as the water temperatures have risen and the fish have been more active. Tog to 8-pounds were reported throughout the bay, as well as along the South Shore rock piles. Scup fishing is also heating up around Middletown, Newport, Jamestown and Narragansett. Squid anglers have had their patience pay off, as some large schools finally settled into the area over the past week. The squid are coming from shore and boat anglers in Newport, as well as Jerusalem and Tiverton. Freshwater anglers are still finding strong trout action on mealworms, PowerBait, and nightcrawlers, while the largemouth are eating medium shiners and Yamamoto worms.
Captain Rob Taylor at Newport Sportfishing Charters has been working the spring slam this week, with striped bass, blackfish, and squid, but most of his time was spent focused on the excellent striper fishing. The bass bite has been lights out over the past week, with a steady increase in numbers and size, including his first push of 30- to 40-pound fish. Most of the usual early season bass hotspots are holding fish at one point or another throughout the day, so you shouldn’t have to work too hard to locate them. Squid fishing is starting to get steady after a slow start and there are enough schools around that you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding a few. Bottom fishing for tautog has also gotten more consistent this week, as the water slowly warms. You may have to weed through a number of short tautog to make a limit, but you should be able to find some keepers on most of the shallower rock piles/wrecks in the bay, along with some bonus dinner-plate scup. Rob hasn’t heard much about fluke but based on the number of squid in the area, it should be a solid early season bite.
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Captain Connor MacLeod at Tall Tailz Charters provided the following report for the week: “Steady fishing this week for us on Tall Tailz. The tautog bite has been a bit inconsistent. Some drops have been savage with an awesome shallow water jig bite, while others have been loaded with shorts. We’ve had to work hard to get our limit on some trips, while other trips were done by 10 a.m. Thankfully the stripers are far more consistent. With more and more bass and bait arriving daily it seems to get better each day. Most of the schools we’re working are new arrivals, full of ocean sea lice. The primary bait I’m seeing them feeding on is herring and bunker. The topwater bite when they’re up and flutter spoon when they’re down has been the best strategy, and we’ve been seeing fish to 30-pounds with regularity. The new moon in a few days should dump even more bait and migrating bass into the bay. Stay tuned!”
Chris at The Saltwater Edge in Middletown heard reports of some nice-sized bass being caught up inside of the bay by both boat and surf anglers. There was a decent south wind for most of the week which tends to push the bait and bass within range of surfcasters who were able to land some quality fish. The larger bass are feeding on adult bunker and herring so larger soft plastics and topwater plugs are fishing well. Squid are starting to show up around the islands and should be spreading out along the beaches soon. Tautog reports are still a little slow, but they can be caught if you are willing to put in the time. There hasn’t been much for talk of fluke showing up in the bay yet but fishing seems to be picking up around Block and Montauk so they should show up locally soon.
Dustin Stevens at Rhode Island Kayak Fishing Adventures provided the following report after another week of solid spring fishing: “We’ve done very well on striped bass over the last couple of weeks and hope the action continues. Tautog has picked up some steam but it’s still not great. With time and effort, we have been able to get limits. Squid fishing has picked up very nicely over the past week. Sometimes the runs are long and other times they’re gone after a few weeks, but now is the time to target them. Weakfish reports have been trickling in over the past week, and we hope to take advantage of a what is usually a very short weakie run. Black sea bass and fluke are right around the corner, and I am very excited to see how it goes. On the freshwater side of things, largemouth continue to remain a reliable target with some fish still in spawn mode. The spring bite has been hot, and we hope the summer will be as well. Reach out ASAP to book your kayak fishing trip!”
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Jay at Pamela May Charters is still waiting on the worm hatches, but he is finding some large schools of smaller bass out front over the past week. These fish seem to be moving around quite a bit from day to day, as they are likely still entering the bay. If you’re looking for bigger bass, the bite in the bay is still going strong. Another push of bunker into the bay this week has brought a push of larger bass to 40-pounds or so. Jay has also started to head out for tautog, and the bite has improved quite a bit. Stronger reports are coming from the South Shore, relatively tight to shore. Jay still has some availability on Memorial Day weekend, so reach out if you’re interested!
Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
As we continue to transition into late spring, we’re seeing signs of early summer patterns. Striped bass continue to be prevalent throughout Rhode Island, with the numbers and sizes taking a precipitous jump this week. Big bass are taking notice of the pogies that have entered the Bay, and quite a few large schools of fresh bass are also showing up along the beaches. Anglers fishing the bay are finding plenty of bass on live bunker, soft plastics, topwaters, and flutter spoons. Trolling around the shipping lanes in the bay has also been a tried-and-true method to find some early season bass. Anglers fishing the rocks and breachways after dark are doing well on large swimming plugs, and live eels.
Squid fishing blew up this week, at least in terms of the large schools that have moved into the area. While the fishing can be up and down, you should have no problem finding some schools of squid to play with. If the squid numbers remain this good, we should continue to see a vast improvement in fluke fishing. Scup reports have improved from the mid-bay, lower bay, and just out front, with plenty of anglers scoring dinner plate fish this week. Tautog fishing has been steady on the shallow reefs and rockpiles under 30 feet, especially in the bay. You have to weed through a number of shorts, but there are keepers to be had.
Freshwater anglers are reporting quality largemouth catches, especially in the herring ponds, and the trout fishing is as strong as ever.