Rhode Island Fishing Report
The Frances Fleet out of Point Judith has been running trips for fluke and squid as conditions and interest permit. They had a better morning on the fluke grounds last weekend before the winds kicked up with a steady pick of keepers along with plenty of action from short fish. Squid fishing is picking up locally and they had a solid trip on Friday night. They also made a few private squid trips this week and saw nice results, with high hook taking home full buckets. The water is still at around 48-50 degrees, but this warmer weather should get us above the 50-degree mark soon and fishing should really take off. They have a full slate of Memorial Day weekend trips, so be sure to check their website for the trip that works best for you and to make reservations.
Dave, at Ocean State Tackle in Providence, reports that the striped bass fishing continues to be steady, and the overall size of the fish continues to improve. The Upper Bay is producing big fish, including fish to 50-inches caught by Victor P. and his crew on the umbrella rig this week. The Mid Bay area is seeing a steady pick of bass on topwaters, jigs and flutter spoons. The lower Providence River has also been a striped bass hot spot on a number of offerings. The Joe Baggs Skipper and large surface-swimming metal lip plugs are producing up top, and white soft plastics on jigs are always a reliable option, while the bait dunkers are catching on mackerel chunks, squid, and clam tongues. Bottom fishermen are reporting steady tautog action, along with better scup fishing around the southeast beaches. Squid anglers continue to fill their buckets, with a steady pick around Newport 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. Ocean State Tackle will be open all weekend from 4:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Captain Rob Taylor at Newport Sportfishing Charters told me that the bass bite has been lights out over the past week, and he saw a “sizeable” increase in quality over the past few days. He also mentioned that a mass of very large bluefish has entered the area over the past couple of days, and hopefully that resurgence will continue. Squid fishing has been as steady as ever, while bottom fishing for tautog is consistent enough to make it worth a trip before the spring season ends. Rob hasn’t spent a ton of time fluking just yet, but local reports indicate that things took a turn for the better this week.
Captain Connor MacLeod at Tall Tailz Charters provided the following report for the week: “The fishing this week has been excellent. Most of my trips have still been focused on togging. With water temps at 57° where we are, the bite has been very good. Easy limits on most days, with the fish mainly coming on the jig. The darker colors still seem to be working best. I did get a break from tautog to focus on striper fishing. We’re still doing best in the deeper water and channel edges as more and more migratory fish arrive; flutter spoons when they’re very active, and smaller diamond jigs and RonZs when they’re a bit more finicky. With the absence of bunker, they’re mainly feeding on piles of squid and smaller silversides. With the water temps rising quickly we should be in for a killer June!”
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Jay at Pamela May Charters told me that last weekend brought an awesome worm hatch in the salt ponds. Everything lined up, with the warm sun heating up the mud mid-day and a flood tide in the afternoon, which made the stripers come alive at dusk. There were plenty of school-class fish but also a few larger migratory fish in an all-out feeding frenzy. They were able to catch a few by trying different cinder worm patterns, as well as casting Albie Snax in the translucent pink color. They also managed a few on the Cocahoe Minnow. Tautog is still going strong and the squid are making their way onto the beaches off the south shore and certain bay areas. Larger stripers are being found along Narragansett shoreline in the evenings, for anglers casting plugs and soft plastics. However, as we all know, the big girls are up in the bay. They are sailing every evening in the pond to hit the worm hatches and aftermath bites, but will be trailering the boat up in the bay over the weekend. If anyone is interested in live lining and flutter spooning, Jay has some availability for Memorial Day weekend.
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Chris at The Saltwater Edge in Middletown reported that some large bluefish moved into the bay last week. They were a bit picky, which is often the case this time of year, but a decent number were caught and many anglers reported seeing them tailing on the surface. Striped bass fishing continues to produce some nice fish, especially up in the bay around schools of bunker. Finding the bunker can be a bit of a challenge at times, as there is not a huge biomass of them in the bay right now—but if you find them, it’s almost guaranteed that some nice bass will be around. Flutter spoons and large glide baits are still catching well. Squid reports were decent this past week with boaters doing well around the bridges. The bridge/shore bite has been a little inconsistent so far this year. Tautog fishing is really starting to pick up now with water temperatures in the bay climbing to around 55 degrees. There really hasn’t been much in the way of fluke reports in or around the bay yet, but that should change soon.
Dustin Stevens at Rhode Island Kayak Fishing Adventures provided the following report: “Striped bass action continues to be hot with many larger fish being caught in comparison to schoolies. Tautog action has heated up, and we have been getting limits on all of our trips over the past week or so. Weakfish should be firing up any day now and usually last for a couple of weeks. We are looking forward to June to start mixing it up, with black sea bass and fluke being added to the target species list for our trips. Freshwater bass fishing has been very consistent with solid post-spawn fish being caught. May and June have very few dates left and with summer right around the corner, reach out to book your kayak fishing trip ASAP!”
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Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
As we approach Memorial Day weekend, the weather feels more like the kickoff to fall, not the kickoff to summer. That being said, the extreme heat from earlier in the week has helped to bring water temperatures up, and the summer fishing trends seem to be close to on schedule across Rhode Island.
Striped bass continue to be prevalent throughout the state, with some much bigger bass entering the bay on the tail of a plethora of bait, along with some quality, migratory fish showing up along the beaches. Fish to 50 inches were reported from the deeper water of the Upper Bay, and from there to the mouth, there have been some fish willing to hit topwaters, soft plastics, jigs and flutter spoons. A recent influx of big bluefish have started to trickle in, and hopefully they hang around for a while. The weakfish bite should fire up any day now to provide yet another option; it’s been strong in our area over the past few seasons, and anglers are hoping that trend continues. The squid bite has also remained solid over the past week, with steady reports from shore and boat anglers. Squid filled in around the South Shore this week as well, so you can find them all over the state at this point.
The early season fluke seem to have caught notice of the squid, as the first few reports of the year consisted of some solid Rhode Island flatfish. Scup are starting to show themselves as well, sea bass is now open, and the spring tautog season benefitted from the recent heat wave. Add all that up, plus some strong freshwater fishing, and most anglers should have a productive Memorial Day weekend, even if the weather isn’t ideal.