Rhode Island Fishing Report
The Frances Fleet out of Point Judith has seen very good squid fishing on recent trips with customers filling up buckets of nice-sized tubes. Fluke fishing is also showing signs of improvement even though the water is still very cold for this time of year. The weather last weekend forced them to cancel trips for Saturday, but they will be getting back out for fluke and squid as soon as conditions improve. Check their website for updated trip information and to make your reservations.
Dave, at Ocean State Tackle in Providence, reports that the striped bass fishing has gotten a bit more challenging as the fish have spread out a bit, but there are still plenty being caught. Most of the bigger bass seemingly moved into the lower Bay after last weekend’s blow. There are still some big fish around Providence, but they are gorging on squid all night, so the bite tends to die out as the sun gets higher. Speaking of squid, that fishery remains solid around Newport, Tiverton, Bristol and as far north as Barrington. Bottom fishermen are reporting decent scup fishing along the southeast beaches and rock piles, while fluke fishing saw a slight uptick in the lower Bay and south of Block Island. 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 Connor MacLeod at Tall Tailz Charters provided the following report for the week: “The fishing this week has been great when it’s great and slow when it’s slow. Before last weekend’s big northerly blow, we had tons of quality bass from 30 inches to 30 pounds plus. After the big blow, most of the small sand eels the bass were feeding on had been blown out, which stalled the bite for a couple days. Now the bait is back and so are the stripers. They have been somewhat tricky. Small jigs like the 4-inch RonZ and 30-gram Hogy paddletails have been working best. Darker/golden colors have been producing best. Live eels and live squid have been decent but only when the fish are feeding heavy. The topwater feeds have been hit or miss, but when they do push the bait up, they’re eating anything from glide baits to SP Minnows and Docs. Jumbo sea bass have really taken over a lot of the shallow humps. Small diamond jigs and epoxies are doing the trick. Things should start to balance out a bit more as we get away from the moon.”
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Captain Rob Taylor at Newport Sportfishing Charters told me that the bass bite has continued to improve, and once again the fish have taken another step up in the quality department. Some bigger bait has infiltrated the bay, and with it came a wave of monster stripers. Decent numbers of big bluefish are still mixed in with the bass on most occasions, so hopefully that resurgence continues. The bass bite has started to get going at Block Island as well. It seems that the blow from last weekend sent a mass of bass and bait to the island, and bass can be found feeding on top in the morning hours. The bass fishing has been too good this week to really focus on anything else, but reports of fluke and sea bass have improved inshore, as the fish seem to have made the move in from Block.
Jay at Pamela May Charters told me that the big blow from the weekend, followed by a full moon tide, definitely spread the bait and fish around quite a bit. The fishing wasn’t as lock and load as last week, but there still has been some solid action. The sand eel schools have been thickening up around Newport Harbor, so the bass fishing should be good around those schools as the tides become more manageable. The fishing around Block Island is also reportedly strong, mainly for anglers running frames on the troll. Jay is personally a fan of the June new moon and is anticipating some strong fishing from next week up to that new moon period, especially with rising water temperatures. A recent positive is a strong push of gator bluefish in some of the same spots that the bass were holding last week. Jay hasn’t been doing much bottom fishing lately, but mentioned that there has been a noticeable lack of scup and shad in the area, which they are usually using for live bait offerings to the bass. This shortage has also made things a bit more difficult, but should also improve as water temperatures rise.
Eric at The Saltwater Edge in Middletown told me that they continue to hear reports of good fishing for striped bass up inside of the bay and around the island. The fish are a bit more widespread now, so you might need to spend some time searching but there are still plenty around. Along with striped bass, anglers are catching some nice-sized bluefish, and that bite seems to be starting off a bit more consistently than in years past. Fluke reports are starting to pick up along the south shore and inside of the bay. There have also been reports of better fluke fishing south of Block Island. There are some keeper-sized black sea bass around, along with plenty of short fish to pick through. It seems to be a bit slower of a year for weakfish so far, but the first few encouraging reports have come in from areas around the islands. Scup fishing is starting to pick up a bit and will only get better from here.
Dustin at Rhode Island Kayak Fishing Adventures provided the following report for the week: “There are plenty of striped bass of all sizes in the area, but they have been a little picky for us on most days. Moving around a bit has been the key to our success. With blackfish closed until August, it’s time to focus on other bottom dwellers. Fluke has been slow for us to start, but the black sea bass bite has picked up. Squid are still around, so it’s not too late to fill buckets; some nights have been better than others, but most trips are resulting in at least decent numbers. June is pretty much booked, so reach out ASAP to book your kayak fishing trip for July and beyond.”
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Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
After another cold and windy weekend, some early summer weather is back across the northeast and it is starting to feel like summer fishing is upon us. That weekend weather, plus the full moon, seems to have spread out the fish quite a bit. That said, while it may take a little more work to find the fish, there is no shortage of big hungry striped bass. Most of the fish in the bay seem to have made their way closer to the mouth, and are responding to big topwaters, soft plastics and spoons. Big numbers of mixed size classes are still moving in around the beaches, both inshore and at Block Island. These fish seem to be feeding on smaller silversides and sand eels, so you may have to downsize your offerings in these locales. Trolling has been a successful method for getting the Block Island bass to eat.
The continued presence of big bluefish has been a welcome site this season, and that didn’t change this week. The blues are moving around quite a bit, but they are often being caught in the mix alongside big stripers and, occasionally, can be found in large schools blitzing on the surface.
Squid reports have remained consistent around Newport and are being reported as far north as Barrington. Fluke, along with black sea bass and scup, are starting to show up in better numbers in the lower bay and out front. Block Island area fluke reports took another turn for the better this week, especially on the grounds to the south side.
Freshwater anglers are reporting quality largemouth catches, post-spawn, and the trout fishing is as strong as ever following increased stocking and settled weather.