Rhode Island Fishing Report
The Frances Fleet out of Point Judith reported a solid week of fishing for fluke and black sea bass on the full and half-day trips. High hooks have had limits or near-limits of both fluke and black sea bass on recent trips, and they’ve seen a few fluke pushing 10 pounds come over the rail. Along with the fluke and sea bass, customers have been catching some nice-sized scup and the occasional bluefish. You can view their full schedule on their website, where you can also make reservations for upcoming trips. Trips have been selling out, especially on the weekends, so be sure to book early!
Dave, at Ocean State Tackle in Providence, told me that the tuna bite off Rhode Island has been very good some days, with a solid jig bite as close as 30 miles from the coast. The recreational bluefin numbers have improved, and they’re responding to Chatter Streaker Jigs and Al Gags Big Game Jigs. Anglers trolling daisy chains and spreader bars are also producing well. Back inshore, the bonito bite ramped up once again. Bonito can pop up anywhere along the coast, so be prepared with the fly rod, or jigs and plastics in white, pink, green, and electric chicken. The striped bass are still in their summer patterns, but that’ll quickly change as water temperatures continue to drop in the bay—they’ve already dropped to the low 70s. Dave mentioned a strong bite from the Upper Bay near Conimicut recently, a sign that the striped bass are starting to get fired up again. Bottom fishermen are reporting a good sea bass and scup bite on squid along the south shore, and those targeting blackfish are seeing an improvement too. The tog bite has been mainly out front, but these fish will start transitioning into the mid to upper bay as water temperatures drop. Some squid are still around as well, keeping anglers busy locally and around the Cape.
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Over at The Saltwater Edge in Middletown, they’ve been hearing reports of very good fishing for bonito, which are basically all around the island and along the South County beaches. The bonito seem to be feeding on larger baits like sand eels and herring, making them easier to fool than when they’re keyed in on smaller forage. Striped bass fishing has been a bit slow due to a combination of high water temperatures and sharks, but it should pick up soon as the fall migration gets underway. Bottom fishing for fluke and black sea bass continues to produce some keepers along with quite a few short fish. Those targeting tautog seem to be doing pretty well, though not a lot of anglers are going for them just yet. Offshore, the recreational bluefin bite has been very good around Block Island and Montauk. Some days are better than others, but most anglers going for tuna are at least getting a shot at landing a fish.
Captain Rob Taylor, at Newport Sportfishing Charters, reported that things have remained status quo since last week, with strong fishing throughout the area. Most of the nearshore tuna haunts are home to solid feeds on any given day — the key is finding clean water. Once you do, you’ll be greeted with bait and plenty of pelagics, including a few more yellowfin joining the party this week. While tuna fishing is getting a lot of attention, Rob also noted that striped bass fishing has remained tremendous whenever he’s targeted them. Bass are taking topwaters throughout the day but also can be caught on live bait and jigs when they’re not up top. Rob hasn’t done much bottom fishing this week, but sea bass reports have been steady, and tautog fishing continues to slowly tick up as we approach fall.
Captain Connor MacLeod, at Tall Tailz Charters, provided the following report: “Fishing this week has once again been nuts. With the fair weather, most of our trips have been on the nearshore tuna grounds. Each trip we’ve been catching quality fish, with most coming in the 45- to 60-inch range. The troll bite and jig bite have both produced on most days, though some days are tougher to muster a bite than others. Reports of nearshore yellowfin on the chunk have been trickling in as well — hopefully that bite blows up soon. We’ve also been able to find a few hammer mahi on the pots close to home. When we’re fishing inshore, we’ve mainly been targeting stripers. The bass bite has been lights out, with loads of big fish. I’m mainly fishing tube and worm and seeing fish to nearly 50 pounds with some regularity. There’s still a presence of sharks on the inshore grounds too, mainly browns and threshers. The sea bass jig bite is still holding well for us when we’re killing time around the slack tides.”
Jay, at Pamela May Charters, continues to see some gator bluefish on topwater off Narragansett, which is a nice change after a relatively slow season. There are also some slot-class stripers mixed in, so the light tackle action remains excellent. Bonito are all over the South County shorefront, and while it can be hard to predict where they’ll pop up, it tends to be lock-and-load fishing once you find them. Fluke of mixed sizes are still biting well, with enough keepers to make things interesting — same goes for the sea bass. The inshore bluefin bite is going pretty strong, and the weather looks good to get out there this weekend. Jigging and fishing live bait close to the bottom is producing both overs and unders with some regularity.
Dustin Stevens, at Rhode Island Kayak Fishing Adventures, provided the following report for the week: “Striper fishing has continued to be consistent. With all the bait we’ve been seeing, some of the morning blitzes have been a blast. As we get closer to the fall run being in full bloom, some decent-sized bluefish are starting to appear. Tog remains the most reliable bottom fishing option, and that should only get better as temperatures cool. Black sea bass are coming up while togging, giving a nice bycatch on most outings. We haven’t spent much time on fluke, but keepers are still being caught for those who put in the time. As far as hardtails, we’re seeing some bonito in quick feeds and while trolling. Albies haven’t shown themselves yet, but it should be any day now. As mentioned above, the fall run is right in front of us, and we’re expecting a great one. Reach out to book your kayak fishing trip ASAP!”
Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
As I usually say around Labor Day, I’m hoping that by the time I’m writing to you next week, we’ve seen a massive hardtail invasion. Just like last Labor Day, the false albacore seem to be trending a bit later this year, though there are some large ones being reported by tuna anglers just offshore. The bonito numbers have remained steady across Rhode Island, and while it may be tough to “target” them, you have a very good chance of running into them along South County. Striped bass and a few bluefish can still be found in all their usual haunts out front — no surprise for the last week of August — but as water temperatures finally start to drop, we’re hearing of some bass feeds popping off in the mid to upper bay. Smaller bait is also firing off some huge topwater feeds around Point Judith and parts of Newport.
Bottom fishing has remained steady across the state, with strong scup and slightly better sea bass results from the deeper wrecks and rock piles. Fluke fishing has been difficult once again in terms of numbers, so anglers looking for table fare have started transitioning to tautog — that bite is solid and will only improve as we approach true fall.
Tuna anglers are putting in their time and finding fish, though the bite was a bit tougher this week. Bluefin of all sizes are on the midshore grounds, and there seem to be a few more yellows being caught without traveling too far. Sharks and some smaller mahi are rounding out the midshore/offshore bite, with plenty of both not too far from home. The next few weeks look very promising, with tuna biting consistently, false albacore knocking on the door, striped bass and bluefish entering fall mode, and tautog taking another step toward the fall bite.