Rhode Island Fishing Report
The Frances Fleet out of Point Judith reports that they have been doing well on both their full- and half-day trips, with a mix of black sea bass and fluke coming over the rails. The sea bass bite has been picking up, and they are catching a mix of short and keeper fluke as well. Recent whale-watching trips have also been very good, with lots of whale activity. You can view their full schedule on their website, where you can also make reservations for upcoming trips. Weekend trips have been selling out, so be sure to make your reservations early.
Captain Rob Taylor at Newport Sport Fishing Charters spent most of his time offshore this week. The weather cooperated for the most part, with the exception of early in the week, and so did the tuna. Most of the usual offshore haunts are holding giant bluefin, and he has been getting his clients on some monster commercial fish with stand-up gear! The key is still finding clean water. Once you do, you should be greeted with bait and plenty of pelagics, including fish to 105 inches like Rob found this week. The recreational-class fish have been slow to repopulate the midshore grounds, but they are starting to trickle back in, and there are loads of bait to keep them there when they show up. If the rec fish aren’t cooperating and you have the range, the shipping lanes are full of yellowfin. Getting them to bite on the nicer, high-pressure fishing days can be challenging at times, but most anglers are getting a few to hit the deck. While tuna fishing is catching quite a bit of attention, Rob also noted that the striped bass reports have remained very strong, and inshore anglers are talking about a nice influx of bonito into local waters.
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Jay at Pamela May Charters put together another week of strong bottom fishing. Much bigger sea bass seem to have settled in this week, with some big male knotheads mixed in. The fluking has also remained consistent, both inshore and around Block Island, but you still have to grind to get some in the box. There is no shortage of big scup to help fill the coolers as well! A nice addition this past week was the large slug of bonito that settled in throughout South County last weekend. Things got dirtied up after Monday’s storm but should clean up enough for the bonito by this weekend. Striper fishing has also remained steady. The bite has dried up a bit at the North Rip but is still going strong on the southwest and southeast sides of Block Island. Just be prepared to deal with some sharks. Jay is also hearing of more recreational bluefin entering the mix, as the bait has really started to flood the midshore grounds.
Captain Connor MacLeod at Tall Tailz Charters provided the following report for the week: “Fishing this week has been red hot. The inshore striper bite is too good to turn down. The majority of the fish we are landing are big, over 40 inches, although we are seeing a good number of slot fish if you can target schools around that age class. I’m seeing more and more fish on topwater pushing bait, so it sure seems like the fall run may come sooner than we think. With water temps approaching 70 degrees and dissolved oxygen plummeting, the bigger bass are tiring much more easily, so it’s very important to limit fight times and get fish back in the water ASAP after properly reviving them. With the warm water comes an abundance of sharks. We’ve been sharked a handful of times already this year, mainly by brown sharks but also by some small hammerheads and threshers. Other than bass fishing, we’ve been tuna fishing when the weather allows. There is still an abundance of giants around, but we’re getting more and more reports of steady rec-class catches, which is great to hear. Still waiting for the ‘fun-size’ fish to show up in force. Mid-summer fishing at its finest here in RI.”
Dustin Stevens at Rhode Island Kayak Fishing Adventures told me the striped bass bite was very good for him and his clients, both before and after the early-week storm. He is still seeing more big fish than smaller ones, but there are some nice slot fish around. Bluefish have started putting on some nice morning blitzes, which have been a great way to start a trip after a long absence. Bottom fishing has been solid, but they are still working hard to limit out on sea bass and put together a solid catch of keeper fluke. The fall run has started to show signs of life with blitzing bluefish and bonito, and it should only get better in the coming weeks. Saltwater fishing has been so busy that Dustin hasn’t been paying much attention to freshwater, but this time of year is usually great for frogging, pitching/flipping, and low-light topwater fishing. With that being said, spots are filling up quickly, so reach out to book your kayak fishing trip ASAP!
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Dave at Ocean State Tackle in Providence told me that things have remained pretty similar to last week across Rhode Island, except for some new green visitors! Dave has gotten word of a decent push of bonito over the past few days, specifically along the South County shoreline. Besides chasing these speedsters, striped bass are garnering the most attention from inshore anglers. The bay is now full of sand eels and is still holding squid, so another large biomass of stripers has moved into the bay as well. Bass of mixed sizes can be found from the mouth to the Upper Bay, including some larger fish being taken around Nayatt Point and Sabin Point. The striped bass fishing remains very strong at Block Island as well, and those fish can generally be targeted at any time of day with the right presentation. Sea bass fishing is providing plenty of action, albeit mainly with short fish. The exception is around Block Island, where some knothead sea bass are being caught with consistency. The same can be said for fluke, where keepers can be hard to come by, although there have been some decent fish in the shallows of the bay, where they are feeding on squid, as well as around Block Island. Speaking of squid, they are still active around Newport, throughout the bay, and all around the Cape. Scup fishing is as consistent as ever throughout the state, and anglers who have taken advantage of the late-summer tautog opener are reporting decent results. The tog action is still weeks away from really heating up, but some nice fish in the 5-plus-pound range were reported this week. Ocean State Tackle remains open daily from 4:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Eric at The Saltwater Edge in Middletown told me that there has been a lot of buzz around the shop with the return of bonito to our local waters. Reports have been coming in from along the coast, and their numbers should increase in the weeks ahead. Tautog fishing reopened on Saturday, and a few customers reported doing well around the islands. Fluke and sea bass fishing remains productive, and there are good numbers of scup around. Fishing for striped bass has been tougher with warmer water in the bay and an increase in shark activity, but a few nice bass are still being caught, especially at night. Offshore, there was a bit of an improvement in tuna reports from south of Block Island and Montauk this past week.
Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
With the calendar turning to August, we are deeply entrenched in the pattern of steady summer fishing. This week featured another round of strong tuna fishing, continued excellent striped bass action, and the arrival of a fall staple: bonito. Giant bluefin tuna reports have remained very good without requiring anglers to travel too far from their Rhode Island base. Many captains are taking advantage of the opportunity to put clients on their first giants, often on stand-up gear, which is quite an experience. The midshore grounds are holding loads of bait, and it seems that more rec-class tuna are showing up from southwest of Montauk to southeast of Block Island. It is not yet lights-out for the “fun-size” tuna, but there are enough around to keep things interesting. The yellowfin bite, along with some bigeye and a few marlin, is also being reported consistently from the shipping lanes and out in the canyons.
Back inshore, the striped bass fishing continues to roll along nicely. Fishing in the bay took a turn for the better this week, as a large biomass of bass followed the influx of sand eels and took notice of the squid that are still around. Block Island is still producing by day or night, while surfcasters working the night shift have reported better results this week around the breachways and rocky points. A solid push of bonito made its way into Rhode Island waters before the early-week blow. They were a bit finicky, but the numbers were pretty good, especially across South County. Bottom fishing has remained steady across the state, with reliable scup action and enough fluke and sea bass to keep things interesting. This is especially true around Block Island, where you still have to grind, but not quite as hard, to find keeper fluke and sea bass. Tautog season opened on August 1, and anglers who have started targeting them have reported some solid catches, with some even reaching double digits. Another great way to spend a summer day is shellfishing, and now is the time, with good crab and clam results being reported around the state.