Rhode Island Fishing Report
The Frances Fleet out of Point Judith continues to see good fishing on their full- and half-day trips, where they have been seeing good numbers of fluke, black sea bass, and scup coming over the rails. There is still plenty of time left in the season, and they are seeing a lot of bait on the fluke grounds, which should hold fish in the area for a while longer. They plan to continue running both their full- and half-day trips daily through September 7, at which point the half-day trips will be limited. 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 make your reservations early!
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 some solid feeds, and the “over” class fish seem to have gotten quite a bit bigger. The key has been to find some clean water around the temperature breaks, and you’re bound to find some nice fish. Bluefin of mixed sizes can be found on the jig, troll, pop, or bait, and there have been increased numbers of yellowfin and bigeye entering the fray without traveling too far. The bite can be tough at times, so if you’re struggling, look to keep those live baits close to the bottom or work artificials right near the bottom. While tuna fishing is catching quite a bit of attention, Rob also noted that the striped bass fishing has remained tremendous with topwater, live bait, and jigs all effective.
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Captain Connor MacLeod, at Tall Tailz Charters, provided the following report: “Fishing this week has been very good. Most of our trips have been to the nearshore tuna grounds. The bite has varied by day and has been a bit challenging due to the full moon last week. When the fish are cooperating, live baits on the bottom and UVT jigs streaking through the water column have been doing best. We only fished inshore once this week, but the striper bite is still on fire, boating fish to 40 pounds. Tube and worm is producing every time. There are a ton of big albies around the Block area and they should make their way closer in the next few weeks, so I expect an exciting fall run to explode any day now. There is tons of bait with bonito and macks already, so it won’t be long now.”
Dustin, at Rhode Island Kayak Fishing Adventures, provided the following report for the week: “Striper fishing has continued to be consistent. With a lot of bait that 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 us 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 are seeing some bonito in very 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 are expecting a great run. Reach out to book your kayak fishing trip ASAP!”
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Jay, at Pamela May Charters, reported: “Fishing was a little slowed by the full moon last weekend. Bonito were spread out and not as consolidated as the prior weeks. There were a lot of blues still around, but stripers were also somewhat hit or miss. We did get out to the tuna grounds to land an over and under on live whiting close to home. As of yesterday, we got into some more bonito action and even spotted some albies in the mix, but we never connected with the albies. We’re hoping the albie bite blows up this weekend. Fluking is surprisingly still good as they dump out of the bay, and there are still a lot of sea bass, but most of them are short. We haven’t done much tautog fishing, but I noticed a lot of boats anchoring over popular tog spots. Personally, I’m waiting a bit for tog while we fish for everything else that’s out there right now.”
Dave, at Ocean State Tackle in Providence, reports that as the calendar turns to September, anglers across Rhode Island are starting to turn their attention to tautog fishing, which continues to improve by the day. The tog are moving around, and there have been some solid reports from a number of different locales. Some are being caught in the Providence River and upper bay locations, while the lower portions of the river out to Ohio Ledge have seen more tautog activity. Coddington Cove and similar rock piles in the lower bay are also full of hungry tog. As far as other bottom species, keeper fluke have become more elusive, while increasing numbers of keeper black sea bass are showing up out front and around Block Island. The scup have started to move farther north as water temperatures have dropped, with some nice fish in the 12- to 13-inch range being reported from Save the Bay and Sabin Point. Striped bass fishing is still consistent across the state, and some larger bluefish have moved in sporadically around the Providence and Seekonk Rivers. Bonito reports are still coming in on most days, while the first murmurs of false albacore are starting up. Clamming and crabbing have also been productive, with the latter now being allowed at night for the first time in a while. Dave is still open daily from 4:30 AM to 8 PM.
Eric, at The Saltwater Edge in Middletown, told me that they are starting to see fish transition into more fall-like patterns as we move into September. Baitfish are starting to move out of the salt ponds and along the beaches, fueling surface feeds from predators like striped bass, bluefish, and bonito. He is also starting to hear some decent reports of false albacore around the walls, and they should only continue to spread, so now is the time to start planning your hardtail trip! The whole area is loaded with small bait, so it’s lining up to be a stellar fall run. Anglers targeting striped bass continue to be plagued with sharks in many areas, but if you can get away from the sharks, there are good numbers of bass around. Bottom fishing for fluke and black sea bass has been producing well for numbers, but most of the fish being reported are short of keeper size. The inshore tautog bite has started strong, and many of the better spots aren’t crowded yet, so take advantage of that and land an early-season jumbo. There’s no shortage of tuna offshore and midshore right now, but getting one to bite hasn’t always been easy. Vary your presentations, and don’t assume what worked on the last trip or last year is going to work now.
Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
The early signs of the hardtail invasion are showing, and by the time I write this next week, I think we’ll have the full smorgasbord of hardtail options consistently. We’re already seeing all the options in Rhode Island, with plentiful bonito, a few mackerel, along with the first false albacore. There’s no shortage of small bait in the area, and the number of blitzes of mixed species has multiplied like crazy this week.
Striped bass and a few bluefish can still be found in all their usual haunts out front and in the bay, but were also much more prevalent on topwater over the past few days. Some bigger bluefish have shown up with a bit of consistency for the first time, especially around the upper bay.
Bottom fishing has remained steady across the state, with strong scup and better sea bass results from the deeper wrecks and rock piles. Fluke fishing is probably in its latter stages, but this is usually a time when you have one more chance for a doormat before they migrate. Most anglers have the topwater and/or tuna bug, but those targeting tautog are starting to see much better numbers as we approach the fall season. The tog seem to be moving around quite a bit and can now be found throughout all portions of the bay, as well as on the strong pieces out front.
The midshore tuna bite is still going relatively strong, but whether it’s a lack of bait or just conditions, these fish seem to be responding to slow presentations or live baits fished close to the bottom. The canyon bite was slow for a bit, but has fired back up over the past few days, with big yellowfin, some bigeye, and loads of mahi.
The next few weeks are very promising, with true tuna biting consistently, false tuna ready to bust the door down, striped bass and bluefish entering fall mode, and tautog taking another step toward the fall bite.