Estuaries yielding striped bass for anglers

Striped bass fishing is still very good, while squid fishing exploded the past two weeks, with enhanced tautog fishing and fluke now being caught south of Block Island. Some fluke have been caught in Narragansett Bay.

Striped bass fishing in our bays, coves and rivers is settling in, with anglers catching them in Narragansett Bay now that Atlantic menhaden (pogies) are here, and our salt ponds and rivers continue to have enhanced worm hatches with bass feeding on an abundance of American eels.

Tom Giddings of the Tackle Box in Warwick said, “Striped bass fishing is on fire throughout the bay, with anglers still catching most fish using top water lures, but the fish are throughout the water column, so a variety of methods are still being used to catch them. We are selling quite a bit of herring, too.”

East End Eddie Doherty, Cape Cod Canal fishing expert and author, said, “Last weekend started with a bang on the Big Ditch as surfcasters landed some nice fish, mostly at mid-Canal. Fish were chasing both live bait and lures. Slap Shot Scottie Ewell took high hook for lure catches with 43- and 45-inch stripers that fell for his white Magic Swimmer. Another 45-inch monster was taken on a live herring by a Native American fisherman, the only group allowed to use that bait.”

Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle, Providence, said, “Anglers are catching some slot size fish, but honestly most fish are in the 40-inch class. Flutter spoons and topwater lures are working best. There are fish from Festival Pier in Pawtucket, across the river from the new soccer stadium all the way down to Sandy Point, Prudence Island and beyond.”

Be ready to deploy a number of tactics to catch striped bass. Lures of all types, both swimmers and surface lures, are still working best, however anglers are also catching fish using Atlantic menhaden, and when the Atlantic menhaden are here flutter spoons seem to work, too. When the fish are spread out, anglers are having success trolling tube and worms and umbrella rigs. I have found trolling swimming lures is working, too.

Where’s the bite?

Freshwater fishing for trout is still very good, as ponds in Rhode Island were restocked earlier this month by DEM. For a complete list of stocked ponds, visit Designated Trout Waters | Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. “Largemouth bass fishing is outstanding. With an angler landing a seven-pound largemouth at Gorton’s Pond, Warwick. Little Pond is still producing great largemouth bass as well,” said Tom Giddings of the Tackle Box, Warwick.

Striped bass and bluefish

“Striped bass are being caught all over the place. They are blitzing on bait off beaches, feeding aggressively at breachway outlets, and pushing deep into ponds looking for warmer water and bait as worm hatches are starting to explode with the warm weather. We also had a few reports of bluefish being caught by bass anglers,” said Declan O’Donnell of Breachway Bait & Tackle, Charlestown.

Ed Lomardo, expert fly-fishing guide and angler, said, “Most of the bass we have been catching at Narrow River and the Charlestown Breachway are migrating fish with lice and are from 20” to slot size fish (28” to less than 31”). The outgoing tide at Narrow River worked well all-day last week. Other fly fishers found a great bite at Potters Pond, South Kingstown. They said the worms were very prolific with lots of bass feeding on them.”  Tom Olson of Ponaug Bait & Tackle, Warwick, said, “The striped bass bite in Greenwich Bay is very, very good. Anglers are catching above slot size fishing using top water lures and soft plastic baits.” Kayak angler Tom Houle hooked into a large bluefish when fishing on his kayak last week.

Tautog

Tom Giddings of the Tackle Box said, “Tautog fishing has been on fire too, with customer Nicholas Souin of Warwick catching a 27”, 11.5-pound tautog from Rocky Pont Pier, Warwick.”   Declan O’Donnell of Breachway Bait & Tackle said, “The tautog bite improved significantly this last week. With water temperatures slowly climbing with warm weather, it will do nothing but get better, but anglers are reminded that the season in Rhode Island closes May 31 until Aug. 1 for the spawning season.”

Angler John Migliori of Aquidneck Island said, “Luckily all my catches have been keepers lately, including a six-pound fish last week, followed by an eight-pound fish. From shore I think I have been doing well, all on green crabs. There have been many stripers caught on the crabs while we are blackfishing — my best being a 25-inch striper. I was disappointed I could not keep it for supper, but it was fun reeling it anyway ... thought it was a big tautog.”

Tom Olson of Ponaug Bait & Tackle said, “Tautog fishing improved greatly. Anglers have been hooking up with keeper fish in the Beavertail, Jamestown area most of last week.”

Squid and summer flounder

“Squid fishing has been very good in the Newport Bridge area, at the Goat Island causeway and in Galilee and at the Sakonnet River area,” said Henault of Ocean State Tackle.

Greg Vespe of Tiverton, squid fisher and overall expert angler, reported a good squid bite the past couple of weeks, with anglers piling up at the Newport Bridge at night to catch them. Once the squid are here we generally see the summer flounder (fluke) bite start to improve. Some fluke are being caught south of Block Island, with a few reports of fluke being caught in Narragansett Bay.

Dave Monti holds a master captain’s license and charter fishing license. He serves on a variety of boards and commissions and has a consulting business focusing on clean oceans, habitat preservation, conservation, renewable energy, and fisheries related issues and clients. Forward fishing news and photos to dmontifish@verizon.net  or visit www.noflukefishing.com .