“The bass bite has been good at the east end of the Cape Cod Canal with monster bluefish mixed in,” said Bruce Miller of Canal Bait & Tackle in Sagamore, R.I. “Soft plastics in green are working best for anglers.”
“Customers in Pawtuxet Cove, Cranston, RI, have seen large bass under their boats that have pushed bait into the cove,” said Tom Giddings of the Tackle Box, Warwick.
“The peanut bunker are in thick and the striped bass are all over them,” said Todd Corayer expert kayak angler and fishing writer who fished South County, Rhode Island ponds this past week. “I’ve landed 25 fish in two days with three lost, four slot-size and one too large to keep. Love this shoulder season for sure.”
Declan O’Donnell of Breachway Bait & Tackle, Charlestown, said, “Striped bass are still being found in the salt ponds and breachways. Bait continues to hold out as the water is warm. Gannets began to patrol the inner coastal waters. They are a sure sign that there are large profile baits in the water like herring, shad, and bunker. These are baits migrating stripers can’t say no to.”
Now is a great time to fish for striped bass as the fishing is great. The possession limit for striped bass is one fish/person/day that must be in the slot size of 28 to under 35 inches.
Last year, we had a striped bass fishery that lingered all winter with fish to 36 inches being taken in our salt ponds, estuaries and rivers. Warm water and lingering bait created positive conditions for striped bass and many did not migrate to the Hudson River and Chesapeake Bay area and decided to winter in our estuaries.
First striped bass on a fly
I am on a journey to learn how to fly fish. Last week, I had two firsts — my first striped bass caught on a fly and I tied my first fly.
I fished Narrow River in Narraganset with fly fishing expert and guide Ed Lombardo. We caught five striped bass to 24 inches and five hickory shad in about two and a half hours of fishing. And Monday night, I attended my first fly tying session at the RI Department of Environmental Management (DEM) Aquatic Resource Education’s annual Fall Fly Tying Program.
The instructor at my table, Peter Burgess from the United Fly Tyers of Rhode Island, said, “I love teaching how to tie flies. Participants here tonight have the choice of tying saltwater or freshwater flies at either the beginner or intermediate level.”
“I have tried fly fishing a couple of times and want to learn how to tie too.” said Melisa Sullivan of Wakefield, RI, who was one of my fellow students. Frank Flowers of Portsmouth and his daughter, Cora of Coventry, have been tying flies together since she was a young girl.
“It allows us to spend time together tying … and fishing together is a blast,” Cora said.
The fly tying program will continue for five weeks on Mondays from 7-9 p.m. at Cold Spring Community Center in North Kingstown, RI. The fee is $5/person/session. For information and to register online, visit, https://tinyurl.com/444xnk8c.
Meeting on wind farm export cable to Quonset Point
The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council will meet to discuss export cables connecting the Revolution Wind Farm with Quonset Point. The CRMC staff has filed a report on its recommendations to the Council concerning the cable run.
Issues of particular concern anglers should learn about at the meeting include what protections will be put in place when cables cross existing cables and have to rise, the time of year work will be done, protections put in place for fish, habitat and for any possible electric magnetic fields, as well as monitoring plans during and after installation to make sure the cable is secure and safe.
The meeting will be held Tuesday in Conference Room A at the State Administrative Building, One Capitol Hill, Providence. Files are available in electronic format and can be requested via email to cstaff1@crmc.ri.gov or call to 401-783-3370
Where’s the bite?
Striped bass: The bite continues to be strong with an abundance of bait in the water. See above article.
Squid: Squid fishing expert and RI Saltwater Anglers Association executive director Greg Vespe said, “We didn’t stay long as it was my five year old grandson’s first night trip, but the squid fishing was flat out beat down Saturday night.” John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait said, “Customers caught squid this weekend at Fort Wetherill, Jamestown and at the Goat Island causeway, Newport. Many left with a five-gallon bucket full with two to three hours of fishing.”
Tautog:Declan O’Donnell of Breachway Bait, said, “Tautog fishing continues to produce well with a lot of limit catches report this past week. The tautog are still being found in as little as 15 feet of water all the way out to 60-feet plus.” “The tautog bite from shore at the the mouth of the Seekonk River (near the broken bridge) and at Kettle Point, Riverside was good this weekend.” “Tautog fishing has been good off Newport and in the Bay at Hope Island, Spindle Rock and the Rocky Point fishing pier,” Giddings said.
Freshwater: Fishing for trout and salmon has been good at ponds stocked by RI DEM including Willet Avenue Pond, Riverside; Barber Pond, South Kingstown; Meadow Brook Pond, Richmond; Olney Pond, Lincoln State Park, Lincoln; Simmons Mill Pond, Little Compton; Silver Spring Lake, North Kingstown; Watchaug Pond and Charlestown.
