On The Water Magazine

• Across the region, reports from the past week were a bit slow, with most of the blame being tacked on the sometimes-gusty east wind, but there were some bright spots. Bait is thick no matter where you look, so chances are good that with a shift in the winds this weekend and the moon waning toward the new, fishing will pick up through this weekend.
• Narragansett Bay has loads of options, from good scup fishing and tautog around Hope Island, Halfway Ledge, the Jamestown Bridge – “anywhere there’s rocks” – as Tommy at Quaker Lane Bait & Tackle in North Kingstown put it. And with enough bait around that “you could walk to Portugal on it,” you should have no problem finding blitzing bluefish this weekend. Bass fishing has been decent and should only improve with the new moon tides and (eventually) cooler weather.
• In Newport, Peter at The Saltwater Edge reported that some big bass are being landed by plug guys fishing the surf. Rob from the shop took a 34-pounder in the early morning on a pencil popper, and Earl landed a 35-pounder on a needlefish plug. This time of year the bass are starting to school up and travel in packs, so it’s hit or miss proposition. Peter recommends setting out with a game plan and moving around to find the fish.
• Albie and bonito fishing has slowed from the “once in a lifetime” pace that marked most of September to what Peter described as “better than normal.” While there seem to be fewer fish around, they also seem to be feeding on larger bait now, 3- to 4-inch peanut bunker for the most part, and that usually means the fish are a lot less picky than when feeding on small bait. Slightly larger lures and small topwater plugs have been getting results on albies off Point Judith, the Breachway and Sakonnet Point; these fish move fast and can pop up just about anywhere.
• Bass fishing is best in the very early morning right now, according to Mary at Maridee Bait & Tackle in Narragansett. Any spot from Pier 5 down to the East Wall could have fish feeding on top at first light; expect lots of bluefish but plenty of bass underneath them. Boat fishermen working outside of the Center Wall have been taking some good bass by fishing eels at night, according to Rob at Wildwood Outfitters in Wakefield. Rob also reported that a couple kayak fishermen trolling eels and tube-and-worm rigs around Dutch Island and Dutch Harbor in Narragansett Bay took some bass up to 30 pounds. Scup and sea bass are “everywhere,” said Rob, and blackfish up to 8 pounds are being caught off the Narrow River at River Ledge.
• Out at the Mud Hole, one Wildwood customer cast-netted some live baits and went out to the Mud Hole to play with juvenile bluefin tuna in the 15- to 25-pound class. There have also been reports of good numbers of bluefin tuna in the 40-pound range being taken on chunk bait, while at the opposite end of the fishing spectrum, freshwater anglers are finding tough conditions with low water levels and warm daytime temperatures.
• Block Island bass fishing is in another league, where 20-pound bass are considered average. John at Twin Maples Bait & Tackle noted that surf fishing for bass has been very good for surfcasters working the North End out to Sandy Point. A 42-pounder was taken off the beach on a needlefish plug at night. Southeast Point is also fishing well at low tide, when shore anglers can wade out on the rocks and reach the deeper holes.
• False albacore fishing is excellent out at the Block, with fly-guys working the Coast Guard Channel and light-tackle fishermen throwing Yo-Zuri L-Jacks and other metals with reflective green sides. Sea bass and scup fishing is good; some surprisingly large scup have been hitting tube-and-worm rigs intended for stripers. Bait is in abundance around the island, including plenty of squid moving into New Harbor at night.
• Fishing along the breachways has been very productive, according to Steve at Breachway Bait and Tackle, but the bite is best from sundown to sunup. Plenty of legal-sized stripers are being caught up 38 inches, along with bluefish. There’s a great deal of bait around, so much that it’s making the fishing tough at times. Steve mentioned that false albacore are still around out by Watch Hill but they have gotten spotty, popping up occasionally and not staying up for too long.
• The striper fishing is pretty good around Watch Hill and Sugar reefs; Rennie at The Fish Connection in Preston reported a 42-incher caught this past Wednesday and plenty of legal-sized fish. Trolling tube-and-worm rigs along the outside shore of Fishers Island is also a good bet this time of year. Porgy fishing is excellent, and these fish are even being caught way up in the Thames where they are mjixing with white perch. Lots of 3- to 4-pound blues can be found in the upper portion of the Thames, and bigger blues are following the schools of large bunker farther down. Eels are producing some nice stripers out at The Race including plenty of 20-pounders and the occasional 30 to 40. Bonito were reported around Bluff Point and out to Race Point as recently as the first of October, but it’s been quiet for the past few days. Blackfish season is still off to a slow start, but it could be that the warm weather has anglers thinking bass and not anchoring up for tautog. Seaflower Reef, Sarah Ledge, Goshen Point, Latimer Light, the Dumplings and the breakwaters at Stonington are all excellent spots to go blackfishing.
• Captain Jerry Morgan out in Madison reported that blackfishing is picking up, with nearshore reefs producing very well. Madison Reef and Charles Reef have been notable, but you can also head out to Falkner and Kimberly if you feel like taking a longer boat ride. Bluefish are pretty common, feeding heavily on the top, and there is no real sign yet of any striper migration – could be because the water is still a warm 68 degrees. Look for bonito anywhere from Hammonasset Point to Falkner Island, and if you’re a fan of blue crabs, the East River is chock full.
• I heard excellent reports this week from the Housatonic River; the first was from Stratford Bait and Tackle, where surfcasters are taking bass up to 25 pounds and double-digit bluefish tossing Danny-style plugs near the mouth. Yellow is the hot color at the moment, but more important is that your plug is swimming under dark skies as the bite has consistently died out as soon as the sun peeks over the horizon. The second report came from Westport Outfitters in Norwalk, where Eric reported that they had been taking charters up into the Housie because the wind has been tough lately. Up in the river, they treated clients to 20-pound bass and “gator” blues. In the Norwalk area, albies had moved in and mostly displaced the bonito, but the strong east wind has made finding the albies sketchy for the past few days. With a lighter southwest blow in the forecast and lots of palm-sized peanut bunker in the area, Eric predicts things to break open this weekend.
• Best Bets for Connecticut and Rhode Island:Your best bet this weekend is to hit the salt and wet a line. Typical fall action on stripers and blackfish is just starting to pick up, but with the warm weather and water, the late-summer action on bonito and false albacore is still holding on. If you’re a surf fisherman, your best bet is still to head out after dark and cast eels or plugs, especially as we head toward the new moon next Thursday. And if you enjoy chasing bonito and albies, get out now because time is running out.