Pictured above: A nice striped bass double aboard Reel Cast Charters.
False albacore have settled in and the hysteria has ensued. While there appears to be very good numbers of fish, that doesn’t always translate to good catches. Patience is a necessity.
Rhode Island Fishing Report
Captain Frank, of The Frances Fleet in Narragansett, has transitioned to the fall cod season and results have been very good early on. Sunday’s trip was very successful with a nice pile of cod coming over the rails, with the majority falling in the 8-15 pound class. Quite a few bigger fish, into the low 20-pound class, were also caught. Mike from flushing took home hi-hook with 8 keepers to 20 pounds. A good deal of big scup and sea bass are also in the mix, especially for those who throw smaller baits. One angler who fished smaller bait landed 3 nice cod, 20 big scup and an easy limit of sea bass. Monday and Wednesday’s trips were a touch slower, but still saw a respectable pile of cod to about 17-pounds on each trip. The weather is great, the fishing is strong and the fleet will sail for cod on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and the weekends.
Pete, at The Saltwater Edge in Middletown reports that just about everyone in the Newport area has caught albie fever, and for the most part the fish have cooperated. There are good numbers of false albacore at most of the usual haunts, including Brenton Point and Sakonnet. While there seems to be no shortage of fish, some days are much more productive than others for no particular reason. All you can do is keep after it and hope you catch them on a good day. When they are biting, epoxy jigs seem to be doing the trick. If the albies are not cooperating, there seems to be no shortage of school bass in the area; which are being easily caught on soft plastics and small plugs.
Dave, at Ocean State Tackle in Providence, reports that the bulk of the local striped bass fishermen have been heading to the Cape Cod Canal; which is reportedly red hot. Eels on jig heads and other large jigs seem to be doing the most damage. The Providence River is still holding a good population of smaller bass and bluefish for those who are fishing closer to home. False albacore have been all over the local beaches and most anglers are just heading out there, waiting for them to pop up and throwing epoxy jigs at them. Sea bass, scup and tautog fishing have all been very good in local waters, but most anglers have been bypassing the bottom fishing and targeting hardtails while they are around.
Mike, at Watch Hill Outfitters in Westerly, reported that false albacore fishing was red hot last week, and while it has slowed a bit over the past few days, good catches are still coming in from Watch Hill, the breachways and Point Judith. Striped bass fishing has picked up throughout South County, with a good push of smaller fish on the Watch Hill reefs and some larger fish cruising the breachways after dark. Fluke fishing has dried up in local waters, but is still going strong out by the windmills at Block Island, while sea bassing is good locally and around the island. Cod fishing has been really good at Coxes, and most anglers are finding some large sea bass in the mix out there as well.
Connecticut Fishing Report
At Hillyers in Waterford, John reports that there is no shortage of good bluefishing. The Race, Plum Gut and just about all of the usual haunts are holding large schools of gators. False albacore numbers are excellent throughout the eastern sound, but landing them is a different story. One shop regular landed over 30 on Monday and only 2 in the same areas on Tuesday. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the bite, so all you can do is get out there and give it hell. Black sea bass and scup fishing are both excellent in the eastern sound and provide an outlet during the slow false albacore periods.
At Fishin Factory 3 in Middletown, Andrew reports that big bluefish are still patrolling the lower CT River and its adjacent reefs, a nice push of 20-pound class striped bass are feeding on the eastern sound reefs and scup and sea bass are biting as well as ever. All that being said the majority of anglers are still heading out in search of false albacore. Fish have settled in from Rhode Island to the Milford area, and your shot at finding some seems to be the same just about anywhere in that range. There certainly is no shortage of fish; it’s just a matter of finding them on a day they decide to feed.
Captain TJ, of Rock & Roll Charters, reports that the insane bluefish action shows no signs to stopping just yet. Bluefishing has been extraordinary for a month straight, and all sizes from 2-pounds to 15+ are being represented. The number of striped bass in the mix continues to steadily increase, and TJ believes the bass bite will accelerate quickly with the dropping temperatures of the weekend. Scup fishing has been red hot and sea bassing has shown signs of improvement once again, so there should be no shortage of fish from now through TJ’s season ender on November 20th.
Jeremy, at Fisherman’s World in Norwalk, reported that the false albacore finally showed up during the latter parts of last weekend and the hysteria quickly ensued. There seems to be a good number of fish, and early on they were not too finicky. That may certainly change as they settle in, but we should have a good month of chasing the funny fish around. Fluking has slowed to a crawl, but bluefishing is red hot. 12-16 pound bluefish are all over the islands, and tons of smaller fish are hanging out inshore. Striped bass fishing remains spotty at best, but seems to pick up a bit more every time the temp drops a few degrees. With temperatures forecasted to drop quite a bit over the weekend, the western sound bass fishing may really start to take off again next week. The harbors are still loaded with snappers, and action has been as good as ever.
Rhode Island Fishing Forecast
No matter where you reside, it seems you now have a chance to hit some false albacore without too much traveling. As is usually the case, the fish seem to be more finicky than at their initial arrival, but there seems to be no shortage. Bass fishing is picking up in Rhode Island and eastern CT, and the dropping temps should bring about the start of some good fall run bassing. Scup and sea bass are plentiful and can be caught on some of the same jigs that you will be throwing at albies!