Monster Stripers
Block Island is again seeing a run of “striper of a lifetime” class fish. We had this a couple years ago when Peter Vican set the Rhode Island state record for striped bass out there with a 77.4 lb. fish. It is happening again, and I can tell you, if they are taking several 50lb. fish on a tide, there are quite possibly even bigger fish out there with them. News I’m thrilled to bring you in this Rhode Island and Connecticut Saltwater Fishing Report. Don’t say I never gave you anything!
Night time is the right time…really.
Narragansett Bay/Newport
Peter Jenkins at Saltwateredge in Newport posts:
SALTWATER EDGE FISHING REPORT 6.28.13
Brian visiting from CT
Ryan visiting from New Jersey
The weather, the parade of friends from out of town and the epic fishing say summer is here in The City by the Sea! With water temps climbing, herring runs thinning and different baits appearing your tactics will need to change.
INSHORE FISHING
Don’t let the thong distract you…
In shore striper fishing becomes even more of a night time game with the wading angler focusing on either first or last light including a good dose of darkness.
Both Buzzards and Narragansett Bays has been fairly consistent this spring and if you found a bunker school you most likely found a school of bass and/or large bluefish harassing them. Bunker schools can still be found in coves around the bay from north to south. Some of the bunker around Aquidneck are 18+ inches long and when the bass find them they are not going anywhere. Captain Eric Thomas from Teezer 77 guide service reports fantastic days for clients catching gator bluefish on topwater in Narragansett Bay and bass to 20 lbs by dropping 7“ and 9” swim shads on the deep structure.
AQUIDNECK ISLAND FISHING
Out front there are huge schools of sand eels between Point Judith, Sakonet Point and Block Island with healthy bass and large bluefish feeding on them. Topwater and bucktail jigs have been very effective.
The evening bite of the reefs has been solid.
The sand eels are a great bait for the fly rodder.
Even more staggering and exciting is the awesome number of krill in the water.
Awesome amounts of krill on the reefs
What makes it exciting is that the bass will cruise through these rafts of krill with their mouths open looking for their maximum intake. There is no need for a krill fly dropper as these feeders are “locked on”. Get below the bait with a bucktail, swim shad or Clouser to find the bigger bass. To learn more about krill check out Wikopedia.
BLOCK ISLAND FISHING
The boat fishing around Block Island is as good as it gets. Captain B.J. Silvia of Flippin Out Charters has been fishing Block island waters for years and his clients have landed several fish in the mid to high 40 lb class this past week. A variety of methods are proving effective; but it’s never a bad idea to drift eels at night.
BLUEFIN TUNA FISHING
Off shore action is increasing as the bait that will/should hold the bluefin begins to materialize.
Shimano Orca
Bluefin Tuna to 100 lbs have been reported out at the usual haunts around Block Island with an occasional larger fish mixed in. Fish have been taken on the spread and on topwaters.
Tom Meade at the Providence Journal reports that they’re getting 40″ stripers in the Bay. Even better, this little tidbit:
Nine striped bass over 50 pounds apiece were caught on a single night at Block Island this week, says Conti. All of them went for live eels near Southwest Ledge at night.
Block Island
Kelly Bristow reports in The Block Island Times:
After a week of bad weather, the forecast is looking great, with winds coming out of the southwest between 5 and 15 mph. The water temperature this week was at an average of 57° F, five degrees colder than the 62° F average this time last year.
Throughout the week, several surfcasters fishing from the north point at night reported seeing a pod of four or five seals near the shore. The lower water temperature has delayed these predators’ migration from the island.
Last week, a group of shore fishermen made their way to West Beach (the dump beach), and found a large number of striped bass and gulls feeding in the water. The water was teeming with sand eels, and the men reported that “the bass were eating so many sand eels, they were coughing them up.” Though the bass were difficult to catch due to the large number of baitfish already in the area, the arrival of these eels is a good sign for fishermen, as the number and size of the bass in the area will increase.
From the boat, Matt King of Hula Charters reported 35-pound and 38-pound striped bass being caught off his boat this week in deep water off the southwest corner of the island. He also said that a number of bass were biting on the south side of the island, again in deep water.
Read more at The Block Island Times
Capt. Jack Sprengel of East Coast Charters post this bit to Facebook:
Yes the other night we had serveral fish over 50 and one that eclipsed the rest, definately not a world record but a great fish to have landed none the less. Heres some more angles of the fish with better reference to its size compared to us and other objects like 5 gal buckets ect. They were strait huge! No photo shop dammit!!!!
No…seriously they were that big!!!Watch Hill and Connecticut
Capt. Mike Duclos of Tiderunner Charters reports:
A nice bluefish from Capt. Mike Duclos at Tiderunner Charters
Had an interesting weekend, fished on Saturday with a good fly fisherman and had no luck whatsoever, dropped him off at his dock and headed back towards Pine Island, tide turned and I stopped for a bit of fly fishing at a lighthouse and was soon into a striper, four drifts later I had landed 4 nice fish, go figure.
Sunday had three nice guys on the boat. Jeff his Uncle Bill and cousin Will. All were good fisherman and great sports, after a very slow start we picked up a couple of stripers and had a BIG fish crash a lure and leave before the hook was set, I won’t mention any name. We covered lots of miles and the guys worked for their fish. The end result was 6 stripers and 6 bluefish, beautiful day on the water.
Mark N. Cahill has been writing and editing for Reel-Time.com since 1995. He started fishing in the mid-1960's and caught his first striper off World's End in Hingham in 1966. From there on in it was an obsession. He loves fishing for tuna, and fly fishing for striped bass. In a pinch, anything with fins will do...
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