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Fish on!

Hush Fly Fishing: Larry Borland with a fly-rod bass on Ninigret Pond.

Billy Silvia, skipper of the charter boat Can't Imagine was fishing just east of Prudence Island when I returned his telephone call at 11 a.m. today.

His group had already caught several fish, including a 35-pounder. The skipper started to describe the day when another fish hit, and he had to end the call.

Schools of baitfish are moving into Ninigret Pond ahead of next Tuesday's new moon, says Ryan Sansoucy, skipper of the charter service, Hush Fly Fishing.

With them have come some big bass. The largest fish his clients have landed were in the 37- to 38-inch class, and the stripers have been “super-fat,” he says. Fish in the 40-pound have also taken flies, but the big bass have snapper leaders.

Anthony Palumbo of Cranston and a friend fished Stump Pond in Smithfield Thursday and caught 25 bass on Wacky Worms.

“The water temperature was about 70 degrees,” he said. “We didn’t see many bass on beds, so I believe they are done with the spawn. Most fish were in the 1-pound range but there were a few 2-pounders. This was all in the daytime from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.”

Posted by Tom Meade  at 11:10 AM | Permalink

Finding fish in lousy weather

Bear Point bass yesterday

Prudence Island continues to produce bass, even in yesterday's windy weather.

"Don O'Neil and I took a trip on the dark side today, abandoning the kayaks to go fishing on the Can't Imagine with Capt Billy Silvia," says Nils Christensen of Ultimate Kayak Fishing. "We had a great time with Billy and his mate chasing down stripers up to 26 pounds in some very snotty conditions. Capt Billy turned a bad weather day into a great fishing experience and put us on fish where there was not much to be found.

"Mount Hope Bay was barren and we ended up in front of Bear Point off Prudence Island drifting pogies high and low. The larger fish were on the surface and there were bluefish in the middle chopping up the bait on the way down. Thank you to Capt Billy for putting us on some nice fish today in the bad weather."

Posted by Tom Meade  at 7:27 AM | Permalink

Catching big bass in the upper bay with live bait

Eelman Nolan ends the day with a pair of 20-pounders

Bill "Eelman" Nolan continues to catch big bass in the upper Bay with live menhaden.

"I am fishing in tight along the shorelines of the Bay Islands," he says. "Just about any shoreline with boulders and a food source nearby is holding fish now.While the fishing is good, overall it's not as good as last year, Last year the Bay was loaded with larger bass (over 35 pounds). This year there are alot of high teen to 20-pounders and a few 30-pounders in the mix.

"We also only have about half the menhaden as last year so, while still good, it is taking more effort to catch fish, lots of running around and several hours to find quality fish. It is still early, however, and June will tell the story."

Posted by Tom Meade  at 8:25 AM | Permalink

Squeteague are here

Bill Nolan with yesterday's big bass.

Paul Goscinski took this weakfish off Goddard Memorial State Park.

Fishing on the Bay continues to blossom.

"Fishing aboard Bill Dzilenski's Blue Moon [yesterday] morning, I caught an 8-pound squeteague off Goddard Park," reports Paul Goscinski of South Kingstown. "The fish took a chartreuse Cocohoe Minnow.

"The rhododendrons are blooming, so it must be squeteague time."

Bill "Eelman" Nolan continues to catch big bass on live menhaden on the upper Bay. Pictured is a 31-pounder he caught yesterday.

"Flukin' with the Robert party started slowly Sunday morning," rewports Thom Pelletier, skipper of the charter boat ThomCat, fishing off South County's beaches. "Started picking up at about 9 a.m., and from then on it was pretty steady. Fished until 1 p.m. with 14 keepers to 7 pounds among three anglers. Beautiful morning with tide and wind in sync, providing a perfect drift. Started out with chartreuse, pink and glow ThomCats but switched to all GlowDaddys and GlowBabys as that's about all they wanted. The meat was various combos of live mummies, squid and dead shiners. There were as many boats as I think I've ever seen at one time all the way down the south shore."

Posted by Tom Meade  at 9:13 AM | Permalink

Fat and healthy bass

High winds made boat handling a challenge today, but anglers fishing aboard Can't Imagine caught about 25 bass as large as 21 pounds.

They were fishing with live menhaden off Prudence Island, according to Billy Silvia, skipper of the charter boat.

"They were all quality fish, fat and healthy," he said.

Bass fishing continued to good in the Providence River, according to scattered reports.

Last season, a few trophy-bass hunters from Rhode Island would catch menhaden in the Bay and then run to the rips and reefs of Long Island Sound.

Today, Pat Abate of River's End Tackle, at the mouth of the Connecticut River, compared this year's early-season fishing to last year's:

"Its good but not as good as last season. There have been bass from the sandbar near the Breakwater up to Marker 25 in Essex. Anglers having the best results have been on ebb tides and searching until they locate the bass. Slug-gos and similar plastics have had the best results.

"The DEP Piers and Saybrook Point have been good for shorebound casters using bait. Some keepers have been caught there. The Old Lyme beaches have had a slow week.There's been adult bunker in the Connecticut River for a week now.

"Bunker dunkers have scored a few cows in the River and Plum Gut. Theres been some bass at Southwest Reef and East Rip for bucktail drifters."

Posted by Tom Meade  at 3:14 PM | Permalink

Today's big bass at Prudence

This morning's catch

Fishing aboard the charter boat Can't Imagine, Billy Silvia's unnamed clients caught stripers as large as 28 pounds off Potter Cove this morning on menhaden.

Right next to them, Prudence Island angler Ray Heal caught a 46-pounder.

We're trying to get photos of that one.

Anglers are also catching some large bass on the Providence River, says David Henault of Ocean State Tackle. Even shore fishermen are snagging menhaden to catch bass as large as 34 pounds this week.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 3:55 PM | Permalink | Comments 1

Big bite is on

Sara Bagwell with two bass she caught this morning on the Sakonnet River

Randy Bagwell, skipper of River Rebel Charters, wrote Thursday: “We went out early this morning on a bait run for the charters we have over the next several days. While we did very well catching pogies I set my daughter Sara up with a live line and she boarded a pair of 20-plus pounders. The bait is still in the Tiverton Basin along with some large blues and striped bass if you can get your bait under the blues.”

The bite from Prudence Island to Pawtucket presents “the opportunity of a lifetime,” says Kenny Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle, but he adds, “Nobody is fishing.”

Large schools of baitfish have been appearing around Bold and India Point, generally on the dropping tide. Bass have been getting there first, and then bluefish show up. Boaters have an advantage because they can move around searching for bait and predators. There are so many fish on the upper Bay that both high- and low-tide changes are productive, said Kenny Ferrara the elder. Shore-bound fishermen have been scoring on the low tide. They have been taking fish between 35 and 40 inches long near the sewer plant in East Greenwich.

“Steve McKenna nailed a 37-pound fish from the surf on a live eel in Narragansett on Wednesday night,” said Bill Nolan, “and he had a couple others just a bit smaller. He said the action was non-stop for the better part of an hour just after dark.” The bass and bluefish bites in Narragansett have been strong for a week, said Bill McEvoy of King Cove Outditters.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 9:53 AM | Permalink

Full moon, full bag

"This moon really pushed in the big fish," said Billy Silvia, skipper of the charter boat Can't Imagine, as he came ashore this morning.

He and his anglers caught bass as large as 32 pounds off Prudunce Island. They were using live menhaden

They also caught and released several bass in the 20- to 28-pound class.

Billy said last night's full moon brough the large bass into the Bay.

As soon as he e-mails the pictures from this morning, we will post them here.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 11:51 AM | Permalink

Anglers catch squid, fluke and cod

Party-boat anglers had a solid weekend of fishing. Frank Blount, skipper of the Frances Fleet, reports:

Squid fishing was red hot Saturday night with double- and triple-headers before the boat was secure on anchor, and the action continued all night long with many customers filling a five-gallon bucket and better apiece. Three guys from New York filled a large cooler and then went to work on a five-gallon pail. This was the best squid trip so far this season and we look forward to more trips like this.

Fluke fishing was vastly improved Sunday over Saturday's action. A good number of anglers had three or four keepers each with a number of fish in the 4- to 6-pound range. Peter Tu had four nice fish to 5 pounds. Captain Mike even came down and brought a fine 7-pounder to the net. There were also more shorts yesterday, and action throughout the day with the best bite in the afternoon.

Cod fishing was rather interesting. It was a late-day bite but anglers caught some nice green cod into the lower teens. The fish were all chock full of sand eels and jigs were working.

A mix of super size ocean pout and some red hake and big perch rounded out the day's action.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 6:56 AM | Permalink

Changing rhythms

Eelman Nolan with one of yesterday's fish

“There are some awesome fish in the Bay now, just about everywhere,” said Bill “Eelman” Nolan.

“Had many fish yesterday from 20 to 27 pounds on live bunker,” he said in an e-mail Friday. “It was amazing fishing for May 15.”

Thursday morning, on the dropping tide, a big school of bass was feeding on menhaden between Bold Point and India Point in Providence. Ed Hughes fished the spot on the evening’s ebb tide, but the bass and the bait had left.

On Ninigret Pond yesterday, large numbers of cinder worms were emerging, and there were a lot of bass beneath them.

The fishing was challenging, however, said Ed Lombardo who fished with Ryan Sansoucy, the skipper of Hush Fly Fishing. “The fish were very selective, so it required a lot of fly changing and long casts,” Ed said.

This morning, Eelman returned to the Bay. Here's one of the fish he caught today.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 2:06 PM | Permalink

Upper Bay bite is on

Seven-year-old Abigail Mottur caught this keeper near the Prudence Island ferry dock on a Storm Shad.

Peter Phipps, one of my editors, was jogging at India Point Park this morning, and he spotted striped bass feeding on menhaden between India Point and Bold Point. A fisherman on shore had caugh some just-legal fish.

The bass bite has been tremendous from Prudence Island to the north, says Sam Toland of Sam's Bait & Tackle.

Fishing a 3-inch jerkbait, 5-year-old Charlie Mottur caught a 24-inch bass and his sister, Abigail, 7, caught a 31-inch keeper on a 4-inch Storm Shad. They were fishing near the Prudence Island ferry dock, Sam said.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 10:48 AM | Permalink

Kayak blackfish

Nils Christensen of Ultimate Kayak Fishing stayed at Billy Silvia's Prudence Island home over the weekend, and he sent this report:

We had a great time of fishing, and despite the bad weather Friday and Saturday morning we got into some nice tautog and fluke. Live lining poagies yielded bluefish between Prudence and Patience, and we watched birds working all around the island.

Narragansett Bay is the jewel of Rhode Island waters and a perfect perfect place to kayak fish. We enjoyed the weekend here and will be back kayak fishing around Prudence Island.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 7:39 AM | Permalink

East Bay blackfish bite

The tautog bite is "phenomenal," according Billy Silvia, skipper of the charter boat Can't Imagine. "We took a dozen keepers in 20 minutes this morning," he said today.

Fishing from kayaks, Nils Christensen and some friends caught both blackfish and bluefish around Prudence Island over the weekend, Silvia said.

He's been fishing the wrecks of Mount Hope Bay and off Hog Island Light.

For photos of what he's been catching look here.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 5:30 PM | Permalink

More fluke news

Thom Pelletier, skipper of the charter boat ThomCat, reports:

Fluke fishing picked up well as soon as the wind did on Sunday. Most boats were working the areas from west of the center wall to Matunuck. I did see several boats off of Green Hill. Numerous nice size fish including slabs of 4.5 and 6.5 pounds. White and chartreuse ThomCats worked so well I stayed with them all morning. Squid-and-shiner combos were again the "meat" of choice. Also got a huge sea robin that could have swallowed a squirrel.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 10:49 AM | Permalink

South County: Fluke are biting

"The 2008 fluke opener for the Frances Fleet went very well, " said Frank Blount, skipper of the fleet, yesterday. "We had a quick drift most of the day with a steady pick of both keepers and shorts.The fluke were spread all around the boat with most methods working. but spinners and whole fresh squid produced the best for both size and numbers.

"The pool winner was 6 pounds, and we had several other nice fish in the 4-pound range. The majority of anglers went home with fresh fluke for dinner. Quite a few shorts kept the rods bent throughout the day and quite a few large sea robins kept things interesting. For early to mid- May, the fishing was very good with fluke caught over a very large area and on every single drift.

"Capt. Mike also reported marking a substantial amount of bait which will only bring more fluke to the south shore beaches."

Posted by Tom Meade  at 7:20 AM | Permalink

Mid-Bay bite is on

Bill Andreoni and a friend caught 20 stripers in Greenwich Bay last night. One of them was a keeper.

Kenny Ferrara recommended fishing Prudence and Patience Island in today's Fishing Report. Here's a shot of Bill "Eelman" Nolan with one of several bass he caught out there yesterday.

There are more bluefish being caught. See the most recent comments with reports.

If you shoot any fishing photos over the weekend, send them in.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 6:12 PM | Permalink

Bluefish and bass: 'The Bay was red hot'

What a day on the Bay

"The Bay was red hot," said Bill "Eelman" Nolan in an email that included photos yesterday. "You can see the lures I was using, One is a Storm Shad and the other a Tripple Ripple grub!"

Ed Hughes said a friend of his caught three bass and a bluefish yesterday in Allen Harbor.

Bluefish on May 6. Imagine that.

On the charter boat, Can't Imagine, Billy Silvia was catching 34- to 36-inch bass this morning, said David Henault of Ocean State Tackle.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 8:35 AM | Permalink | Comments 2

Schoolies at Matunuck today

Schoolies were taking small jigs with soft-plastic tails at Matunuck Beach behind the Ocean Mist today at around 2 p.m. The fish were very close to shore. The tide was out.

Greg Rego weighed an 8-pound largemouth at Ocean State Tackle yesterday. He said he caught the fish on a shiner at Tucker Pond in South Kingstown.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 3:59 PM | Permalink | Comments 1

It was a busy weekend, despite the weather

Bill Nolan caught keeper-size bass in the Bay yesterday. He said the eastern side had lots of stripers like the one pictured. It took a soft-plastic lure, Bill said.

Inshore codfishing remains strong, according to the skippers of the Frances Fleet. Their report:

"Saturday's local cod trip found some very good fishing for the modest turnout of anglers who braved the weather. The bite in the morning was excellent with fish all around the boat. Jigs and teasers were out-producing bait while the bite was on, but bait was also effective. One angler had jigged up four good fish in the first 10 minutes! He then had a nice double header right after. Capt. Mike came down and jigged up six nice fish in short order shortly thereafter. By late morning the bite slowed up, but it was already a good day. Everyone left with a nice bunch of cod in the 5- to 10-pound range with the largest around 12 pounds. One 8-pound tatoug and one big pout otherwise it was exclusively codfish.

"Saturday night, we made our first squid trip of the season but were plagued by dirty water and too much east wind which had the squid hard down on the bottom and tough to catch. To be sure, most anglers did get at least a few but the action was not up to par. Mixed sizes on the squid but more were in the large and jumbo category."

Posted by Tom Meade  at 8:27 AM | Permalink

More on bass and blackfish

“A lot of school bass to 26 inches have invaded the mid-Bay,” writes Bill “Eelman” Nolan. “It’s as if someone turned on a switch. There are pods of bass breaking the surface just about everywhere. David Parrillo of Warwick has been scoring daily using various small topwater plugs. Also working well are white Storm shads and Cocahoe Minnows.” Kenny Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle recommends fishing Greenwich Bay, Sand Point, Pine Hill, Ohio Ledge and off Warwick Light.

Billy Silvia, skipper of the charter boat, Can’t Imagine, was catching tautog as large as 8 pounds this morning in the Tiverton Basin. He was chumming the fish in with grass shrimp and catching them with crabs on small jigs. Chris Ropoza of Ocean State Tackle caught five keeper-size tautog on clam worms and steamer necks Wednesday afternoon at Fort Wetherill. The fish would not take crabs, he said. The blackfish bite is improving in the Warren and Barrington Rivers, particularly near the American Tourister outlet, Littlefield said.

Steve McKenna fished Matunuck yesterday afternoon and had small stripers on just about every cast, Bill Nolan reports. Nolan said, “An all-white Cocahoe did the damage.” Thom Pelletier of Quaker Lane Bait & Tackle said there have been a few keepers among the schoolies at the Ocean Mist in Matunuck.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 10:15 AM | Permalink