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Bass and blackfish biting

School bass, between 26 and 28 inches long, were striking twitch baits in the Pawcatuck River's Cemetery Cove yesterday, according to David Henault of Ocean State Tackle.

He also said that a school of bass was busting through menhaden in the waters north of Colt State Park, and that Billy Silvia caught schoolies yesterday in Greenwich Bay.

Tautog have been biting near the southeast corner of Bristol Harbor, he said, and there have been more blackfish off Rumstick Point and near the Hog Island light.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments 1

Soft plastic is the ticket

Soft-plastic lures are the keys to success with early season stripers, says Bill "Eelman" Nolan.

"Steve McKenna likes the Cocahoe Minnow alot on a half-ounce jighead," he says. "I like the Bass Pro Shop's Triple Ripple 4-inch, all-white curly tails on a plain jighead I also use 5- and 7-inch white Fin-S-Fish by Lunker City. It's a fantastic lure and works well all season long!

"For some reason in the spring, jigs without hair on them perform much better than standard bucktail jigs with hair. Seems to be the more plain and simple the plastic is, the better the results.Of course, you cant beat a small white Storm shad either, but this time of the year, the less complicated the better.

"Once the squid show up in force, regular plugs will begin to work well as the fish become more and more aggresive and a bit larger."

Posted by Tom Meade  at 7:02 AM | Permalink

Bay bass are biting

Bill "Eelman" Nolan reports that schoolies are biting in the Bay. His friend, Steve McKenna, took this fish yesterday morning.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 8:23 AM | Permalink | Comments 1

Salt ponds perking

Flounder fishing season opens Saturday on the salt ponds, and fish must be 12 inches long to keep.

Al Conti of Snug Harbor Marina recommends fishing slopes at the head of Point Judith Pond. Ron Mouchon of Breachway Bait & Tackle suggests fishing the narrows in both Point Judith and Ninigret ponds. In Connecticut, there have been scattered reports of flounder biting near Enders Island, the Mystic River, and some of the coves around Stonington, said Don Michaud of King Cove Outfitters.

A slug of small stripers has moved into Ninigret Pond, said Mouchon. Schoolies are also biting in Cemetery Cove on the Pawcatuck River, according to Michaud. Conti reports that the bite at the West Wall hasn’t been consistent.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments 1

Anglers win cod game

"Cod fishing busted wide open," according to Frank Blount, skipper of the Frances Fleet yesterday.

"A small group of anglers boated well over 70 fat green cod. The high hook had 10 fish while another fellow went home with nine good cod. Longtime regular Dan Melino had three nice cod to take home while Richard from Cranston and his brother nailed nine nice fish for the day. Another two guys from Connecticut went home with well over a dozen nice cod.

"It was almost all cod today with all nice market-size fish in the 5- to 8-pound range and some larger cod into the lower teens. It was a one stop day! Again the local waters were teeming with bait and whales. Fresh surf clams were the ticket once again. Just a few perch and a handful of big pout today mixed in."

Posted by Tom Meade  at 2:28 PM | Permalink

Upper Bay: bass and pogies

Small bass were swirling on the surface off Conimicut Point yesterday, said David Henault of Ocean State Tackle.

This morning, menhaden were spotted at the mouth of the Kickemuit River, he said.

He also reported that jiggers were taking squid in Newport.

Look for small bass at dawn and dusk along the corners of the beaches in Middletown.

Last year at this time, bass moved into Quonochontaug Pond, says surf fisherman “Rock Hoppin’” Mike Frank.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 9:42 AM | Permalink

Bass in the Bay

The first schoolie stripers of the season are dripping into Greenwich Bay, says Kenny Ferra of Ray's Bait & Tackle. It will take another week of warm weather for a larger slug of fish to move in, he says.

Right now, shellfishermen have been seeing swirls in the waters off Goddard State Park. Soon, the fish will be hitting small lures off Chepiwanoxet, the mouth of the Pawtuxet River, and along the grass of the Seekonk River.

The first Fishing Report of the season will appear Friday.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 7:13 AM | Permalink

Cod bite is on

Capt. Frank Blount, skipper of the Frances Fleet reports that cod are biting:

"Yesterday's local cod trip continued to show strong signs of improvement with more than double the catch of Saturday's trip, including a very strong bite at the last hour of the day. Nothing big but all fat, healthy green fish with sizes to just over 10 pounds.

"We got out on our scheduled offshore trips this weekend and sailed locally for cod four times this past week. Locally the fishing showed some much anticipated improvement over the previous weekend.

"Both weekday of fishing locally, anglers picked away at some good green cod which were all loaded with herring. Not a fast pick but codfish were caught both days throughout the day. Fresh clams fished on a high hook were the ticket. Nothing big but the largest both days were in the 10- to 12-pound range. A fair number of shorts as well. Some good size ocean perch and a few jumbo ocean pout plus one enormous 19.5-inch snowshoe flounder and an occasional ling to top off the catch. We marked piles and piles of bait on the recorder all day both days and we saw whales both days over the weekend. All very good signs.

"The first blackfish of the season were caught and promptly released last weekend, so the water temperature is starting to go up.

"Wednesday's and Fridays trips were slower on the cod but anglers had some decent catches of ling both days including some real brutes in the 4- yo 6-pound range!

"We are now cod fishing at 7 a.m., sailing Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and the weekend."

Posted by Tom Meade  at 9:31 AM | Permalink

Good omen for opener

Capt. Jack Riley reports on the prospects for Saturday, Opening Day of trout season:

I live on the lower Wood River and did a little recon today. The river is loaded with both stocked trout and holdovers. I saw fish rising for Black Quills and flashing as they burrowed for nymphs. If the weather holds up and the river stays down it should be a great opening day.

In a follow-up e-mail, he said:

My bride says it is going to rain all weekend. I have found a black Woolly
Bugger with a Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear nymph dropper deadly under these
conditions.

Remember to send your Opening Day photos for posting on projo.com.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 4:40 PM | Permalink

More striper news

Bill "Eelman" Nolan reports:

"Trout is not the only fish on the menu this coming week! There are fresh run mini stripers at the west wall, spotty but there nonetheless. Tom Maguire had the first ones a few days ago.

"All hell should break lose by the end of next week!

"Providence, around the Hot Club area is very very good at times also, Mike "Clammer" McElroy and Dave Parillo from Warwick have been scoring some impresive numbers there nightly on small jigs!

"There are also some menhaden already showing themselves in various coves of the Bay, Naturally, large stripers are a long way behind them, but its very good news and has us on track for another great season in the Bay!"

Bill and Jim White have launched a new website devoted to "Monster Shallow Water Stripers," with its own forum that is aleady attracting thousands of visits, Jim says.

Shellfishermen working on Greenwich Bay also reported seeing a school of small bass there this week.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 9:51 AM | Permalink

Stripers are here

The first migratory striped bass have arrived at the West Wall on the Harbor of Refuge and Cemetery Cove on the Pawcatuck River, reports Ron Mouchon of Breachway Bait & Tackle.

If the fish are in Cemetery Cove, they are probably in Cow Cove, too, on the Connecticut side.

Last year at this time, the first small bass of the season appeared in Quonochontaug Pond among the rocks on both the east and west ends of the pond.

Small bass are probably going to appear at the base of Omega Dam on the Seekonk River, too.

Fly fishermen have an advantage, throwing small streamers. Conventional fishermen should keep artificial lures small to match striper prey. Bean-head jigs are traditional favorites, but small shad-like soft plastic swimming lures are overtaking jigs.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 5:03 PM | Permalink

Weather break may improve fishing

Capt. Frank Blount, skipper of the Frances Fleet reports:

Another really tough week of early spring weather reports the Frances Fleet. Better weather is coming. In fact, forecasters are predicting weather is to break this week. Due to the relentless wind, we were only able to get out Saturday this past week.

There was a bit of a swell but hardly a breath of wind and it was much warmer out on the water making for a very comfortable day. Despite marking balls and balls of bait, the codfish just were not as interested in hook baits as we would have hoped for.

We did get a few with Jackie from Booth Bay Harbor, Maine, taking the pool with a good size fat green codfish. A few pout and hake and some good size ocean perch rounded out the day's action.

Starting Monday, April 14th we change our local cod sailing time back to 7 a.m. The trip will leave at 7 a.m. and return at approximately 4 p.m. We are now on a five-day per week local codfish schedule, sailing Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There are still some openings on upcoming offshore trips, and the crew is highly anticipating some great spring groundfishing in the upcoming weeks.

Squid season is right around the corner, and the Frances Fleet will be squid fishing at night Fridays, Saturdays and Sundaysfrom 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. from May 1 to June 15. Early reports already indicate squid are starting to move into the area.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 10:44 AM | Permalink