Fishing Forecast - April New Moon

The second half of April is when things truly start to kickoff here in Rhode Island. Over the next two weeks, migratory bass will hit the oceanfront and light up the bay, and the tog bite will fire up. When it comes to how early to start fishing for fresh migratory bass, everyone has their own magic dates in mind. There can be a pretty stark difference between someone in Newport versus in Providence. It also varies by year. If you want to base it off what has been going on in New Jersey this spring, it looks like the migration may be just a bit behind schedule, which should be no surprise considering the winter we just had and the low water temps we're still dealing with. Now that we've finally gotten away from nights in the 30s and low 40s, that water temp should creep up in a hurry toward that magic number. I won't be surprised if people start finding fresh migratory bass this week, but I'd bet next week will be when things blow wide open. That said, who knows. Surely, by the next forecast in two weeks' time, we will all be fishing for liced up bass, and that's worth getting excited for.

Striped Bass

In the last forecast, I spoke almost exclusively about fishing for our resident population of bass. I'll briefly touch on that now, but I'm going to switch the focus toward newly arriving migratory bass for this one. The fishing for resident bass has been excellent and should continue to be through the end of the month. They have been all over the herring pushing up. Big soft plastics, glide baits, and big-profile flies are all great ways to imitate the big herring that they're seeking. Don't be surprised to start seeing fresh fish in that mix any day now. In general, it's a good idea to start with smaller presentations when you're targeting the newly arriving fresh bass. Don't be surprised if they're high-20 inch range or even bigger, though. Minnow plugs, like the SP Minnow, TP Minnow, Yo-Zuri Hydro Minnow, and Yo-Zuri Mag Darter are all great bets to get on your first fish of the season. Small paddletails like NLBN, JygPro, and Al Gag's Whip-It Fishin the 3-5" range are also a great thing to try in the spring. Don't leave without a handful of Bucktails, either. Once that water temp gets up to 50 degrees and beyond, topwater is another good idea to throw at fired up, hungry schoolies. The Jumpin Minnowis a classic this time of year. Pencil poppers like the Cotton Cordelland Tsunami Talkin' Popperare tough to beat, as they make commotion and get the attention of any fish around. When they're hungry and fired up, as newly arriving fish usually are, that commotion works in your favor. It's also a great time of year to break out the fly rod and throw some Striper Fliesaround, especially as the bay fills in with fish.  

Early-season topwater bass from a couple seasons ago.

Tautog and Squid

Similar to last year, the tog season is off to a bit of a slow start. That said, it's sure to heat up in a big way over the next couple of weeks. Try to find structure in areas where they'll be traveling up into the bay. Both green crabs and shore crabs should get the job done, though I tend to prefer shore crabs for the spring bite in the bay. Whether you fish Jigs or Rigs, we are stocked on both. In general, shallow water and/or low current is ideal for jigs, while deeper water and/or high current is time to drop a rig. While water temps are still on the cool side, building a bite is more important than ever. If you drop crabs for ten minutes, don't get bites, and leave, you probably won't do very well right now. You can get away with that in a couple of weeks. For now, stay on your spot and keep your crabs soaking for as long as it takes. Chumming the bottom isn't a bad idea, either. If there aren't all that many fish in yet, it's that much more important to give few few that are around a good chance to find your bait. All that said, soon enough, there will be plenty to be had and patience won't be nearly as crucial.

My first tog of last season. Hopefully this season's first is coming soon!

We aren't seeing much for squid yet, but I'd expect that to change with the upcoming new moon. Dig out your brightest lights, trout rods, and Squid Jigs. Areas with ambient light such as harbors, marinas, bridges, etc. are all good places to look. I'm not sure how much it matters, but for what it's worth, last spring's hot colors were pink, white, and blue for the jigs. Hopefully we see numbers similar to what 2025 brought us. The arrival of squid isn't only exciting for the fresh calamari, but for the species of fish that follow them. When the squid show up, there are often weakfish, bluefish, fluke, and waves of bass closely behind them. Not to mention scup, black sea bass, and sea robins as well. Things are about to get good here in RI!