Fishing Forecast - August New Moon

Fishing Forecast - August New Moon

Seeing the calendar turn to August was a sight for sore eyes after a pretty lackluster July in a lot of ways. Bad weather and overall tough fishing made the dog days of summer feel long. That said, we made it to August, and that means fall run fishing is on our doorstep. Aside from the heat wave on the forecast, we've had some crisp mornings that are finally starting to feel like fall. We also finally have some southerly winds to look forward to, which should only improve the fishing. Although we're still a ways from fall on the calendar, there's no doubt that fall fishing patterns begin in August. We get some cooler nights, small bait starts to flood out of the salt ponds, rivers, and estuaries to the oceanfront where several different species are primed to take advantage of the buffet. We're fortunate we have had such a strong squid and sandeel year which has lasted throughout the summer. Add peanut bunker, bay anchovies, spearing, herring, etc. to that list, and we could be in for a great fall. We've seen a big push of bonito come in over the past week or so, the striped bass fishing has been pretty good tight to structure, and the tuna bite should continue to improve. Tautog season also reopened at the start of the month. I'd expect all of these things to only get better in the following weeks.

Bonito

There have been random bonito caught in RI going back to about mid-June, but it never quite blew up until more recently. The past few days there have been raging feeds all over the state from the beaches of south county to the rocks of Newport. Along with sandeels, the predominant bait in some areas have been sea herring. Early-arriving hardtails on big bait is a recipe for some incredibly fun fishing. When they're on big bait, they're generally a bit easier to fool. They will also eat bigger presentations. Minnow Plugssuch as the Daiwa SP Minnow, TsunamiTPMinnow, and Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow are good options. The Yo-Zuri Mag Minnowhas been a particular favorite the past couple of seasons. You might be able to get some on topwaters like the Rebel Jumpin Minnowor Cotton Cordell Pencil Popper as well. The usuals like Metal/Epoxy Jigsand Albie Snaxare, of course, a great bet and I wouldn't be heading out without them for the rest of the season. The "match the hatch" method is usually a go to approach if you know what they're feeding on. That said, bright colors and/or big profiles work incredibly well too. It just depends on the day. You may run into bluefish on your bonito trips as well. Keep an eye out for fish busting on the surface without that trademark "slash" of a bonito. There's a good chance it's bluefish. I'd expect the bonito and bluefish bite to continue improving over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully we have albies to talk about soon!

Coby with a nice bonito!

Striped Bass

The bass fishing has been relatively slow for most, but that should improve this month. The theme lately has been bass in very shallow water tight to structure. Most likely evading the sharks, but either way, it creates a great opportunity for surf casters. During the day, Pencil Poppershave been doing well catching numbers. At night, Needlefish,Bottle Plugs, and Minnow Plugshave all been doing very well. With sandeels and other small bait around, using a teaser like a Striper Flyor Red Gill Original. From boat or kayak, throw Topwatersin the mornings and evenings. It's about time of year to transition from big baits to smaller ones, but that's not to say they won't eat a Doc or other big spook. Albie Snaxalso do great on bass this time of year and through the fall. Other relatively small soft plastics are a good bet, too. Paddletails like the NLBNand JygProwill catch them, especially when they're suspended or tighter to bottom. Metal/Epoxy Jigsand Diamond Jigsare also great bets with sandeels around like they have been this summer. Although the transition into fall fishing is just about here in some ways, you'll still find bass in their summer spots for several more weeks. Live eels, trolling the Butchie Built Tube,and throwing big soft plastics like the Hogy Original 14"are good options to pull them off their structure. Over the next couple of weeks, I'd expect to see more relatively small bass chasing small bait on the surface.

The rest of the Goodrich crew with a couple of schoolie bass caught on Hogy Epoxy Minnows.

Offshore

The recreational bluefin bite off of RI hasn't really taken off yet. If you run a bit further west, there is action to be had. There are no shortage of giant bluefin in closer, that's for sure. The recreational bite has been very centered around the life. If you find whales and dolphins feeding, there's a very strong chance there are tuna feeding with them. It really seems to depend on the day as far as what is working best. In general it's been mostly a jig bite. That said, they're being caught on popping setups and on some days, too. You really just need to be prepared for any scenario. The UVT Capt. Corey's Jighas been hot so far, specifically the pink glow color. The Hogy Sandeel Jig,Shimano Shimmerfall Jig,and Pt. Jude Deepforce Jigare all great options as well. If you want to throw topwater, the JoeBaggs Skipperand Yo-Zuri Mag Diveare a couple of fun ones to try. A more conventional popper, like the Chug Norrisor Yo-Zuri Mag Popperwill get the job done. We also have trolling bars like the Chatter Spreader Barsand Hogy Splasher Barsif you choose to troll for them. My most recent outing, the trolling fleet seemed to outperform the boats jigging. My trip before that, it was very much the opposite. There are also mahi beginning to show up in some midshore areas, and even closer. Metal/Epoxy Jigsand small Soft Plasticsare a great bet. They also respond well to chum and bait. Both the tuna and mahi bites should only improve over the next couple weeks. With some south and southwest winds finally starting to blow (knocking on wood) hopefully the action keeps pushing to water closer to us.