Now that we’re past the fourth, it feels like a new phase of the season. At least that’s how I’ve always looked at it. You can pretty much split the summer into two halves – before and after the holiday. The water temps skyrocket every mid-July, and we generally get southwest winds and clean water. It seems the same patterns will hold true this year. The entire extended forecast is southwest winds with seas in the 3-to-6-foot range. Consistent weather is generally a good thing, at least for bottom fishing, as it makes things a little more predictable and changes with bait and fish happen less drastically.

Striped Bass

The striped bass fishing out front continues to go strong, at least by boat. Both day and night bites seem to be pretty good and consistent. The reefs and wrecks have been holding big bass. I’d expect this pattern to continue into the second half of the month as water temps will continue to skyrocket and the big bass will be looking for deep, cool water with current and forage. Lucky for us Rhode Islanders, much of our inshore waters fit the bill. From Little Compton to Watch Hill, there’s perfect habitat for these bass to hang out for the dog days of summer. Live eels are always a good bet, but they’ve been taking artificial eel offerings as well. The GT Eel and Joe Baggs Block Island Eelhave both been doing well and will continue to do so the next couple weeks. The Joe Baggs SPJ Jigheadis tried and true on big bass, and the BKK Titan Rideris a great hook for weightless options. Trolling tubes like the Butchie Built Trolling Tubeare picking some good fish as well, especially for the kayak crowd. Tubes will catch day or night and are especially great to utilize when cruising from spot to spot. Big bunker spoons like the Ben Parker Flutter Spoon are catching some good fish too. The Doc, Skipper, or Dog Walkeris still getting some nice bass as well, especially around dawn and dusk. The Block Island bite has been very good, and should be for the next couple of weeks and beyond. All of the techniques above have been and will keep on getting the job done out there in the coming weeks.

Check out our latest blog on our local singles hook program to see how you can reduce striped bass post release mortality. Read here. 

A decent bass taken on the Butchie Built Trolling Tube last week.

Bluefish

Bluefish of all sizes are on the bait, chasing squid and sandeels until they puke. Then they do it some more. Early morning is probably your best to get them on topwater, but some days that’s not the case. Small/medium spooks like the Rebel Jumpin Minnowand Game On! 6” Spookwork really well no matter what bait they are on. Albie Snaxare tough to beat when they’re on squid. During the middle of the day, you’ll see them suspended over deep water and structure on your fish finder. Bucktailsand Metals/Epoxiesare probably your best bet if you’re on top of them. If you’re trolling structure, minnow plugs like the SP Minnow, Nomad Shikari, Yo-Zuri Hydro Minnow,and Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnowwill all catch. They’ll also eat a Trolling Tubewillingly. This time of year, it seems bluefish tend to travel with fish of their similar size/year class. There will be schools of 15 pounders cruising around, and schools of 3 pounders, but they seem to mix less than in the spring and fall.

Local legend Tyler King with a big gator bluefish recently.

Fluke and Black Sea Bass

The fluke fishing is still going strong, although there seems to be far more shorts around than keepers. There’s certainly no shortage of the perfect bait – plenty of squid and sandeels are all over the fluke grounds. With consistent southwest winds forecasted for the next several days, I’d expect this to continue into the second half of the month. We have Flippin Out Fluke Rigsin stock right now, which do a great job culling out the keeper-sized fish and work best when there is squid present. Other good baits to try if you want to avoid the short fluke (sea bass, too) include the Zoom Magnum Fluke, Hogy 7”, RonZ 6” and 8", and the larger sized Gulp!options. When you’re using bigger baits, you will still feel the smaller fluke grabbing at the tail. It takes some getting used to, but almost like tautog fishing, you just have to wait for the right bite. You will know the difference between the sharp taps of a small fluke and a bigger one that is able to take the whole bait. Fluke have relatively large mouths and a decent-sized one, say 5+ pounds, will have absolutely no problem taking a 7” or 8” bait if it’s in the right mood.

The results of a successful early July "grocery shopping" trip.

The black sea bass fishing is still good as they continue to pile up on almost every bit of structure out front. Sea bass tend to like the leeward side of humps, rockpiles, wrecks, or really any sort of structure. Of course there are exceptions, and sometimes they’ll have the tide right in their face when they’re actively feeding, or sometimes they’ll be right on top of the structure making them more difficult to reach. That said, I always try the lee side first. You can use the same techniques as mentioned for the fluke to try and cull the biggest sea bass out of the school. It’s generally just as simple as upsizing your baits. Another tactic is to drop a big paddle tail down, like the Jygpro Swym 5” or NLBN 5” Paddletailand retrieve it back to the surface. You may still need to pick through some small ones, but it can sometimes trigger those bigger ones to eat. It will also work with Metals/Epoxies and Slow Pitch jigs,but the smaller fish tend to have an easier time getting to those before the big ones.