Fishing Forecast - November New Moon

Just because the calendar flipped to November, doesn't mean your fishing season is over. Far from it based on the way things are going. The biggest hurdle right now is getting out during the tight weather windows if you're on a smaller boat or kayak. There are still bass to be caught out front and in the bay, the bonito and albies are still out there chewing, and the tog bite is hot. The extended forecast is decent considering we're heading into mid-November. With some consistent cold nights on the way, I won't be too surprised if the bass bite begins to sizzle out as well as the hardtails. That said, the water temps are already chilly and they're still here - so who knows how long they'll stick around. I'd expect the tog bite to be great the next couple of weeks.

Striped Bass

Sort of like we've been saying all fall, the bass bite is pretty hit or miss. If you can get on fish, the fishing can be great. The nice thing about the cold nights and shorter days is the fish become a bit more predictable. If you find bait, you'll find fish. Look for the warmer water - estuaries, salt ponds, bays and harbors, etc. This is my favorite time of year to throw small spooks in shallow water, like the Rebel Jumpin Minnow or Game On? X-Walk. Straight-tailed soft plastics rigged weightless this time of year also work great in skinny water. Zoom Fluke, BWB Tweaker, and Albie Snax are all great options. I would rig them on a small BKK TitanRider.If you're fishing in the surf at night, Needlefish and Bucktails seem to be the ticket, as well as your classic Swimmers/Minnow Plugs. The Yo-Zuri Mag Darter is also a late fall favorite. I've been seeing decent bass feeds in the bay like clockwork just about every day for past week or two. I'd expect this to start slowing down next week as we get into some consistently cold nights around freezing, and as that bite slows down, the skinny water estuaries should heat up. There's still plenty of good bass fishing to be had this season.

A late fall topwater bass in skinny water.

Hardtails

Believe it or not, we still have good, reliable hardtail fishing right now. The albies have been finicky and definitely beginning to thin out after an insane end to October. The bonito are also thinning out, but depending where you go, you shouldn't be surprised if you see them breaking on your late-fall togging trips. They're definitely in good enough numbers to go out and target. Metals/Epoxies and Albie Snax have been the ticket for both. On days when the fish are finicky, try to switch things up, like dropping your epoxy down to bottom and retrieving it vertically. Another trick that worked on finicky Albies recently is casting epoxies into feeds, retrieving it fast like you normally would, and letting it pause. They were eating on the pause. The Float N' Fly method is another great bet when you're facing tough hard tails. A Larry Lurz Casting Egg paired with a Albie/Bonito Fly with a short stretch of fluorocarbon in between is all you need. This method is particularly effective because, similar to albie snax, the buoyancy of the float lets you work it as slow as you want and leave it in a feed for as long as possible. Popping it with long, extended pauses in between is probably your best bet.

A recent albie that ate an epoxy on a vertical retrieve.

Tautog

The fall tog bite in Rhode Island is pretty special. For a little state, we have a huge amount of perfect habitat for big tog to thrive. Several fish of a lifetime are swimming in RI waters this time of year - you just need to be prepared to capitalize if you cross paths with one. Heavy gear, big baits, and tight drags are your friend if you're trophy hunting. The most important thing to remember when targeting these big, old fish, is that they really are trophies. Do your best to safely release the biggest ones, and keep the fish that are closer to the minimum size for the cooler. Tog are old, slow-growing fish, and although we have an incredible fishery, we want to keep it that way.

Jon with a nice shore-caught Block Island tog last week.

There is plenty of good fishing to be had up tight to the rocks and in shallow water, say less than 25ft. You can get away with a more finesse-y approach in this case, although I usually prefer a heavy leader no matter my depth. In shallow water, the Jig is generally the go to option. In heavy current you may want to opt for a Rig. I try to use as light of a jig as I can get away with. You want to feel contact with the bottom, but you don't want to dissuade fish from picking up the crab and swimming away with it. You can still use big baits even with a jig. Before you tie on your jig, slide a heavy bait hook on your leader, and then tie on the jig. It's like a slider rig, but a slider jig instead. Whole crabs, no problem. There's no need to use any bait other than green crabs if you're fishing up shallow - not that white leggers won't make their way up shallow, but there's way more green crabs for tog to naturally feed on. Factor in the price and availability of green crabs, and it's a pretty easy decision. That said, if you're headed for deep-water tog, it's a different story. Rigs are king when you're fishing deep. It's also worth the headache of getting your hands on some white-leggers if you're after a trophy. Green crabs should work just fine if it's all you can get.