Fishing Forecast - Late May Full Moon

Fishing Forecast - Late May Full Moon

This May has brought us some incredible fishing. Not only that, but we're also getting our second full moon of the month in the next few nights. This moon is bringing quite the cold front with it, so I'd expect some more insane bite windows if you can get out there. As some of our bass will keep moving north, there are more coming from the south to fill their void. The weather this year seems to be panning out like many in the past - beautiful from Monday to Friday, and then cold, windy, and rainy on the weekends! The bass fishing itself has also been pretty inconsistent. Overall, good with lots of people catching really solid fish, but the bite is varying so much from day to day. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Just know that any good bite you're on may not last, so take advantage of it when you're on them. That's been mine and several others' experience so far this spring. As far as other species, the tog season shuts down in just a few days. It seemed to be a pretty lackluster spring for the tog fishermen in general. Weakfish are around, though not in any staggering numbers. At least not that I'm aware of. Bottom fishing is starting to heat up with some solid fluke being caught. Our black sea bass season opened on May 16 and runs right to the end of the calendar year. I haven't seen a ton from Rhode Island fishermen catching sea bass yet, though I'm sure if you go looking you'll find them. The Buzzards Bay crews have been whacking some healthy fish and that's usually how the season kickstarts. That said, their season used to open weeks before us here in RI, so now it's a level playing field. Go find some colored up knotheads, they are at their prettiest this time of year!

Striped Bass

Like I mentioned, the bass fishing has been very good overall. That said, the bites have been pretty inconsistent. It's that magical time of year where you can find them quite literally anywhere in the state. From the salt ponds and rivers in the upper bay, to the reefs out front, and anywhere in between, there are bass to be caught on any given day. Up in the bay, you'll mostly be working with smaller baits - juvenile sand eels, small squid, cinder worms, spearing, etc. This makes for ideal light tackle fishing. If you're a fly fisherman, you can do really well with Striper Flies at just about any salt pond, outflow, or dock light. The bait has been changing from day to day, but whatever you're seeing, try to match it. Small soft plastics like the NLBN Paddle Tail, JygPro Swym, JygPro Y Tail, Al Gags Whip-It Fish, etc. are all good bets on light jigheads. Topwater is also great this time of year, especially at dawn and dusk. The Rebel Jumpin Minnow is tough to beat for light tackle topwater. There haven't been a ton of pogies around, but there have been some here and there. If you find bass on them, or river herring still kicking around, upsize your baits. Glide baits are the obvious choice here. The Spro KGB Chad Shad, G-Ratt Poppa Pete, Yo-Zuri Pro Glide Bait, and Berkeley Chop Block are all great options. The Chop Block is favorite of ours at the shop, just clip off the trailer hook and beef up the treble up front for big bass. Big spooks like The Doc, Yo Zuri TopKnock Pencil, Lemire's Plugworks Wave Jammer, and 247 Mully are all good bets. Big soft plastics are also a good way to fool big bass. The Lunker City Slug-Go, Fish Snax Super Snax, and Hogy Original all have their differences, but catch many big bass each season. If you're fishing out front right now, you may find fish on mature sand eels, squid, pogies, or something else. Pencil Poppers have been producing for guys from the surf at first and last light. For sandeel presentations, try the Joe Baggs Miracle Minnow, RonZ, or an AVA Diamond Jig. The bite out front should only continue to get better as water temperatures increase and bass look for deeper, cooler water throughout the summer.

A wave of juvenile sandeels in my navigation lights from a very productive night last week.

Weakfish, Fluke, and Black Sea Bass

I keep telling myself to dedicate time to weakfish this spring, but the bass blinders have been on. There have been enough whispers that I can say they are around, but I haven't put hands on any myself just yet. This is just about prime time for them up in the bay. The next couple of weeks you should have chances if you dedicate the time and are willing to search. I'd be looking at relatively shallow bays and coves with a firm bottom right now. Small soft plastics like the NLBN Paddle Tail, JygPro Swym, JygPro Y Tail, Al Gags Whip-It Fish on a light jighead is usually the way to go. They'll also readily hit a well-presented fly if you can get one in front of them. Pink, white, and chartreuse are pretty much all you'll need as far as colors go. For fluke, I'd be throwing the same things and looking in similar areas right now. You should be able to find some both up in the bay and out front in relatively shallow water. On top of small plastics, the Nantucket Poison Swingtails are a good option, too. You should really be able to find fluke at several different depths, but as they move up shallow and into the bay in the early summer window, it can be a really fun time to target them on light tackle, so I'd encourage you to try it while it's a viable option. Black sea bass are a similar story - they are moving up in the bay but I would still be targeting slightly deeper water for them. Out front, if you can find the mature sand eels, or squid, you will probably find some sea bass right behind them. Plastics will work as well as Metals/Epoxy Jigs fished vertically. It's not unrealistic to catch your biggest sea bass of the season early on, so go give it a shot!