Charter fishing with in-state residents allowed

 Good tautog bite:  Capt. Monti with a tautog caught at Plum Island Light, North Kingstown this week.  The bite has been good there and all over the Narragansett and Buzzards Bay.

Salmon and trout bite hot:  Tom Mihalko (right) of Warwick and fishing friend Harry Culler of Coventry with some of the trout and salmon (to 25”) they caught on the Wood River last week.

Charter fishing with in-state residents allowed

In Rhode Island charter boats can fish with in-state resident passengers as long as social distancing and all other orders are followed. However, out of state anglers are not allowed to fish here unless quarantined for 14 days.

In a joint letter to Governor Gina Raimondo, the American Saltwater Guides Association and the RI Party & Charter Boat Association asked the Governor to consider allowing out of state anglers to fish on charter boats as soon as it is safe.

Capt. Rick Bellavance, president of the RIPCBA said, “About 80 percent of our customers are out of state residents so allowing them to fish here is vitally important to our industry.”  In the same letter Peter Jenkins, owner of the Saltwater Edge, Middletown and chairman of the board of the American Saltwater Guides Association said, “We propose a number of preventative actions that our industry members are prepared to take.”  Actions included assessing the health of passages, wearing approved face covering and gloves and a cleaning protocol.

Time for tautog fishing

The spring tautog bite is on in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  Minimum size is 16” with a three fish/person/day limit (and a ten fish boat limit).  The limit in Massachusetts drops to one fish on June 1, however, in Rhode Island it closes two months in June and July during the spawning season.

Here are five tips on how to catch them.

Find structure to find tautog.  Tautog can be fished from shore or boat and in both cases they like structure (rocks, wrecks, bridge piers, dock pilings, mussel beds, ledges holes and humps along the coast).  So, no structure, no tautog.

Fish where the fish are.  This is particularly true with tautog because they are a territorial species, you have to find the tautog.  They are not going to find you.  So if you get no bites move to another spot.  When you find them, you find them and the bite is on. 

Boat placement is important.  Find structure, estimate wind/drift direction and anchor up current from where you want to fish and drift back to the spot as the anchor is setting.  Cover as much area as you can fishing all around the boat.  If still no bites let some anchor line out to change your position, if still no bites it is time to move the vessel.

Tautog baits. Green crabs or Asian crabs are the baits of choice in the fall.  However soft baits like calm worm and clams are often used in spring as some angler believe the tautog like soft baits this time of year. When using green crabs make it easy for the tautog to bite and take the bait.  I like to break off most of the legs and claws leaving one per side on the end, cut the crab in half and hook it through one leg socket and out another. 

Tautog rigs should have as little hardware as possible to avoid bottom tie-ups. I make single hook rigs with about seven or eight feet of monofilament line and attach it to the main braid line directly with a dropper for a pre-snelled ‘Lazar Sharp’ brand hook (you need sharp hooks to get through tough tautog lips).  I also use a special egg singer rig to avoid tie-ups, jigs and snafu rigs depending on conditions and bottom type. 

Where’s the bite?

Tautog.  Angler Jeff Sullivan of Bristol County spoke with me at Lucky Bait & Tackle, Warren.  Sullivan said, “The tautog bite is real strong everywhere.  Anglers are catching them out in front and in the Bay, off jetties from shore and over rock piles on a boat.”  Tom Coots of Red Top Sporting Goods, Buzzards Bay said, “The west end of the Canal is yielding tautog, but the bite really turned on in Buzzards Bay this week with anglers catching keepers on the east side at the old entrance to the Canal, Cleveland Ledge and on rock piles in throughout the Bay

Striped bass fishing is outstanding.  Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle said, “Soft plastics like Al Gag’s Whip-It-Eel are doing well in white, pink and confetti. Other fish are being taken in the Seekonk River with clam sea worms.  We also have a good squid bite going on.”  Hayes of Quaker Lane said, “Striped bass fishing continues to improve with some larger keeper fish in the 29” to 30” range being caught too.”  Tom Coots of Red Top Sporting Goods said, “We now have school bass in the Cape Cod Canal and some keepers be caught in Buttermilk Bay and in the rivers.”

Freshwater fishing remains hot with a great trout and largemouth bass bite.  Anglers Tom Mihalko of Warwick and Harry Culler, Coventry caught twenty fish last week, both Salmon and trout on the Wood River with one salmon weighing 4 pounds and measuring 25”.  Tom said, “A really amazing, unforgettable time. When we launched at 6:00 a.m. there was ice on the ramp and the grass, fog on the water…, after the fog lifted and sun hit the water the fish bite exploded.”  Jeff Sullivan said, “Bass are prespawn so they are in low water at the banks as the water starts to warm.  The males appear first followed shortly after by the females.  Swim baits, spinning bait and jigs are working well. The Brickyard Pond locally yielding some nice bass too.”