East End Eddie Doherty with a spring Cape Cod Canal striped
bass. Photo by Jeff Nickerson.
Grant Stark with the 46” striped bass he caught on Cape Cod last
week. Photo courtesy of ‘My Fishing Cape
Cod’.
Favorite places
to catch spring striped bass
The striped bass are here on their annual migration north. Before relating where to catch them and how it is important to note that they are in tough shape as a species.
Striped bass continue to be
overfished and subject to overfishing so great care should be taken to catch
and release fish safely to reduce fish mortality.
Using one single hook rather than
multiple treble hooks on lures helps.
Keep the fight short and try to keep the fish in the water when
dehooking and releasing. Inline circle hooks are the law when using bait and no
use of gaffs.
Take your time when releasing the
fish once the hook is out holding it by its tail (caudal) fin moving it forward
and backward so water flows over their gills to revive them. The fish will let you know it is ready to be
released when it wags its tail fin in your hand, at that point just let it go.
The striped bass limit is one
fish/person/day between 28” to less than 31”.
Some favorite spots and methods
Coves, ponds, rivers and along the ocean shore. Salt Pond and Narrow River, Narragansett; Green River, North Kingstown; and the Warren River are good spots. My favorite cove is Greenwich Cove in the spring (because I lived there, and it is the first place I ever caught a striped bass).
I have caught bass from shore and boat at the end, middle and mouth of the Cove at Chepiwanoxet Point, Warwick; to the East Greenwich Town Dock and Scallop Town Park on the east side; to the Godard Park boat ramp all the way up to the State Beach. My favorite baits are hard and soft plastic lures (both surface and swimming).
The East Passage of Narragansett Bay including the space between Popasquash Point, Bristol and Bear Point Prudence Island. I have caught many large striped bass in this area (large for the Bay is 20 to 40 pounds), particularly trolling with tube and worm or fishing the channel pads and edges with menhaden (live or chunked) and large spoons that mimic herring and Atlantic menhaden. The channel pads from Bristol to Barrington are also great places to fish as they hold bait and stripers as the shipping channel acts as a bait conduit pushing bait up and down the East Passage of the Bay. Can fish this area from shore at Barrington Beach and Colt State Park fishing pier, Bristol.
The West Wall of the Harbor of Refuge in Jerusalem area, South Kingstown; the Charlestown Breachway and any other jetty along the coastal shore. These areas provide shore anglers (and boat anglers) with one of the best first Rhode Island striped bass opportunities as the bass make their run past the Connecticut coastline to Rhode Island. Lures of all types are the baits of choice.
Providence River in the cities of Providence, East Providence, Barrington, Cranston and Warwick. The area from shore up the Seekonk River and at India Point Park and the Hurricane Barrier in Providence to Conimicut Point has been a very fruitful fishing area in early spring. The most popular method in recent years has been live lining or fishing with cut up chunks of Atlantic menhaden.
The hot areas to fish include the Hurricane Barrier down to Save the Bay on Fields Point in Providence. Anglers have caught thousands of bass in this area. When the menhaden spawning runs are strong striped bass chase them up the Providence River to the Seekonk River all the way up to downtown Pawtucket. Bass over 50” have been caught in this area. Anglers can catch from shore in Pawtucket, Providence, East Providence, Barrington, Warwick and Cranston.
Cape Cod Canal is now yielding fish for shore anglers. Surfcasters are catching a variety of fish sizes. “The middle of last week started with North
Attleborough resident Justin “Shooter” Dorsey landing an above slot 33-inch
striped bass on a rising east tide toward the west end with an Al Gags white
Whip-It Eel. Another school followed with fish up to 40-inches caught mid canal
by “Slap Shot Scottie” Ewell of Montague while casting a light-colored SP
Minnow into the east tide,” said East End Eddie Doherty, Canel fishing expert
and author. “Lures that seem to be working well this spring include white Joe
Baggs Swarters, 5-ounce Bill Hurley Canal Killers, Albie Super Snax and 4-ounce
Al Gags jigs.”
Where’s the bite?
Striped bass. Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait & Tackle, Warren, said, “The stiped
bass bite has been very good in Mt. Hope and Narragansett Bays. Anglers should know that Rhode Island and Massachusetts
now have two different ways of measuring striped bass.” In Massachusetts anglers must squeeze the
tail (caudal) fin to take the measure from the closed mouth of the fish. Visit Massachusetts - Striped Bass |
eRegulations for an illustration
on how to measure striped bass in Massachusetts. In Rhode Island measure from
the mouth to the longest point of the tail fin, there is no squeezing allowed. Dave
Henault of Ocean State Tackle, Providence, said, “Customers are having
difficulty catching slot size fish in the upper Providence and Seekonk
Rivers. Larger fish over 31” are being
caught, earlier this month a 53” fish was caught. Baits working include live or
chucked Atlantic menhaden with worms working best in the Seekonk River as all
that mud up the Seekonk River holds a lot of worms.” Angler Kevin Travares said “We fished
Mount Hope Bay, the Sakonnet launch to Bristol to Roger Williams, etc. Chased terns
and gulls on breaking schools of bass. Sometimes w/out birds, could spot them
breaking top water. Needed to move with
the schools. 40-50’ of water/drop offs in channel worked. Most fish were around slot, had some under 20”
(nice to see) and a couple over 30 inches.”
Declan O’Donnell of Breachway Bait & Tackle, Charlestown, said, “We've
seen some impressive sizes, with reports of fish up to 47 inches caught in the
Charlestown Breachway this week. Both tides have been productive, and they are
actively feeding on a variety of bait, including silversides, needlefish, shad,
eels, and squid.”
Tautog. Anglers have filed fewer reports on tautog as not as many are fishing for them as they are now targeting scup, striped bass and other species that have arrived,” said Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle.
Summer flounder and scup are being caught throughout the region. Manny Macera of Lucky Bait & Tackle said, “The scup are in with small fluke being caught too.” Angler Matthew Haczynski reported Saturday finding keeper fluke in the Block Island area with he and two others filling a cooler full of fluke.” Angler Garey Vandemoortele, said, “We limited out on fluke in the Westport area last week when chartering on Three Sister Charters. Clams and clam worms worked best.”
Freshwater. For complete regulations, a list of trout
stocked ponds, and a copy of the RI
Freshwater Fishing Regulations and Guide visit Fish &
Wildlife | Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and in
Massachusetts visit Freshwater Fishing | Mass.gov.