Opening Day big success
Rhode Island and Massachusetts have stocked
waterways with a variety of trout for the spring trout season. Theses initiatives provide excellent
fishing opportunities for anglers of all ages and skill levels.
Opening Day of trout season in Rhode
Island was this past Saturday, April 12.
The cold, windy and snowy morning deterred a few anglers but those that
braved the cold caught trout.
Gary Vandemoortele of Smithfield, who fished
Spring Grove Pond, Chepachet, on opening day, said, “The trout were good size
this year. We arrived a bit later in the
morning and the anglers fishing next to us had already caught five nice
trout. Shortly after I caught a nice 14”
rainbow trout.”
Kenneth ‘Casey’ Fernstrom, Senior
Biologist and manager of the four trout hatcheries the Department of
Environmental Management (DEM) have in Rhode Island said, “We are stocking with
larger fish this year, most are between 14” and 18”, however, the 20 plus inch
fish are more abundant, particularly the golden trout we stocked this year.”
Anglers
who catch a golden rainbow trout on Opening Day and through May 6 will be
eligible to receive a golden trout pin. Simply take a picture and email it to dem.fishri@dem.ri.gov for
verification. Submissions must be received no later than Monday, May 5, 2025.
Last week, The Massachusetts
Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) officially began its annual
spring trout stocking program, bringing hundreds of thousands of healthy,
hatchery-raised trout to state waterways.
MassWildlife raises brook, brown, rainbow, and tiger trout. The fish are
raised at hatcheries in Sandwich, Palmer, Belchertown, Sunderland, and
Montague. Over 260 Massachusetts cities and towns are scheduled to receive
trout this spring. Anglers are encouraged to visit MassWildlife’s website
at mass.gov/trout to find daily stocking
updates and locations.
“The trout stocking program is a
key part of MassWildlife’s mission to enhance recreational fishing and connect
people to nature,” said Todd Richards, MassWildlife Assistant Director of
Fisheries.
This year’s fish are bigger and
better than ever in Massachusetts too. While the quantity of stocked trout (measured
in total pounds) has remained about the same for the last decade, MassWildlife
has been steadily producing larger trout by adjusting hatchery growing
techniques. Just ten years ago, less than 60% of stocked trout were over 12
inches—now, more than 80% measure over a foot.
For complete regulations, a list of 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.
Marine
Fisheries regulation recommendations approved
The
Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission (MFAC) and approved a suite
of final regulatory recommendations from the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF). DMF will commence with the final rule-making
process and anticipates updated rules will go into effect later this spring.
Final
recommendations approved by MFAC that are of interest to recreational anglers
include:
Stiped
bass total length will now be measured with
the upper and lower fork of the tail squeezed together. Believe it or not DMF investigated this issue
in 2024 and determined that while pinching the tail can add approximately 0.3”
to the fish’s total length, fanning the tail can reduce a fish’s total length
by 1.4”.
False
albacore and Atlantic Bonito
will now likely have catch and size limit regulations. The MAFAC approved the DMF recommendation to
adopt a 16” fork length minimum size for both species and a five fish per
person possession limit (both species combined).
A
series of regulations designed to constrain the growth of shore-based shark
fishing were also
approved by the MFAC. The aim is to
restrain shore fishing that targets white sharks, thereby preventing
significant public safety concerns. One
of the regulations, applying the mechanized and remote controlled devise rule
more broadly to rod and reel fisheries also provides an ancillary benefit of
limiting the expansion of the gear into other fisheries, such as striped bass.
For
complete information on shore-based shark fishing regulations and other
regulations approved at the meeting visit summary at https://www.mass.gov/doc/march-2025-mfac-summary/download?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery .
The
Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission is a nine-member public body appointed by
the Governor. The purpose of the MFAC is to advise DMF on issues related to
fisheries management and approve regulations governing fishing activity. Visit www.mass.gov/marinefisheries.
Where’s the bite?
Striped bass fishing in
salt ponds, rivers and waterways continues to be very good with anglers
catching holdover striped bass to 34”. The exponential increase in the number
and size (to 34”) of holdover striped bass (bass that decided to stay in our
waters rather than migrate south) is a matter of concern. Sure, it is great to catch these bass, however,
one wonders where these fish are spawning, how productive their spawn will be
in the future, and how far north will this holdover anomaly occur in the
future. It points out the need for
research to understand this climate impact. On any given day fish are being
caught in the Pawcatuck River, Westerly; Narrow River, Narragansett; coastal
ponds in South County; and in estuaries on Cape Cod. Last week Ryan
Collins of My Fishing Cape Cod - your
source for Cape Cod fishing reports & more, said, “What makes these
estuaries particularly valuable to holdover stripers is their temperature
fluctuation. On this April night, the water temperature was easily 10-15
degrees warmer than the adjacent ocean – creating a comfortable haven for
fish transitioning from winter's dormancy to spring's activity.”
Cod Fishing is still open south of Cape Cod as new regulations have still
been delayed due to the new Federal rule making executive order, agencies must
reduce regulations by ten to introduce every new one. This executive order needs to exempt fishing
(as it did in the last Trump administration) as fisheries open and close
regularly based on quotas.
Freshwater trout fishing is a good bet with trout
stocking recently occurring in RI and MA waterways. See above article.
