Fishing Forecast - April New Moon

It's officially go time here in Rhode Island! As longer, warmer days give life to us two-legged beings, it does the same for our fishy friends. Perhaps even more so. The weather this week is/has been great, and the extended forecast looks to be more of the same except for a potentially nice downpour this weekend (shocker). The striped bass migration has hit our shores pretty much right on schedule despite our cold winter and start to spring.  The tog fishing is off to a pretty slow start for most, but there are reports of good bites as well. Both bass and tog tend to be pretty spotty fishing for the first week or two. Both are definitely around, but not consistently good fishing just yet. We aren't far away from that, though. I would expect that by next week, both bites are much more consistent and you'll be able to go out with the expectation of catching fish. 

Striped Bass - Better & Bigger

Although the bass are moving through the area, it's still spotty fishing for now. You may catch several one day and then nothing for the next few. That will almost definitely change in the next couple of weeks before the next forecast comes out. As water temps continue to rise and more bass make their way up the coast, things are only going to get better - both quantity and quality. So far, many of this year's early arrivals have been eating small soft plastic presentations. Small paddle tails like the 3" or 4" JygPro and NLBN have been producing liced up schoolies. Small straight-tailed plastics like the Zoom Fluke, Slug-go, Jygpro Y Tail are great options, too. All of these plastics will probably work best on small jigheads in the 1-4-3/4oz range. Bucktail Jigsare a great alternative to the soft plastics. Topwater lures such as the Rebel Jumpin Minnow, Game On! X-Walk, Yo-Zuri TopKnock Pencil,or Tsunami TP Topwater Bait are all really fun to throw at schoolies as well. Even if you aren't seeing any fish on the surface, it's always worth at least a handful of casts with a topwater to see if you can get something's attention. Think of your little paddle tail rolling through their zone as a french fry. Anything that sees it is pretty likely to eat it. But at times, they might not be willing to work too hard for it. On the other hand, working a plastic, rattling spook over their heads is like the neighbors grilling up burgers. You bet they're at least going to check it out and see what the deal is. Speaking of french fries... it's also a great time to throw flies. We have an awesome selection of Striper Flies and Fly Tying Material so be sure to check them out.

My first fresh bass of the season, caught on a white slug-go at sunrise.

As we continue to have waves of river herring pushing up rivers and streams, the fishing for resident bass has been going strong. Big soft plastics like the 10" Hogy Original, Slug-go, NLBN Straight Tail, and Jygpro Y Tail are all good options. The BKK Titanrider is my favorite weightless hook for these big plastics. I say it a lot, but it really is hard to beat the profile and action of a big soft plastic when herring are present. The Berkley Magic Swimmeralways takes some big fish this time of year too, and this season has been no exception.

Tautog - Also Better & Also Bigger

The tog fishing is still pretty slow across most of the state, but picking up day by day. In the next few days it will probably be much better than it is right now, and then another few days later it will be much better than that. The tog really seem to trickle in and then flood in a matter of days. And right now we're somewhere between the trickle and the flood. Anywhere from 10' to about 25' is where I would start my search, but some spots even 45' and deeper can still be good during the early season. My preferred way to fish for them, especially when they're relatively shallow in the spring, is with Blackfish Jigs. We have a bunch of really good options for jigs. The weight will really depend on the depth and current you're fishing. As a general rule of thumb, though, you want to use the lightest weight you can get away with using. If you can hold bottom with 3/4oz, there's no good reason to have a 1oz jig on. Small shore crabs are my preferred bait for the spring. They're small, they're what's naturally around, and they're very easy to find and collect. That said, green crabs will often work perfectly fine.

A healthy tog caught on this day last spring.

Everything Else

Other than striped bass and tautog, there aren't a ton of options just yet. But there will be soon. Weakfish, scup, black sea bass, bluefish, sea robins, and more will be making their way into and up the bay within the next few weeks. As for right now, if you can make it out to the cod grounds, that's been decent action. There seems to be a lot of small fish around, but a good amount of them. Metal/Epoxy Jigs and Slow Pitch Jigs have been the weapons of choice. Since many of the fish are on the small side, if you tie a small Teaser above your jig you might get more hookups. Another option, especially if you're stuck to fishing from shore, is winter flounder. It's no secret that the winter flounder populations are nowhere near what they used to be. That said, there's enough around in certain areas that make them worth targeting. You may have to endure some skunkings, but once you find them, it can be pretty fun action. You'll want to use bait like bloodworms or clam on a small hook just above or on bottom. You can also get away with using Gulp! or something similar in a pinch.