SWE Fishing Report: 8.14.7

[Pete_G]

Signs of change and great fishing.

Whether we like it or not, the first signs of fall are already here. This is a great thing though. The sun sets a little earlier, bonito are scattered around in their usual haunts, and we have a bumper crop of baby bunker and silversides fueling nearly round the clock bass and bluefish blitzes. If you’re a fisherman of any sort you’ll want to take advantage of what’s going on in Rhode Island right now.



Silversides, krill, and other baits are keeping bass, blues, and bonito on the surface. Shore anglers will find incredible fishing in some areas. Newport in particular has been a reliable spot to catch schoolie bass and small blues in the evening. These fish aren’t big, but they’re reliable and you can catch them until you’re sick of them. Small topwaters and the fly rods are perfect choices for these fish. Small flys that imitate bunker are the choice of many anglers; Rhody Flatwings, Bush Pigs, Frosty Broadsides and more. Basically anything that can imitate a deep bodied baitfish. Be sure to have some silverside patterns too tied on the large side. The trusty Ray’s Fly always gets the job done. These small fish are great to introduce kids and friends to fishing. The feeding activity is visual, audible, and constant.



Fishing after dark or fishing giant baits can effectively cull out most of the schoolies and increase your chances of finding larger bass from shore. Throw the biggest offerings you have, there’s fish out there that can eat them. The dark moon will be in effect for a while longer, take advantage while it lasts. It won’t be long until it will be shining down brightly at night once again. Surfcasters almost universally dislike a bright moon.

By boat some BIG bass have been taken this week with several 40’s and another 50 coming from the water off Newport. With the bait around there’s a good chance this pace will continue for a while. The big 3.5 ounce Pencil from Gibbs is great for discouraging small fish and attracting big ones at dawn and dusk.



The bonito are eating different things depending on where you find them. Sometimes bunker, sometimes silversides. The fish are willing to eat the same offerings that get the attention of the blues. Standards such as the Deadly Dick, Yo-zuri L-jack and others are sure fire lures to throw at these fish. This is shaping up to be an even better bonito season then last year, which set a standard itself. We’ve been having a lot of success with the new Yo-zuri Live Bait Minnow Jig in the silverside pattern. This offering is a twin of the baitfish in the water. We weren’t sure if it was going to swim as good as it looked but it has really proven itself to be a deadly weapon when hardtails are on silversides.

Looking ahead, don’t expect albies until September. Even a 2nd week of September arrival isn’t uncommon. We’ve been getting a lot of calls wondering if they’re here yet. These fish just don’t arrive in August, not counting a random fish or two at the most. Bass fishing usually stays strong once the peanuts arrive, so expect the good reports to continue unless the bait leaves. While the peanuts are tiny, we usually find big fish become more common when they’re around whether they are eating the tiny bait or not.

Enjoy the late summer fishing, fall isn’t that far away!

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