Species by Season in and around Newport, RI.
Welcome to Newport, Rhode Island’s hundreds of miles of navigable, fishable, spectacularly beautiful, coastline. An Angler’s paradise.
The water off Newport’s visibility for sight casting is excellent. Clean and fresh- with new baitfish and their crazed predators arriving on each tide. A large variety of salt water species enhance our world class angling experiences- all season long.
Today, Striped Bass is our main target in the white water, boulder fields, flats, and estuaries. Each month the bait changes the hunt and the Striper’s behavior. Up the bay very large Bass frequent the depths in search of large bait.
Menhaden have arrived and there are some very cool situations where a shallow area is adjacent to a nearby drop off. Casting cross tide and depth contour produces some shocking strikes! Stripers have already filled in on the Sakonnet River’s Boulder fields. Once the hook is set the battle truly begins as you try and turn them away from the rocky structure.
Note: Early season inshore begins in mid-April as Stripers feed on a variety of baits, from Menhaden, Herring, Mackerel, Squid, Cinder Worm and even Crab hatches.
Bluefish are long considered North Atlantic Piranha as they eat aggressively and rarely give up without an epic battle. Pound for pound one of the most ferocious feeders in New England. No lipping unless the Boga Grip is involved. Slicks are beginning to appear and all the credit should not go to the Bass. You can bet the Blues are filling in. Nine weight fly line with wire and a top water popper- what a fight!
Bonito on the grill with Garlic and Dill, for those who wish to enjoy a tasty treat. But don’t count your chickens before they’ve laid an egg. You have to find them, entice them, and then get them to the boat. These very fast speedsters are a blast to match your wits with as they are typically very sensitive to your ability to match the bait du jour. Best caught along the beaches or rocky outcropping with an exceptional occasional bait ball feast. Note: They tend to arrive when the QE2 shows up. (Cruise ships in June)
False Albacore, or “Albies”, are spectacular in many ways including size, (poundage in the high single digits to teens), speed (rpms like a dentist drill but less painful), and beautiful colors. A mirror finish with markings of three dots, zigs and zags, cobalt blue and emerald green all highlighted by an oil slick like Palladium silver mirror sheen. This species foreshadows the most epic fight of all.
Those are some of the most sought after species while there are plenty of others offshore and around New England which people are exciting to chase. Would love to hear our NorthCoast family favorites!