Hotspot Of The Month: Tiverton Stone Bridge - The Fisherman

Hotspot Of The Month: Tiverton Stone Bridge

Stone-Bridge

Now that it’s November and everyone has tautog on the brain, I thought it might be a good idea to highlight a spot that has the goods to hold tog well into November where shore and boat anglers can both get in on the action. Tiverton Stone Bridge is actually no longer a bridge. Built in 1907, this structure used to carry Route 138 across the Sakonnet River until it was severely damaged by Hurricane Carol in 1954, and was replaced by the Sakonnet River Bridge less than two years later.

Today, the bridge is gone, but the approaches remain. On the Tiverton side, the old roadway has been converted to a park where pedestrians can walk out to the end of the roadway to enjoy a panoramic view of the river and surrounding area. The Portsmouth side has not seen the same refurbishing efforts, but both sides feature excellent fishing for a variety of species.

The roadways compress the Sakonnet River down from 1,900 feet on the north side and 1-1/2 miles on the south side, to just 450 feet, setting up a classic ‘choke point’ with powerful rips. The action of over 100 years of compressed tides has rooted out two deep holes on either side of the bridge, both charting at 62 feet. When you look at high-definition scans of the bottom in this area, you will also see that the currents are also compressed vertically, as the bottom humps up to about 30 feet beneath where the old bridge span would have been, before plunging into the 62-foot holes on either side.

Shore fishermen often line the ends of each roadway, fishing the rip-rap-strewn bottom from September through November for tautog. This is not the place for light jigs and spinning setups, powerful currents and deep water make this the realm of old school pool cues and rigs sporting bank sinkers weighing 5 to 8 ounces. A few years back a 13-pounder was landed here by a shore fisherman soaking crabs on the Tiverton side.

Boat anglers will fish the edges of the channel, which are much more defined on the west (Portsmouth) side. Setting up on likely edges while the tide is honking, but they will often move into the area of the old bridge when the currents slow to fish the hump of snags that lies beneath. It’s a great place to find good togging on days when fall winds whip the water into a lumpy frenzy out front.

But tautog are not the only species that can be caught here. Striped bass regularly set up in the choke point and will take jigs, heavy shads and tins. When schools of bunker are present, anglers may find topwater action for bass and large bluefish here in spring and fall. It’s also a place that sees sporadic shots of albies when conditions are just right. Bait-dunkers will find plenty of scup here and the south-facing beaches on either side will host some great fishing for snapper blues each September as well.

Tiverton Stone Bridge is one of those places that’s often written off as a spot that’s “too easy to be good.” But let me tell you, it takes a lot of skill to fish it properly and the variety of fish that call this place home make it viable place to stop for a few casts all season long.

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