Back in April, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RI DEM) stocked 40 ponds ahead of the state’s traditional ‘opening day’ fishing. Reports from all over the state told of great fishing and it seemed that no one that went out looking to catch trout in the Ocean State went home unhappy. Building on this season’s success and fishing momentum, the RI DEM added another 20 ponds to the list during the month of May.
The ponds that saw a new dose of fresh trout are:
- Alton Pond, Richmond/Hopkinton
- Barber Pond, South Kingstown
- Breakheart Pond, Exeter/West Greenwicho Browning Mill Pond, Exeter
- Carbuncle Pond, Coventry
- Eight Rod Farm Pond, Tiverton
- Meadowbrook Pond, Richmond
- Upper Melville Pond, Portsmouth
- Mooseup River, Coventry
- Olney Pond, Lincoln Woods State Park, Lincoln
- Pawcatuck River, Bradford/Hopkinton/Westerly; Burdickville Access, Hopkinton/Charlestown; Lower Shannock Access, Charlestown, Richmond Landing, Westerly; Bradford, Westerly
- Pawtuxet River North and South Branches, Scituate/Cranston/Coventry/West Warwick
- Peck Pond, Burrillville
- Roundtop Ponds, Burrillville
- Shippee Saw Mill Pond, Foster
- Silver Spring Lake, North Kingstown
- Simmons Mill Pond, Little Compton
- Spring Grove Pond, Glocester
- Upper Rochambeau Pond, Lincoln
- Willett Pond, East Providence
- Wood River Barberville Access (KG Ranch Road), Richmond/Hopkinton; Hope Valley Fishing Area (Dow Field), Hope Valley; Grantville (Route 95), Richmond/Hopkinton; Woodville, Richmond/Hopkinton
- Wyoming Pond, Hopkinton/Richmond
These fish will be ready and willing to bite baited hooks and flashy lures throughout the month of June before they become a little tougher to target during the summer months, when successful anglers will find them by fishing deep when the water warms. But, when the ponds cool down again in the fall, anglers will see another spike in trout activity as the holdover fish move back into the shallows to feed.
Remember that all anglers, aged 16 and over, must have a valid freshwater license with trout stamp to keep trout, the current creel limit is five fish per angler, with a minimum size of 8 inches.
