Watch Hill Outfitters

Mike Wade at Watch Hill Outfitters said that fishing got back on track following the nor’easter with local anglers doing well targeting a variety of species. Fishing for striped bass has been very good around breachways and off of the local beaches. Boat anglers have also been doing well targeting bass on the Watch Hill Reefs and inside of Fishers Island. Along with bass, there have been some green bonito popping up along the beaches with some shad and the occasional bluefish. Tautog reports have been decent with shore anglers doing almost as well as boaters. There have been good numbers of black sea bass on nearly every reef and rock pile, but keepers are still tough to find. There was some talk of the recreational bluefin bite picking back up not too far from Block Island but not many boats had been out to confirm.

Mike Wade at Watch Hill Outfitters said that a good number of anglers fished through the storm, targeting striped bass and bluefish from shore. The beaches fished well early in the week and as conditions became too rough to fish out front, anglers continued to find bass along, with some bluefish, in the breachways and salt ponds. The storm looks like it will clear out on Monday and after a few days of calmer weather the bite for tautog, black sea bass, and scup should pick right back up on the local reefs and rock piles. It’s tough to say whether we will still see good numbers of false albacore or green bonito but it’s still relatively early in the fall season so with some luck they will still be around. Offshore is a big question mark at this point as a week of strong winds combined with the storm will have moved bait and fish around. It’s still early enough in the season that we could have tuna around through the month of October if they settle back into this area.