7/5/24 The Great American Fishing Scene

The Fourth produced a great day for fishing, locally around block and offshore.

Fishing for striped bass has been very good with increasing numbers of fish showing up locally and out around Block Island. Huge schools of mackerel have been seen getting pushed up by large bass. This has created a great opportunity for big bass on top water. There have even been a good number of slot fish reported which is a nice change from the last couple of seasons when there were difficult to find. Trolling and casting artificials has been a top producing way to catch slot fish. Bluefish are still around not in huge number and seem to be spread out chasing bait.

Fishing for bass from shore has mostly turned into a night bite with a few fish getting pulled out through the day. Still a lot of bait coming in and out of the salt ponds. Bigger fish in the ponds coming from eels and trolling tube and worm.

Fluke reports have been mixed with the south shore beaches having a slight edge on Block Island for numbers of keepers but Block usually producing the largest fish. The best bight seems to be infront of East beach and Misquamicut. Sometimes simpler the better when coming to rigging for fluke.

The Black sea bass bite has been solid big numbers of small fish around with a fair amount of keepers. Scup fishing has been very good for those who are targeting them.

The Tuna bite seems to be less concentrated at the moment. Boats are finding a mix of yellows and blues with some giants around as well. The bite seems to mostly be on the troll with side trackers.