By DAVID HENAULT

 We have heard reports of large schools of bass topwater near Rocky Point last Thursday. The Providence River has been seeing scattered schools of Menhaden with a decent concentration of bait and bass at the I way bridge.
By  the end of the week, bluefish had migrated into the bay and Jim White of White Ghost Charters had to move 5 times in one day to avoid them while fishing for stripers.
Blues have been taking mackerel, sea herring and clams with most being caught from Conimicut Point north. Billy Silvia had a squid charter this week travelling to Hyannis with customers from Long Island that caught 400 pounds of huge squid. The squid fishing is improving in the lower bay and squidders on the Frances Fleet caught buckets on Friday but found jigging rather unproductive on Saturday with the rough seas.
On Monday and Tuesday,  Jim White  had customers catching  stripers from 20 to 25 lbs throwing large Zara Spooks  in the East Bay.  His customers caught bluefish up to 12 pounds as well .Mike McCoy of Reel McCoy charters found a huge school working topwater off of Providence Point where he first caught schoolies with bluefish mixed in and then 32-34 inch stripers as the small stripers moved out of the way of the bluefish.
Neal Vitullo of Played for It Charters has found bass fishing productive topwater but larger fish are  being taken drifting squid in the East Bay and Mount Hope. Billy Silvia of Can't Imagine Charters  reports a huge school of pogies topwater from Homestead Landing on Prudence to Poppasquash Point mid morning on Tuesday customer Dan O'Hara limited out  on Tautog in Bristol Harbor and then caught bass up to 25 pounds working the school of menhaden.
Anglers in the  Providence River  have found many small bluefish and striped bass up to 38 inches at Sabin Point, the Hurricane Barrier and Bold Point. The fish are feeding on clam bellies, mackerel, sea herring and clam tongues as well as freshly snagged pogies.
Fishing the Taunton River in Somerset, Zig Saythideth caught a 54-inch striper Tuesday at 5 a.m. at the Brightman St Bridge. His friend Rattana caught two 40-inchers as well. They were using squid. They report squid fishing is good at Fort Adams in Newport and at Sakonnett Point. Monday night Todd Morvillo caught  big black sea bass drifting squid at Beavertail at sunset.
 The freshwater fishing has been heating up as the bass are in post spawn. Johnsons pond , Gortons Pond and Stump pond in Smithfield are best bites. Anglers at Lake Tiogue have been catching bass, white catfish and carp. The trout fishing should improve with a recent stocking in many areas by the R I DEM.
  Commercial fisherman are finding fluke fishing good with some fish weighing 8-10 pounds  off Newport and Narragansett , R.I. recreational fluke fishing opens June 17th and the new regs are set at 6 fish at 21 inches. The Tautog fishing is still good at Stone Bridge  and the rocky areas aroung Jamestown and Newport. Cod fishing at Stellwagen Bank has been producing some large fish as the cod move into shallower water. The cod are feeding on sand eels and many  whales are joining in the feast.
The water in and near New Bedford was offering up large scup, bass, blues and Tautog this weekend.
 Surfcasters along Newport and Jamestown have found the best bite at dawn using white or pink topwater plugs . Francesco Di Giovanni has caught bass up to 38 inches liveling pogies in the Barrington River at night this week. Ed "Gunny" from Stripercoast Surfcasters caught a mess of keeper bass fishing in Jamestown Friday night while tossing plugs at a very low tide the smallest fish was 40 inches.
 Stripercoast Surcasters is holding the Rumble In R.I. this weekend. It is a paired catch and release striper tournament that kicks off Saturday night. Registration takes place Saturday Morning at 10 am at Ocean State Tackle West Greenwich located at 735 Centre of New England Blvd.
Only lures and eels are permitted  there will be seminars and information throughout the day Saturday on surfcasting safety, lures and techniques and talks regarding the fishing ladder projects for the Blackstone River.
Woonsocket locals  Armand Tetreault of R.I. Poppers and Dickie Counoyer of D.C.'s Custom Plugs  will be there with a wide selection of their latest plugs. For more details email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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David Henault owns Ocean State Tackle with stores at Branch Ave. in Providence and in the Centre of New England in West Greenwich and Hope St., Bristol. He can be reached at oceanstatetackle.com by calling 401 226 6626 or via email @ This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it