There are so many big fishing stories for 2024 it was difficult to select three but here are my top picks.

Striped bass overfished with good
bite in some areas
Striped bass fishing was good at the Cape Cod Canal and other top spots with structure, bait and water flow along the coast. However, in bays and estuaries where water flow is not as great, and the water was warm the bite was dramatically down.
Additionally, the specie remained overfished with fish managers deciding to institute an addendum to the striped bass plan to explore more conservation measures if needed in 2026 so that the stock can fulfill its required rebuilding plan by 2029.
“Four of the bass we caught off Newport Tuesday morning (in June) were over 40 pounds. The largest, a hungry 44 pound fish was caught on the surface, this one on a DOC 9 topwater lure,” said expert angler Jeff Sullivan of Lucky Bait & Tackle, Warren, RI. “There is nothing like having a 44-pound fish attack your lure on the surface.”
East End Eddie Doherty, Cape Cod Canal fishing expert and author, said, “The new moon provided better action in the Canal with fish slot size and larger breaking periodically for an hour at first light. One of our success stories is thirteen year-old Cody Rice from Connecticut who caught seven nice striped bass including a couple of 40-inch beauties on a JoeBaggs Swarter in the middle of a west tide.”
Although fishing may have been good for striped bass at top fishing spots, other locations where the water was warmer with less bait saw a big slump.
Fred Definis, editor of the RI Saltwater Anglers Association magazine and 2nd Vice President of the Association said, “The big disappointment this year was the lack of bait in the Sakonnet River and East Bay area of Narragansett Bay which I fish. Very few stripers and almost no bluefish. A half dozen places that were dependable in 2023 yielded few to no fish this year. Ended up going east of Sakonnet light a lot, sometimes all the way to Westport to find fish. The bonito saved the season as they were around in big numbers for quite a while.”

Great tautog bite with a new
Rhode Island Record
Once again this year tautog fishing was very good with fish being taken at the Cape Cod Canal, in Buzzards Bay, off Newport, along Rhode Island’s southern coastal shore and in Narragansett Bay. Anglers caught their limit often and the fish were large.
Angler John Migliori of Newport caught a 7.46 pound, 21-inch tautog from shore off Aquidneck Island. It was his first keeper of the year.
And we had a new Rhode Island record this year. Vinney Simms, Jr’s huge tautog made a total of four runs back down to the bottom. He managed to keep the fish off the bottom and got it into the boat, it was a new State of Rhode Island record breaking 22 pounds 5.28 ounce and 31 inches.
Simms, a resident of Hamilton, New Jersey, landed the huge tautog while fishing with Capt. Rob Taylor of Newport Sportfishing Charters.
“Vinny did a good job, but you also need a lot of luck to land a big fish like this. With big fish I tell anglers to just keep reeling, even if the fish is talking drag you are slowing it down (Simms’s drag was set at a very heavy 18 pounds),” said Capt. Taylor. “The aim is to prevent the fish from returning to where it came from, meaning the rock cluster it lives in. We had a lot of current and strong tides Monday so this fish fortunately may have gotten disoriented a bit coming up and down four times.”
The fish was landed aboard the Reel E-Z, Capt. Taylor’s charter fishing vessel, on a piece of structure he discovered earlier this year in about 60 feet of water when netting Atlantic menhaden for striped bass fishing bait. It was the first time he brought charter customers to the spot to fish.

Climate impacting fishing, large animals and warm water exotics
This year climate continued to impact the fish we catch and love to eat as well as bringing larger animals closer to shore. Warm water brings more robust bait profiles and warm water fish follow the bait into our area and the cold water fish like winter flounder and American Lobster leave for colder deeper water.
The giant bluefin and school tuna bite was outstanding once again this year. Whales, sharks and exotic warm water fish were here in greater numbers too. There was enhanced shark deprivation, with sharks eating an anglers catch (stiped bass, summer flounder, cod, etc.) as they brought the fish to the boat or shore.
Whale strikes and fixed gear entanglements continued to rise as whales came in greater contact with humans, vessels, fish traps and lobster pots to feed.
Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina, South Kingstown, said in September, “The giant bluefin tuna bite is crazy. Multiple fish caught at the Gully, Habbs Ledge at the Butterfish Hole, and yesterday multiple giants were caught just two miles off Scarbrough Beach, Narragansett. The fish were feeding behind trawlers as they brought their nets up. They have been feeding on Atlantic menhaden. Three giants were weighed in at our dock all at the same time Wednesday afternoon. Fish being caught this week were all sizes with the largest being in the 800 plus pound range.”
Exotic warm water fish continue to be caught in our region. More mahi, wahoo and cobia than ever before were caught in our area and then this summer Tom Czernik, a Brown University graduate student caught a 70-inch Atlantic Tarpon off a Rhode Island Beach. And, last year a tarpon was caught off a Cape Cod beach.

Where’s the bite?
Tautog fishing and cod fishing. Call ahead to make a party boat reservation, vessels generally sail between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. and return in the afternoon. Visit www.islandcurrent.com and www.francesfleet.com. Full day rates for vessels are generally $130 to $135 per adult and around $80 for those under 12 years old.
Freshwater fishing. Anglers are fishing for largemouth bass weather permitting. And, for a complete list of trout stocked ponds in Massachusetts visit Mass Wildlife at Trout stocking report | Mass.gov, both Whiting and Falls Ponds in North Attleboro were stocked this fall. And, in Rhode Island visit www.dem.ri.gov/fishing, or call 401-789-0281 or 401-539-0019 for more information on trout stocking.

Dave Monti holds a master captain’s license and charter fishing license. He serves on a variety of boards and commissions and has a consulting business focusing on clean oceans, habitat preservation, conservation, renewable energy, and fisheries related issues and clients. Forward fishing news and photos to dmontifish@verison.net or visit www.noflukefishing.com.