UTERBlack sea bass fishing in Rhode Island and Cape Cod
In Rhode Island and Cape Cod, black sea bass peak June–September and are around May–October, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. July: Sea bass everywhere on the rocks and wrecks off Rhode Island and the Vineyard; jigs and squid.
No note for October — see the months around it.
Black sea bass in Rhode Island and Cape Cod, month by month
- JanuaryNot here
- FebruaryNot here
- MarchNot here
- AprilNot here
- MayArrivingSpawning fish move onto the shallow rocks of Narragansett Bay, Buzzards Bay and Nantucket Sound.
- JunePeakCanal blitzes and big stripers on mackerel. Pencil poppers at dawn in the Cape Cod Canal; tube-and-worm in Cape Cod Bay; eels at night off Block Island; fluke start on the sand.
- JulyPeakSea bass everywhere on the rocks and wrecks off Rhode Island and the Vineyard; jigs and squid.
- AugustPeakBonito and the first albies; canyon tuna. Small epoxy jigs for bonito and the first albies around Martha's Vineyard; overnight runs to the canyons for yellowfin and bigeye.
- SeptemberPeakAlbie season — the Vineyard Derby month. False albacore on the Rhode Island beaches, Watch Hill, Point Judith and Nantucket Sound; stripers start the fall feed; the biggest bluefin of the year off the Cape.
- OctoberLeaving
- NovemberNot here
- DecemberNot here
Where to fish black sea bass near Point Judith, Newport, Block Island
Rhode Island's rocky south coast and salt ponds, Narragansett Bay, Block Island, Buzzards Bay and the Elizabeth Islands, Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds with their shoals and rips, the Cape Cod Canal, Cape Cod Bay's sand flats, and the Monomoy rips and outer Cape beaches; offshore Coxes Ledge and the southern New England canyons (Block, Atlantis, Veatch).
Fish Scouter charts 350 wreck, 4 artificial reef spots in the Southern New England map area — the kinds black sea bass hold on.
What to use for black sea bass
- SquidStrips on a bottom rig for snapper, grunts and porgies; whole on a deep-drop rig.
- Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.
- Leader30–60 lb fluorocarbon
- Hook2/0–7/0
- Braid30–65 lb
Feeds in 52–78°F water, best at 58–72°F.
Questions anglers ask
When is the best time to catch black sea bass in Rhode Island and Cape Cod?
Peak season is June–September. Black sea bass are in Rhode Island and Cape Cod May–October. July: Sea bass everywhere on the rocks and wrecks off Rhode Island and the Vineyard; jigs and squid.
Where do black sea bass hold in Rhode Island and Cape Cod?
Look on artificial reef, ledge / hard bottom, wreck — around Point Judith, Newport, Block Island, Westport, Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard.
What is the best bait for black sea bass in Rhode Island and Cape Cod?
Live bait: squid, live shrimp. Squid: Strips on a bottom rig for snapper, grunts and porgies; whole on a deep-drop rig. Tackle: leader 30–60 lb fluorocarbon, hook 2/0–7/0, braid 30–65 lb.
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