With the month of May comes the “real kick-off” of the saltwater fishing season here in Southern New England. April has its possibilities with blackfish and winter flounder seasons opening ins some states, as well as white perch and striped bass in the tidal rivers, but for the real open-water expanses of the ocean, it’s May that truly gets things started.
I’ll begin this month once again with a few regulatory updates. In 2023 I dedicated almost half the copy to new regulations, but we have a bit less this year (fortunately), so let’s have at it with the simplest announcement leading the way in that for Rhode Island, there were no changes implemented for recreational anglers as of the time of this writing but that might have changed between my writing and your reading so be sure to check with the RI DEM before setting out for a day to fish. Up in Massachusetts waters, the only change so far was on the black sea bass season which now runs May 20 – September 7. The 4-fish bag limit and 16.5-minimum length remain unchanged. Again, be sure to check with the Massachusetts DEM before fishing to be completely certain.
In Connecticut, there are changes to regulations for summer flounder (fluke), scup (porgy), and black sea bass for this year. For scup/porgy, the minimum length is 11 inches for boat anglers, 9.5 inches for shore anglers (including Enhanced Opportunity Fishing Sites). The daily creel limit: 30 fish per angler with an open season from May 1 – December 31. For anglers fishing onboard licensed party/charter vessels, there is a bonus season that runs from September 1 – October 31. Outside this bonus season the 30-fish limit remains in effect. For black sea bass, the minimum length is16 inches (excluding tail fin filament/tendril), and the daily creel limit is 5 fish per angler. The season is open from May 18 – June 23 and July 8 – November 28; the closed season runs from June 24 – July 7. On the fluke front, the daily creel limit is 3 fish per angler with an open season of season of May 4 – August 1 having a 19-inch minimum length. Then from August 2 – October 15, the minimum length increases to 19.5 inches. For Enhanced Opportunity Shore Fishing Sites, the minimum length is 17 inches.
Striped bass fishing really ramps up in May. While last month there were diehards out looking for those first schools of migrating fish or perhaps the pods of more active holdovers coming out of their winter slumber, the fifth month signals all out go time for striper hungries everywhere. The rivers will be alive with shad and river herring, and striped bass key in on this annual spring feeding opportunity. While numbers heading into the traditional herring runs are nowhere near what they once were, even the smallest of streams that host river herring attract striped bass. These smaller streams heat up faster than their larger counterparts, so the runs are often earlier than one might imagine, and this is where I begin my earlier hunts in the beginning of the month. For boat anglers, fishing outside these small runs as well as just east/west of them with the intent of intercepting migrating schools of herring – and therefore striped bass – is a good game plan. I find that herring move heavily after dark in the smaller runs, but they stage just outside their entrance in slightly deeper water by day. Topwater lures should be rigged in the event that you encounter actively feeding fish, but other methods like trolling swimming plugs or jigs, and even bouncing spoons like the many different “magnum” spoon offerings so popular around bunker schools can produce when fish are less active. Casting oversized wooden metal-lip swimmers – like those preferred by surfcasters – can also be a good way to coax that first cow bass of the season from around herring schools. Don’t forget some larger soft plastics like the 9-inch Slug-Go or 10-inch Z-Man HeroZ. Large shad bodies like the JoeBaggs Freedom Chad or Gravity Tackle paddle tails can be great options as well.
As the days tick by, I’ll move to larger river systems like the Housatonic, Connecticut, Thames, but I keep an eye on my smaller haunts as well. Those larger rivers can liven up even more if bunker join into the buffet, and this is where Narragansett Bay on up to the Providence River sees much of its spring success. The same methods described earlier remain productive, and if you can acquire some live adult bunker your odds of success skyrocket. Fishing these big live baits can be as simple as impaling on a circle hook and sending them to the depths on their own, or they can be fished on a 3-way rig over deeper structure.
A method that used to be popular but doesn’t seem to garner as much ink as it once did is to simply slow troll a bunker. I have put this to good use several times in Narragansett Bay in the month of May. The technique is quite simple, and it’s made even easier with the current circle hook requirement for using bait for striped bass. Begin by selecting a large, healthy adult bunker and run a circle hook or bait bridle through the fish’s “nose.” Pay line out from the reel as the boat slowly moves forward, and once an acceptable amount of line it out – 75 to 150 feet – engage the reel and motor around some likely water. Keep the boat speed very slow, just enough to keep the baits moving, and be ready for a strike at any time. I have had fish come up in 50-plus feet of water to strike a trolled bunker, and I have had them blow up on the live bait in 5 feet of water. Fishing a conventional reel with spool disengaged and clicker set really helps hook the fish as it gives them time to eat the bait, and with the circle hook you run a far lower chance of deep hooking a bass. If you run into bluefish chopping your live baits, have a chunk rig ready (with or without additional lead based on water depth) and pitch it out when you start getting the blues. I have seen some very large bass chunked up in this manner over the years!
There are plenty more options this month than just striped bass, but it’s the seven-striped bass that will certainly garner the excitement in May. Look for bottom fishing to get going (be sure to check those regs I noted earlier and double-check the local environmental management office) and if we’re going to see a weakfish run in 2024, then May is when it will be at its best.