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  • Use charts, tide tables, current information to match up flats with deep water breaks
  • Have a plan- do your research & catch rates will improve
  • Fish where current meets or leaves ledge and other structure
  • Fast moving and turbulent water provides ambush  locations for stripers
  • Scout boulder fields and shoreline contours during low tides and mark them with your chartplotter
  • When you spot boulders and ledges not on your chart or chartplotter- set waypoints for night time excursions
  • Break down large sections of water into understandable and manageable (fishable) pieces
  • Use drift socks on your boat to counter effects of wind and current
  • Use top water and sinking “Teaser” plugs to recon “tricky” locations and to entice strikes- then switch to the fly
  • Understand the “venturi” principle as it applies to water velocity
  • At higer stages of the ebb, fish the outflows of creeks, rivers, drain pipes from estuaries at low or no light
  • When night fishing use safety equipment- PFD’s, GPS, headlamp, waterproof cell or handheld VHF, chem lights
  • Have your fishing partner cast near your hooked fish- typically there are other fish following the hooked fish
  • Improve your catch rates- practice fly casting in all directions- fast, accurate, with minimal  false casting
  • In Rhode Island waters, shallow water fishing is best in Spring and Fall
  • As waters warm in the summer months, you must fish deep or go early and late in day
  • Mornings, evenings, night and low light conditions are typically best for Stripers
  • Find the bait- you will find the fish
  • Docks, pilings, rock piles, ledges, dropoffs – all hold bait – fish them
  • Use a kayak or inflatable with your mother ship to access hard to reach or private and delicate waters
  • On the Rhode Island flats, rarely will you see stripers waking or feeding on top- they will be nearer the bottom looking primarily for shrimp and crabs
  • Stripers will stay on the Rhode Island flats all summer as long as the water temperatures stay below 75F
  • Tides are important- a flooding tide is better than the ebb and at the lower stages of the tide. When the flat is emptying fish are hastily moving off the flat to get to deeper water
  • When flats fishing from a boat look closely at the dark grass patches on the bottom where bass will spend more time
  • Clear water with bright sunny days in 2-4 feet of water is best for sighting and fishing on the Rhode Island flats. Target feeding stripers between 10am-3pm- Get into position early- use Amber or Brown polarized lenses

Skinny Water Charters  
   401-465-8751
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Potters Pond Worm Hatch- June '11