BAY

"Fishing is phenomenal," said Ken Ferrara of Ray's Bait & Tackle. Anglers were catching bass and bluefish in the coves of Greenwich Bay this morning. The bass were shying from wire leaders, but bluefish were taking chunks of mackerel and squid with abandon.

Allen Harbor in North Kingstown was alive with menhaden, bass and bluefish, said Ed Hughes, after a visit there Tuesday. Only bluefish were biting after dark, but he said there have been reports of bass as large as 40 pounds being landed there. Most of the fish that are being caught are nailing snagged menhaden. Wednesday, fishing was fast in the afternoon on the rising tide, said Ferrara.

Bass fishing is improving along Aquidneck Island, according to Rob Taylor and "Iron" Mike Everin, members of Team Striper, winners of the Striper Cup. Large schools of baitfish, including masses of mullet, are attracting predatory game fish.

"Albies, bluefish and stripers have all shown up to fill up on these schools of baitfish," writes Pete Graeber of The Saltwater Edge. "Those working the night shift have seen both numbers and quality when it comes to stripers. Whatever piece of shoreline or structure you might name, it's probably seen good fishing in the past couple of days. Make no mistake, fall is fully under way out there."

Anglers fishing with eels are taking bass as large as 38 pounds in the waters between Seal Ledge and Brenton Reef, said Ken Ferrara.

Tautog are biting in the waters off Hope Island, General Rock and Coddington Cove, Ferrara said. Blackfish have been biting off Gould Island, too, but Navy boats are keeping anglers away from there.

BEACHES AND SALT PONDS

Bluefish and bass have been staging blitzes every day along the shore at Narragansett, Charlestown, Misquamicut, Weekapaug and the waters of Little Narragansett Bay this week. The fish are on the move, and anglers must either move with them or stay put and wait for the bass and blues to arrive. The fish are on the feed.

OFFSHORE

Anglers who fished the canyons this week found a few yellowfin and albacore tuna, as well as some mahi-mahi, says Al Conti of Snug Harbor Marina. Bluefin tuna have disappeared.

PARTY BOATS

After a slow start Wednesday morning, scup anglers fishing with the Frances fleet found steady action, including double and triple headers all around the boat. Almost all anglers went home with 35 to 45 fish, including sea bass up to 6.5 pounds. Only charter and party boats are allowed to take scup now.

Cod fishing was challenging Wednesday, said Frank Blount, owner of the fleet. Dogfish were overwhelming in most of the areas they fished. They did catch cod and large sea bass and bluefish, too, but bottom fishing was difficult.

FRESHWATER

Pawtucket angler John Wilcox reports catching three bass over 4 pounds and more over 2 pounds apiece on Indian Lake in South Kingstown this week. "The 4-pounders all hit on a black-and-blue jig with a pork trailer," he says. "Black and blue seems to be the color combination of choice on Indian Lake all year round." Off Route 1, Indian Lake is one of Rhode Island's best smallmouth spots.

BEST BITES

Newport:

Bass, bluefish, tautog

South County surf:

Bluefish, bass

Greenwich Bay:

Bluefish

HOT BYTES

For more frequent fishing reports, go to Hot Bytes in the sports section of projo.com.

THE TIDES

The moon causes tides and affects the activity of saltwater and freshwater fish as well as animals on land. Anglers generally find the best fishing two hours before and after a high tide, but fish and other animals also become active around the time of low tide. This table shows the height of tides in feet at Castle Hill near the mouth of Narragansett Bay. Recreational shellfishermen prefer to dig for clams when the tides are lowest, shown on the chart as “minus tides.”

What's the catch? Send your fishing reports and photos to Tom Meade by e-mail at tmeade@projo.com.