Cool weather and tomorrow's new moon may mark the start of better fishing following the doldrums that anglers are experiencing this week.

BAY

"Fluke fishing remains pretty good," says Ken Ferrara of Ray's Bait & Tackle. He recommends fishing near the Newport Bridge and Austin Hollow. Greg Zeek of Zeek's Creek agrees, but says the bite is waning.

Bass have been biting on Brenton Reef and Seal Ledge, says Ferrara. Aquidneck Island "isn't exactly a hot bed of fishing activity this week, but it has improved since last week," reports Peter Graeber of The Saltwater Edge. Small stripers are beginning to appear in the white water at Beavertail Point, says Zeek.

Bonito are popping up to the east, Graeber said, but bass and bluefish are relatively scarce.

The bluefish bite is better in the Bay, he reports.

Scup, including some very large ones, have been biting at Johnson's Ledge, Ferrara says. Zeek reports that scup are biting along the west side of Beavertail, Fort Getty and Fort Wetherill.

Tautog are biting near Whale Rock and Beavertail Point, Ferrara reports. Divers are spearing blackfish that weigh as much as 8 pounds. One diver speared a 13-pounder.

BEACHES AND SALT PONDS

Surf fishermen were catching keeper-size bass early this week from Scarborough Beach to Point Judith, says Ken Ferrara. Boaters who went to Block Island this week found better bass fishing when they returned to Point Judith Light, he reports. Bass fishing is improving for boaters from Green Hill to Matunuck, says Elisa Jackman of Snug Harbor Marina.

To the west, bass fishing has been relatively slow, but a mixture of bass and bluefish have been taking top-water lures at the top of the tide at Watch Hill, says Tim Yvon of Quonny Bait & Tackle. Boaters have been finding more bass at Fishers Island than they're seeing on the inshore reefs.

Bluefish have been biting near the Andrea at Misquamicut early in the morning.

Kids are catching scup in the breachways and snapper blues in the salt ponds, according to Yvon.

Fluke fishing appears to be tapering off, Jackman says, but anglers are still catching fish in the waters east of Point Judith light.

OFFSHORE

Small bluefin tuna were striking small lures Wednesday between Block Island and the Acid Barge, reports Elisa Jackman.

The sportfisherman Duck Soup caught albacore and yellowfin tuna over West Atlantis Canyon this week, Jackman says, but fishing was slow for just about everyone else.

Sharks have been biting at the Gully and the Mud Hole, Jackman reports. Fishing aboard the Alyssa Dawn, Mike Lucchesi landed a 171-pound mako this week.

BLOCK ISLAND

Bass fishermen are experiencing mixed results off Clay Head, says Jackman. Greg Zeek and a friend fished Southwest Ledge and a few other spots Wednesday night and they didn't mark a single big bass. Small stripers were biting at the North Rip, Zeek says.

PARTY BOATS

Fluke fishing was excellent Wednesday morning, and bass fishing was outstanding Wednesday night, according to the skippers of the Frances Fleet. Wednesday night's bass trip also saw large bluefish biting.

The fleet's first tuna trip of the season Wednesday landed small yellowfin and a 200-pound big-eye. Anglers also hooked and dropped two big blue marlin.

FRESHWATER

"Freshwater bass fishing has been touch and go," says Anthony Palumbo, the traveling angler. "The 80-degree days and 50-degree nights have given the fish lockjaw. Small finesse baits are the way to go -- for me at least. Fished very slowly using light weights has worked OK. This forces you to go slower than normal. The deeper water has definitely been the best. Keep an eye on your fish finder and look for drop offs. Gorton Pond in Warwick has cooled off considerably. The fish are schooling a bit more which is a sign of an early fall pattern. Mashapaug Pond in Cranston was touch and go as well. Out of all the spots we hit this week, Twin Rivers in Lincoln was about the best, but the bite didn't start until almost dark and lasted for about an hour."

BEST BITES

Point Judith party and charter boats:

Fluke, striped bass, bluefish, tuna

Beavertail Point:

Small bass, bluefish, tautog

Narragansett:

Bass, 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.