Off to a Poor Start

 The ice has been off most of the ponds and lakes here in RI for a couple of weeks now, but NOTHING is going on. I have tried carp fishing multiple times in multiple places with no success. I prebaited these spots before fishing but that did not help.  I saw no indication that any fish were active- no jumps, no bubble trails, no fish visible near shore. I know other RI CAG guys who have been trying with no success.

So far the alarms have been silent as we are off
to a poor start this year.

While we have had some warm weather, it has been brief.  I suspect the cold nights are throwing a monkey wrench into the early fishing.  In addition, there's been a lot of rain that has caused rivers to flood making river fishing impossible. Water levels in ponds and lakes are also high.

So, it's a matter of waiting for an extended warm spell to get the action moving. It's only March whcih can often be a fickle month when it comes to carp fishing- some years good, some years poor.  It's been poor so far.

Note: if you plan to get out carp fishing, you will need a new 2026 RI freshwater fishing license.  Trout stocked waters are also closed to any type of fishing until after Opening Day which is April 11.

Ice Fishing Remains Hot

 

I landed this good size crappie today.  We landed a
a number of different species of fish as this ice
fishing has been hot lately.

With carp fishing remaining shut down in this cold due to icing, I've turned to jigging for multi species of fish. The weather has been cold, really cold, but the ice fishing remains hot.  I've gotten out several times in the last week jigging several different ponds, and I've gotten good numbers of fish.  It's been a lot of variety with perch, pickerel, crappie, largemouth bass and bluegills all hitting. 

Today I got out on the ice with my son Ben. I was amazed that there was almost 10 inches of ice in the pond we fished.  For the most part, we were jigging small Kastmasters tipped with Berkley Gulp maggots. That seemed to do the trick, but the biggest fish caught today actually hit a Kastmaster with a plastic maggot.

My son, Jon, hit a first yesterday as he jigged up a pike, the first we ever caught while jigging. It was a small one, about 3 to 4 lbs. A day earlier he got a bigger one on a tilt. He's been scouting around in a number of places and doing quite well jigging after his work day is done.

Carp Fishing Shut Down, But Other Opportunities Exist!

 

Here's a nice size largemouth bass that I jigged
up today on a small Kastmeaster tipped with
a fake, plastic meal worm

With carp fishing in a deep freeze, I have turned my attention to ice fishing, specifically ice jigging for multi- species.

With all these cold temperatures we've been having lately the ice is thickening all across southern New England.  I got out in the last couple of days and found safe ice in northern RI and nearby MA. The ice seems to be running a solid 3 to 6 inches thick with higher amounts the further north you explore.

Today I got out with my two youngest sons, Ben and Jon.  Jon is an avid ice fisherman and fishes extensively in the three state area of RI, MA and NH. He's already been steadily hitting the ice for the last couple of weeks, mostly in NH. Ben is on "maturnity" leave and has some time on his hands. He also lives on lakeside property along a very productive shoreline so that makes things easy.

We mostly jig when we ice fish and that usually leads to a lot of fish and a lot of variety.  Today we landed perch, pickerel, largemouth bass and yellow perch in good numbers.  Ben and I were jigging small, 1/12 oz. Kastmasters tipped with fake, plastic meal worms.  Jon, who landed the most fish, was using a 1/12 oz. grub jig. We cut a lot of holes looking for fish using my power auger, a real valuable tool when ice jigging. It's a trial and error game and we hit the jackpot after about a half hour of fishing.

Jon landed this good size pickerel on a grub jig.

If you are looking for some wintertime action, think about jigging freshwater ponds in southern New England.  If you are fishing in RI, CT, or NH, you will need a new 2026 freshwater fishing license.  In RI, your old 2025 license is good until the end of Feb.