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Ninigret Pond Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Ninigret Pond: Rhode Island's largest coastal salt pond, fished from the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge shore in Charlestown.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~64 F est.
Air / High
57 / 57 F
Wind
NNE 9 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Ninigret Pond is in transition: bait on the move and predators following. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 9 mph, rising pressure near 1028 hPa and a high of 57. Water sits around 64 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:20 AM-11:20 AM and 9:49 PM-11:49 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Striped bassExcellent

Spring and fall are the shoreline seasons: ODWC points to windblown points, riprap and dams during the May shad spawn and the pre-winter feed.

Tomorrow: Similar at 58 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Rhode Island requires a fishing licence from age 15, from $24.00 for residents, and salt water needs its own licence here. What a Rhode Island licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing striped bass here? Check the size and bag limits with RI DEM before you keep anything. The season dates for Rhode Island, read off the agency, are on the Rhode Island seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~64 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp57 F
High / Low57 / 43 F
WindNNE 9-15 mph
Pressure1027.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:07 / 17:53
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~64 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Ninigret Pond this week

The best day on Ninigret Pond this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:20 AM-11:20 AM and 9:49 PM-11:49 PM
Minor period
3:41 AM-4:41 AM
Sun
07:07 to 17:53
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 14 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Ninigret Pond: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall inland; on the coast, during the seasonal migrations

The largest of the temperate basses, a sea-run fish of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts that now also lives in reservoirs across much of the country after hatchery stocking. Inland, it follows schools of shad and herring through open water. Spring and fall are the shoreline seasons: ODWC points to windblown points, riprap and dams during the May shad spawn and the pre-winter feed.

When to come: the Ninigret Pond calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Striped bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 64 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~64 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Ninigret Pond today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 64 F, wind to 17 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 57 F, wind to 20 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 64 F, wind to 19 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

Before you go

License

Rhode Island requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Rhode Island saltwater regulations apply (RIDEM sets striped bass, summer flounder, tautog and other limits). Refuge shore fishing from legal sunrise to legal sunset.

Access

Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge shoreline (Salt Pond Unit and Kettle Pond Visitor Center unit), Charlestown; visitor center open 10 am–4 pm daily. Salt Pond Unit closed Nov 14–15 for a deer hunt.

About this water

Rhode Island's largest coastal salt pond, in Charlestown, Washington County, bordered by Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge.

Fishing Ninigret Pond: the full guide

Rhode Island's largest salt pond

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls Ninigret Pond the largest coastal salt pond in Rhode Island. Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge, one of five refuges in the Rhode Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex, occupies the former Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Landing Facility beside it.

Fishing from the refuge

Anglers may saltwater-fish and shellfish from the refuge shoreline from legal sunrise to legal sunset, under state regulations. In May the refuge extends its hours for fishing the cinder worm hatch, and each spring it runs a fly-tying workshop with the state at the Kettle Pond Visitor Center, followed by fishing in a cove along the trail to Grassy Point.

Hunts and closures

The refuge's Salt Pond Unit closes to the public on November 14–15 for the annual veterans deer hunt, and archery deer hunting has been under way at the Kettle Pond unit since September 15; the refuge asks trail users to wear orange.

Common questions

Can I fish from the wildlife refuge?

Yes. The Fish and Wildlife Service allows saltwater fishing and shellfishing from the refuge shoreline from legal sunrise to legal sunset under state rules.

Are there extended hours for the cinder worm hatch?

Yes, in May the refuge extends its hours for anglers fishing the cinder worm hatch.

Is fishing good at Ninigret Pond right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Watchaug Pond2 miWorden Pond7 miPawcatuck River7 miPoint Judith9 miWood River10 miNarragansett12 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 41.3600, -71.6600 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 6, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 6, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.