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Watchaug Pond Fishing Report

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

Watchaug Pond: the freshwater pond at the center of Burlingame State Park in Charlestown, on Rhode Island's list of designated trout waters.

Seasonal closure: The whole water, as a Rhode Island designated trout water. Next closed from March 1, 2027 until 6 a.m. on April 10, 2027. Rhode Island closes all designated trout waters to fishing from midnight on the last day of February until 6 a.m. on the second Saturday in April. Source, read October 12, 2026.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
57 / 57 F
Wind
NNE 8 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.

Watchaug Pond offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 8 mph, rising pressure near 1028 hPa and a high of 57. Water sits around 74 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

Largemouth bassGood

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Smallmouth bassGood

Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

Tomorrow: Similar at 59 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. What a Rhode Island licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing largemouth 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.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp57 F
High / Low57 / 40 F
WindNNE 8-14 mph
Pressure1027.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:07 / 17:53
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 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 Watchaug Pond this week

The best day on Watchaug Pond this week looks like Thursday Oct 29, at 5 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Thursday, Oct 29 β€” excellent at 5/5, 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, 13 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

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

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

When to come: the Watchaug 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
Largemouth bass
Smallmouth bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 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 Watchaug 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. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 64 F, wind to 16 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 57 F, wind to 19 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 64 F, wind to 18 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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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 freshwater license; Trout Conservation Stamp to keep trout. Designated trout water: closed from March 1 until 6 a.m. on the second Saturday in April; trout 5 a day to Nov 30, then 2 a day Dec 1-end of February, 8-inch minimum. Black bass 5, 12 inches; chain pickerel 5, 14 inches.

Access

Boat launch near the picnic area of Burlingame State Park, Sanctuary Road off Prosser Trail near Route 1, Charlestown.

About this water

A freshwater pond in Burlingame State Park, Charlestown, Rhode Island.

Fishing Watchaug Pond: the full guide

Burlingame's pond

Rhode Island State Parks calls Watchaug Pond one of the largest freshwater ponds in the state and the centerpiece of Burlingame State Park's picnic area, which has a sandy swimming beach and, nearby, a boat launch for boating and fishing with a Rhode Island freshwater license. The nearly 8-mile John Vincent Gormley Trail runs around the pond through Burlingame and the Kimball Wildlife Refuge.

Trout water rules

Watchaug Pond is on Rhode Island's list of designated trout waters. Trout season opens at 6 a.m. on the second Saturday in April (April 11 in 2026); the limit is five trout through November 30 and two from December 1 to the end of February, and designated trout waters close to all fishing in March until opening day. Trout must be 8 inches, and keeping one requires a Trout Conservation Stamp.

Bass and pickerel

Rhode Island keeps black bass, largemouth and smallmouth, open all year with a five-fish limit and a 12-inch minimum. Chain pickerel are also open all year, five a day with a 14-inch minimum.

Common questions

Do I need a trout stamp at Watchaug Pond?

Only to keep trout: Rhode Island requires a Trout Conservation Stamp to keep or possess trout.

When is Watchaug Pond closed?

As a designated trout water it closes to all fishing from March 1 until 6 a.m. on the second Saturday in April.

Is there a boat launch?

Yes. Rhode Island State Parks lists a boat launch near the Burlingame picnic area for boating and fishing.

Is fishing good at Watchaug 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

Ninigret Pond2 miPawcatuck River6 miWorden Pond7 miWood River8 miPoint Judith11 miNarragansett13 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 41.3851, -71.6904 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 7, 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 7, 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.