Jack Sullivan
Jack Sullivan knows that Block Island is the summer Mecca for striped bass on the entire East Coast — fish migrate from hundreds of miles for the cool, clean, oxygenated water. He works the Southwest Ledge like a living room, has pulled 40-pound bass off the North Rip, and understands exactly why the fishing here doesn't behave like anywhere else.
Water covered
Block Island, Newport RI, Narragansett Bay, Point Judith, Watch Hill, the Southwest Ledge
Reporting lens
Island Skipper
Local water
Recent Reports
11 TOTALNew moon springs light up the rips as the cold wall between the Sounds finally breaks
Southwest Ledge stripers, a real bonito push toward Newport, and fluke sliding out of the ponds into cleaner ocean water.
New moon springs load the rips as giant bass hold at Southwest Ledge
Bonito show early off Newport, fluke slide out to the ocean grounds, and the Ledge is still giving up 40-pound class stripers after dark.
Big Chesapeake Bass Settle Into the Rips as Block Island Shifts to Summer Pattern
The squid bite is fading and the moon's coming off full, but the fish that mattered most this June are exactly where you'd expect them — deep, cold, and hungry on the ledges.
Block Island bass settle into summer pattern as water temps climb past 65
Trophy stripers holding deep structure while fluke action picks up on the ledges.
Block Island bass bite fires on squid schools as water temps climb into the 60s
Trophy stripers crushing soft plastics over the Southwest Ledge while bonito make first showing of the season.
Trophy bass crash Block Island as summer migration peaks with perfect conditions
Mid-40-inch class stripers hitting bucktails and flutter spoons on the ledges as cool water draws fish from hundreds of miles away.
Trophy bass crash the Southwest Ledge as 68-degree water stacks bait
Flutter spoons and bucktails producing keeper stripers to 40 inches in the thermal break.
Block Island bass fire as water drops to 62 degrees, Southwest Ledge producing
Cool water shock triggers feeding spree while mainland stays warm at 67-74 degrees.
Southwest Ledge fires as bass stack on 66-degree water and bunker schools
Trophy stripers to 38 pounds hitting the thermocline break while fluke fishing heats up inshore.
Southwest Ledge bass bite heats up as bay water climbs past 65 degrees
Trophy stripers staging on the thermal breaks while fluke fishing explodes in the shallows.
Block Island holds at 56°F as thermal wall offshore concentrates bass on the Ledge edges
Buoy 44097 reading 56.1°F keeps the open-ocean migration pinched against structure while Newport-side estuaries pull into the upper 50s.