Our Gear:

Offshore fishing charters are outfitted with Shimano and Penn 2 speed reels, custom stand up gear by Merrick Tackle, Shimano Sustain spinners on graphite rods, custom jigging sticks with Avet reels, and the very best in offshore lures, bars, and rigs from Sam's Bait and Tackle, a local pro-quality tackle shop with high quality rigging service. All the fishing we do and fish we target demands the very best gear, and the crew that knows how to land the big ones! All fishing done with stand up gear only, no chair is used. This provides for the ultimate test of skill and endurance on these large offshore predators.

Rod doubled over on BIG mako shark.  Inshore fishing charters outfitted with Diawa Sealine reels and Diawa Sealine X rods. Coastal Charters Sportfishing uses quality jigs and eel tubes for all inshore jigging/trolling by Pt. Jude Lures, as well as light tackle tins for inshore bluefin  and other small tuna. 

Let's Go Fishing

Coastal Charters operate out of Newport RI, offering professionally guided fishing trips. We specialize in offshore trips targeting large pelagic sharks, Makos, Threshers, and Blues, in addition to offshore and canyon runs for Yellowfin, Albacore, and Bluefin tunas, as well as Mahi-Mahi and Swordfish. In addition, Coastal Charters runs inshore trips in and around the waters of Newport, RI for species such as Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, Tautog, and Sea Bass.We offer private, custom, and open boat fishing trips on all our vessels as well as private cruising on any of our fine power boat options. We are happy to provide specific info on any of our charters, simply call us at 401-862-0358 or 401-473-5386. All of our trips are manned by fishing guides (USCG Certified Captains) who know the waters and the fish that you seek. Our fishing guides and captains are all licensed and trained at their craft, and because we are a full time fishing charter outfit, we can provide the best chance at a productive day on the water fishing Rhode Island waters and the offshore waters around New England. Why take a chance with part time fishing guides, when you can opt for full time, professional fisherman to get you into your trophy fish that you desire? All trips depart out of Newport harbor in beautiful Newport, RI unless specified prior to booking date.

Our Target Species:

• Striped Bass- These fish show in Rhode Island from May- November with sizes ranging from school fish up to 50 plus, 58.2 our largest striped bass so far. Live and dead baits provided, light tackle lures other than tins/jigs please bring own or prior arrangements necessary. Current RI sportfishing regulations allow 2 fish per angler over 28" in total length. The Striped Bass is one of the most storied New England fish, and the waters off Newport, RI and Block Island Sound hold some of the largest Striped Bass taken along the entire eastern seaboard every year.
• Fluke- summer visitors to Rhode Island, these fish show late May-September. Live and dead baits provided, as well as jigging. Largest fluke to date was a hefty 12.4# specimen.
• Tautog- May-December, best in Oct. Live crabs provided, largest "chinner" so far a beefy 15.8# male, with many fish scaling 8 plus. Rhode Island sportfishing regulations provide a bag limit of 10 fish per man at 16" starting on Oct. 21, 2007. We only target spring tautog as a multi species bottom charter, as limits are only 3 fish per man, and it is during or before the spawn. Because tautog are slow growing fish, it is important to practice responsible fishing practices with this favorite of bottom fish.
• Scup(Porgies) and Sea Bass- Fishing in RI on these species is very good from May-October, Sea Bass into Nov. Porgies average 1-2#, with some "pie plates" of 3 plus landed every trip. Sea bass are often caught, with some"hump heads" scaling 5 or more on occasion. Clam and Squid baits , as well as live baitfish for Sea Bass, and jigging possible as well. Bluefish- Late May-October and longer some years. These fish will hit just about anything we throw at them, and sizes range from 2 pound "cocktail" size up to 17 plus, largest to date was an "alligator" of 21.3# Most common method is chunking or jigging Pt. Jude tins.

• Pelagic Sharks- Mako, Thresher, and Blue. Late June through early October. All gear and chum/bait provided, with average sizes ranging from pups of 40-70 pounds, to monsters of 300 plus pounds common. Largest Thresher 407, Mako 588, and Blue 431 with larger fish always a possibility. Trips of as little as 18 miles out can produce excellent results. Mako shark and Thresher shark are excellent table fare, but we discourage any harvest of other shark species unless it is of trophy proportions. We participate in the Apex Predator Program tagging efforts, and provide any info on re capture tags to any interested charter that provide email or mailing address. This is our specialty, and if you want to go toe-to-toe with the hardest and most exciting fighting quarry available come catch a mako or thresher with Coastal Charters Sportfishing.

• Yellowfin Tuna- late June-Nov. or later. All gear/bait provided. Available only on long range offshore trips(60 plus miles) with best fishing occurring on overnight trips. Trolling and chunking as well as jigging, with average size being 50-90#, up to over 150 plus. We encourage you to bring your own gear for jigging, or prior arrangements necessary. Yellowfin tuna are the ultimate speedster and a very fun fish to target using all methods that we employ. Yellowfin limits are currently 3 fish per angler, with a minimum curved fork length of 27".

• Albacore (longfin)- same seasons/methods as Yellowfin, with sizes from 35#-60# and larger. Albacore tuna frequently come inshore to the nearshore areas, and can often be targeted on a short day trip. There is currently no bag limit, and these tuna make excellent grilling fish. Albacore will often gang up on trolled lures, sometimes having 2-5 fish or more on at one time! These speedsters will provide excellent opportunity to test your angling abilities and team work.

• Bluefin- late June-October, sizes ranging from school size through giants. The federal regulations are constantly changing so please check with us for current regulations. It is our policy that all bluefin tuna permitted to be retained by our vessels under current regulations are the property of the charter group.  With respect to large bluefin tuna (those greater than 73 inches curved fork length) permitted to be retained by our vessels under current regulations, the charter group will be given the option to keep that fish or to release it.  We do not believe in selling that bluefin tuna as part of a charter and will not assist the charter group in any effort to sell that fish. The current 2008 regulations provide for 1 bluefin tuna between 47 inches and less than 72 inches and 1 school sized bluefin tuna at 27 inches to less than 47 inches, but this is subject to change. 

• Mahi-Mahi- late July-September. This species can provide unending action on many trips, and make excellent table fare. We often see hordes of them from mid range offshore out to canyons, with average size 4-13#, but hefty specimens to 35 plus pounds possible. Provide excellent light tackle fight on pitched or trolled lures, as well as jigged and chunked. We also occasionally see Swordfish and Big Eye Tuna, up to over 200 plus pounds on the swordfish, and 275 plus on the "eyeballs", strictly in the canyons. The swordfish have made an incredible comeback in recent years to the northeast fishing grounds, and we had many swordfish of varying sizes to the boat in 2006. Hopefully the trend continues and these amazing fighters will grow in sizes in the coming years!