Live wading and fishing conditions for 16 Rhode Island rivers
Every river below is monitored through its USGS streamflow gauges, refreshed every 15 minutes and rated in plain language for wading safety. Select a river for the live dashboard with current flow, trend, weather and community reports.
Wood River
Rhode Island's premier trout stream and the heart of the Wood-Pawcatuck system — a cold, spring-fed South County freestone running through the Arcadia Management Area with wild brook and brown trout plus heavy RIDEM stocking. It stays cool and fishable well into summer when the rest of the state warms up, and much of it is fly-friendly pocket water.
Region: Wood-Pawcatuck (South County) · Fish for: Brook Trout, Brown Trout · USGS gauges: Wood River Near Arcadia, Ri, Wood River At Hope Valley, Ri
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Pawcatuck River
The Wood-Pawcatuck's main stem — a mixed coldwater/warmwater river running from Worden Pond and the Wood River confluence down to Little Narragansett Bay at Westerly. The upper reaches hold stocked and holdover trout; the lower river is a bank-and-boat smallmouth, largemouth, and pickerel fishery, and an active American shad and river-herring restoration corridor with new fish ladders.
Region: Wood-Pawcatuck (South County) · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Brown Trout · USGS gauges: Pawcatuck River At Kenyon, Ri, Pawcatuck River At Wood River Junction, Ri, Pawcatuck River At Westerly, Ri
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Blackstone River
The Blackstone is northern Rhode Island's big river — a historic mill river running from Massachusetts through Woonsocket and Pawtucket to the head of Narragansett Bay. Cleaner than it's been in a century, it's now a bank-and-boat smallmouth, largemouth, carp, and channel-fish river and one of the state's leading American shad and river-herring restoration projects. Frame conditions as bank/boat safety, not wading.
Region: Blackstone Valley · Fish for: Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass · USGS gauges: Blackstone River At Woonsocket, Ri, Blackstone R At Roosevelt St At Pawtucket Ri
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Beaver River
A small, cold South County tributary of the Pawcatuck famous among RI anglers for wild brook and brown trout. Spring-fed and shaded, it's a classic small-stream fly water — technical, brushy, and best fished quietly with short casts.
Region: Wood-Pawcatuck (South County) · Fish for: Brook Trout, Brown Trout · USGS gauges: Beaver River Near Usquepaug, Ri
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Pawtuxet River
The main-stem Pawtuxet, formed where the North and South branches meet at River Point in West Warwick, runs east through Cranston and Warwick to Pawtuxet Cove on Narragansett Bay. It's a slower, warmwater bank-and-boat river — largemouth, smallmouth, pickerel, and carp — with a tidal lower reach and a long dam-removal and fish-passage restoration history. Frame conditions as bank/boat safety.
Region: Pawtuxet Watershed · Fish for: Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass · USGS gauges: Pawtuxet River At Cranston, Ri
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Hunt River
A short, cold West Bay stream in North Kingstown and East Greenwich, the Hunt River is one of Rhode Island's better-known wild brook and brown trout waters. Spring-fed and heavily shaded, it stays cold through summer and supports self-sustaining trout — small, technical, and worth fishing carefully.
Region: West Bay · Fish for: Brook Trout, Brown Trout · USGS gauges: Hunt R 250 Ft Ds Fry Brk At Frenchtown, Ri, Hunt River Near East Greenwich, Ri
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Queen River
The Queen River (which becomes the Usquepaug River downstream) is a cold, wild-trout South County stream and a major Pawcatuck tributary. Small and spring-fed up high with wild brook and brown trout, it broadens into stocked water toward Usquepaug village — quiet, brushy fly water throughout.
Region: Wood-Pawcatuck (South County) · Fish for: Brook Trout, Brown Trout · USGS gauges: Queen R At Liberty Rd At Liberty Ri, Usquepaug River Near Usquepaug, Ri
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Branch River
A Blackstone tributary formed by the Clear and Chepachet rivers in Burrillville, the Branch is a stocked-trout and river-smallmouth stream running through Forestdale to its mouth near Woonsocket. It fishes cold up high for trout and warms into smallmouth and pickerel water downstream.
Region: Blackstone Valley · Fish for: Brown Trout, Smallmouth Bass · USGS gauges: Branch River At Forestdale, Ri
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Woonasquatucket River
An urban river running from the Smithfield hills down through North Providence into the heart of Providence, the Woonasquatucket is a RIDEM-stocked trout river up high and a warmwater and greenway fishery in the city. Cleanup and fish-passage work have brought back trout, bass, and river herring to a river that was once written off.
Region: Providence Metro · Fish for: Rainbow Trout, Largemouth Bass · USGS gauges: Woonasquatucket River At Centerdale, Ri
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North Branch Pawtuxet River
The North Branch drains the Scituate Reservoir spillway and the Cranston/Scituate hills before joining the South Branch at River Point. RIDEM stocks it with trout in the cooler upper reaches, and it holds smallmouth and pickerel as it slows toward the confluence.
Region: Pawtuxet Watershed · Fish for: Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass · USGS gauges: North Branch Pawtuxet River At Fiskeville, Ri
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Chipuxet River
A small, slow South County stream that drains the University of Rhode Island area at West Kingston and feeds the Great Swamp and Worden Pond at the head of the Pawcatuck system. Part stocked trout water, part weedy warmwater flowage — pickerel, perch, and largemouth thrive where it slows into the swamp.
Region: Wood-Pawcatuck (South County) · Fish for: Brook Trout, Chain Pickerel · USGS gauges: Chipuxet River At West Kingston, Ri
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South Branch Pawtuxet River
The South Branch runs out of the Coventry and West Greenwich woods — fed by the Nooseneck and the Big River area — through Washington village to River Point. RIDEM stocks trout in the cooler reaches, and it holds smallmouth, pickerel, and panfish in the slower mill-pond water.
Region: Pawtuxet Watershed · Fish for: Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass · USGS gauges: South Branch Pawtuxet River At Washington, Ri
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Ponaganset River
A western-Rhode-Island stream draining the Foster and Glocester hills toward the Scituate Reservoir system, the Ponaganset holds wild and stocked trout in its cold upper reaches. Small, brushy, and lightly fished, it's classic tight-quarters trout water — note that access tightens near the Providence Water reservoir land.
Region: Western RI · Fish for: Brook Trout, Rainbow Trout · USGS gauges: Ponaganset River At South Foster, Ri
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Nooseneck River
A small West Greenwich stream in the Big River Management Area, the Nooseneck feeds the South Branch Pawtuxet and holds stocked and wild trout in cold, undeveloped woods. Lightly pressured and brushy, it's a quiet small-stream trout run in one of RI's largest blocks of public land.
Region: Pawtuxet Watershed · Fish for: Brook Trout, Rainbow Trout · USGS gauges: Nooseneck River At Nooseneck, Ri
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Nipmuc River
A small Burrillville tributary of the Branch (via the Clear River), the Nipmuc is a modest stocked-trout stream tucked into the woods of northwestern Rhode Island. Small and shaded, it's a quiet spring and fall trout run more than a destination.
Region: Blackstone Valley · Fish for: Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout · USGS gauges: Nipmuc River Near Harrisville, Ri
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Ten Mile River
A small urban river crossing from Massachusetts into East Providence and Pawtucket before reaching the Seekonk River, the Ten Mile is a warmwater bass, pickerel, and panfish stream with a notable river-herring and shad restoration effort at its fish ladders (Hunts Mills, Omega Pond). Modest and city-bound, it's best fished from the greenway and the mill ponds.
Region: Providence Metro · Fish for: Largemouth Bass, Chain Pickerel · USGS gauges: Ten Mile R., Pawtucket Ave. At E. Providence, Ri
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