The Tight Lines Fishing Report is brought to you by Corey and Cam Gammill via Bill Fisher Tackle and Bill Fisher Outfitters. Visit their website, their shop at 127 Orange Street, or give them a call at (508) 228-2261.

Dear Fisherman and Friends,

This continues to be the craziest year of fishing I can remember. We just aren’t following any of the historic patterns and continue to guess what is coming next.  Right now, we have so much small bait, it is incredible, while still having mackerel and Squiddos through our fishery. 

Last week I let you know about the explosion of sand eels in our fishery. I also mentioned how Bonito love sand eels and we should get ready for this fishery to heat up. Well, heating up might be the understatement of the year because our Bonito fishery is on fire.  It’s at a level that I have not seen in years. These fish seem to be surrounding the Island and are crashing bait on the surface, so it’s never a surprise where they are. 

I had a tide with a friend last week where we caught 30+ Bonito in just two hours. Even more impressive was a group of guys that caught 17 from the beach at Great Point. We’ve seen the fish in the harbor, on the Bonito Bar, out West, On the south side of the Island, in the southeastern rips, and at Great Point.  So yes, they are surrounding the Island. The first push of fish were quite small, but the current fish seemed to be class bigger.  These fish are active and eating. They are not too picky, but use a small metal or small swimming plug for your most action. 

The most common spots to find these fish are in Madaket on the Bonito Bar or at Great Point. Madaket has historically been an East (or an incoming tide) fishery. These fish have been there on both tides, but that may change.  My favorite way to target these fish though, has been to keep my eyes open for actively feeding birds. This is my favorite way to fish in general. When you see birds diving on the water, they are on bait and hopefully fish are on that bait as well. Look for slashes in the water and you’ll be rewarded with Bonito.

We are still light on bluefish, but we have had another push of fish in the last week. Mostly, we are seeing more and bigger fish on the east side of the Island.  Here is where we are seeing the bigger bait. Mostly squiddos, but we also have butterfish and some mackerel.  We also have some bluefish mixed in, in all of the edges, but not the historic numbers we are used to, and the south shore has been very slow. That has historically been a world-class fishery.

Speaking of Bluefish and since we are now in August, the August Blues tournament is so much fun. It was a new tournament last year and the response was phenomenal.  It was so great to see incredible participation. And why shouldn’t there be?  The goal of the tournament is simply comradery while catching a species of fish that has become synonymous with Nantucket in August! While the focus of the tournament is on catching Bluefish, there are prizes for all fish being caught, so there is no reason for everyone not to enter, especially when all of the proceeds go to an incredible cause. Check it out at augustbluesnantucket.com. (Selfishly, I love any excuse to get more people on the water!)

Perhaps the biggest surprise in my eyes this week has been the activation of Striped Bass. When the wind turned North this week, it felt like our water temps cooled instantly and the Bass became extremely activated.  We had full blitzes in Madaket this week on the surface and caught fish up to 35 inches.  It’s August, this is not what should be happening.  These fish are sprinkled around the Island and the eastern rips have been activated again.  I’m not sure this will last, but if you are usually only here for a few weeks in Early August, go enjoy this anomaly.  These fish are also off the beaches, so everyone should be able to enjoy them.

This has been a fun but unpredictable year. That is what I love. Go enjoy it, wet a line, and catch something new!

Tight Lines,

Captain Corey Gammill: 203-962-8867
Captain Cam Gammill: 508-332-9149
Captain Mike Ruby: 508-221-7144
Captain Nat Reeder