May 22, 2020
The Big News! The fish are here and they are eating. They are not big yet, but that will come.
First though, we need to say a sincere THANK YOU. The support of our customers and friends have been incredibly overwhelming. Seriously, in a difficult time where customers cannot even come into our shop we are staying busy thanks to you all going out of your way to shop local. Better yet, we are seeing more anglers than ever on the water. Hopefully these positive reports lead to more of that!
Back to fishing… So here is the backdrop, we fished hard last weekend and caught a few fish and missed a few and spent a lot of time searching. Then it blew for a few days (crazy right?) and yesterday, (Thursday) we could finally sneak out and search again… I had a good feeling. Cam and I decided that it would be a brother’s fish day and we were rewarded. Outside of the first place we stopped everywhere else had fish and big schools of them. It was pretty obvious that many of these fish just arrived. It is pretty easy to know when piles of fish just arrive, first they travel in big schools. As fish settle in and get into patterns they move in smaller groups. Today we saw schools of 30-50 fish. Also early fish can be spooky. They are here, but not quite dialed in yet. They were spooky today, lots of rejections but with the number of fish we saw, plenty of takes as well. We saw a variety of size, but none much bigger than 26 inches. All good in our book.
While we caught our fish in the main harbor, Madaket has still been producing very well, as has Tuckernuck for those with a boat. There have also been fish caught along the north shore. Remember, the stretch from Eel Point to the West Jetty tends to act like a highway for fish moving between Madaket to Town. Many people just love to fish the south shore and there have been fish from Madaket to Miacomet. The South Shore is not red hot yet, but soon enough. SO where should you fish? Honestly find water and be willing to walk. Hulburt Ave and the West Jetty have fish, Warren’s Landing has fish, Wauwinet and Pocomo have fish, the creeks in town have fish. Now you just need to put your time in.
Remember that there are times when fish eat and times when fish swim. This time of year, fish our more prone to eat during the day because the water temperature is cooler, but in a month or so, they will lose this tendency. Bass would prefer to eat at night and this is actually the best time to target them. Our favorite time to target Striped bass is the “witching hour” just before sunset until you lose the light. Also remember, fish will feed in a spot where bait normally congregates. Think about structure, depth changes and plant life such as eel grass.
Our suggestion is get out and fish over the next few weeks. The fish are near shore, easily accessed by wading and over the next three weeks fish should eat. We hear so many stories in July and August of “I want to get started.” Start now. If you put your time in over the next few weeks you will be rewarded. And we are here to help. The shop is now open from 11-4 daily and we keep expanding hours as it is demanded or call us up if you are not comfortable. We are doing curbside to keep people comfortable and we can deliver as well. Please remember to use our website as well! You can buy online.
Striper Sea Run Tourney
This is arguably the best tournament of the year. ALL proceeds go to charity and it is run by Raf Osana, who is a great Nantucket angler and who, as a person, is all about giving back. Here is the registration, and here is the website describing the tournament.
This tournament is all about getting back outside and enjoying the best of what Nantucket has to offer while raising money for a local non profit organization. Prizes will be awarded to participants for a variety of different catch types including first landed sea run striper, smallest striper in length, first keeper bass 28″ or larger and the largest striped bass of the tournament. The first ten anglers to register a catch will also be awarded a locally donated prize package. Any participant that registers a catch will also be eligible to receive one of a variety of prizes drawn at random, including the grand prize in which he or she will be able to select the island charity that will receive the proceeds of the tournament!
