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 Fishermen and Friends,

It’s happening! And boy did it happen quickly. Wow! We are seeing lots of fish and we are seeing size. 40 inch fish, 39 inch fish, 36 inch fish and one gentleman landed 17 keepers in 20 casts….all from the beach. This is not to say that all aspects of our fishery are electric, but if you have a desire to catch a bass from the beach, GO FISH! We have also been experiencing excellent fishing from the boats in the harbors. It sounds like the rips are ready to explode as there is bait and some fish, but likely it is a matter of days if not hours for the rips to turn on. So yes, this is fun! And just to think 2 weeks ago most of us were still searching for our first fish and last week many were still muddling about.

So what happened…bait, bait, bait. You all have heard us rant, if we have bait, we have fish. Anyone who has walked the south shore beaches has seen the massive Herring on the beach, many have seen the whales (eating bait…) as well as birds. The ocean south of the island is alive and it is fun to watch and all that bait is filling in along our shoreline and filtering into the sound and our harbor. We saw this bait filling in before the 7 day NE blow in early mid-may and before the fish got here. Part of our guess is that this bait stalled offshore and a pile of fish found it and the SW wind last weekend put it right on our beaches with the bass chewing away. And once fish find bait, they stay on it.

So where to fish… let the wind blow in your face. If it is a south/west wind go fish the south shore. If it is a north wind…fish the north shore. The 17 keepers I am talking about above came mid week, mid morning with high water and wind in the anglers face. Our good friend caught a 40 incher (amongst other smaller fish) Thursday evening with his kids watching and helping. Yup, this is May and we do not need yet to be chasing twilight/night fishing. It doesn’t mean that night won’t produce, but when bait is thick and the water is cold, these fish will feed whenever.

Beaches that have been producing in particular have been Cisco, Miacomet and Nobadeer. This does not mean it is just these three beaches, but the stretch from Cisco to Nobadeer tends to be producing with Miacomet rip being the center piece. Remember when fishing, read the water. Do not just cast at the first piece of water you see. Read the current, recognize water flow and where the bars are and where the fish might be resting and setting up ambushes.

As exciting as the beaches are, do not forget about our harbors… the shorelines in Madaket and in town are seeing lots of fish. Many fish have settled into patterns so we are seeing small schools, but we are also still seeing large schools that are settling in. Super fun. We have seen fish in all of the bends as well as the outside of coatue. In Madaket, Warrens landing, eel point and the inside of Esther’s have been excellent.

Those with boats have been running to structure and finding big sea bass and actually a few cod mixed in our inshore waters. Very cool! We have also seen a pile of tatoug in the boat basin and town docks as well over the last two weeks. We have not heard reports in the last few days, but likely they are still lurking. So cool to see different species and to see the growth of the population.

As we hope you are sensing… this fishery is fun right now. We know work is busy, we know it seems like the summer is long, but these conditions don’t last forever… Go Fish, and come in and tell us a story!