Current Waters: Fall Fishing, And Signing Off...
Capt. Carl Bois •
We’ve been doing a little bit of bass fishing and a whole lot of tuna fishing. There were a few days this week when I felt like it was easier to catch a bluefin than it was to catch a striper. But we’re going through the seasonal shift right now. It will likely change again, and the striper fishing will improve. In the meantime, the false albacore have come in. They always seem to time it right when the stripers slow down, they come in. Fun on the line and accessible from the beach, for small and larger boats. It’s a fun fish to have enter our waters again.
Fluke fishing is status quo. Black seabass is now closed for the season and will reopen sometime in May.
The bluefish had a solid weekend just in time for the end of the August Blues Tournament. That fishery just continues to improve.
By all accounts, the August Blues Tournament was a huge success. Only in its 3rd year, the tournament keeps getting bigger and better. It was great to see so many people, some new to tournaments, getting in on the fun. Plus, they raised over $50,000 to support The Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, an organization dedicated to ending Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Check out the leaderboard for the winners. Congratulations to all! My wife even got 2nd place for the longest bluefish by boat. There was a fierce competition for Snapper Blues (shortest bluefish). Mark Mooradian came in with the smallest at 5.5 inches. Well done! Other favorite categories were “unicorn” prizes – basically unique catches that aren’t bluefish. This year’s winners caught squirrel fish, almaco jacks, and pufferfish. Just goes to show, you never know what will be at the end of the line.
My favorite tournament of the year is also coming up soon - the Bluefin Blast. Bob DeCosta and Jonas Baker have teamed up this year to make sure that the Bluefin Blast continues. The Blast has now been adopted by the Nantucket Anglers’ Club. The full list of rules can be found on the tournament site. It’s a strictly catch-and-release tournament with recreational tuna closed. But we’re glad to see this tournament continue.
Fall fishing is when we get to focus on the grand slam of Nantucket fishing: bluefish, striped bass, false albacore, and bonito. The Nantucket Inshore Classic, which kicks off this weekend, targets that “grand slam” and is a great tournament for tracking the change in the season as we begin to transition to cooler air and then cooler waters.
The Nantucket Inshore Classic runs September 7th to October 11th and starts with the opening gam Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at the Angler’s Club. This year marks the 20th anniversary of this popular fall tournament. It’s always a fun time catching up with people after the busy summer and talking fishing. The tournament, hosted by the Nantucket Anglers’ Club, raises money for their scholarship fund, but you don’t need to be a member to join in the fishing fun. Divisions include All-Tackle, Fly, and Junior, from boat or beach, with winners determined by fish length. So go ahead and register, pick up a ruler at one of the local tackle shops, and cast a line. For those in the tournament, the bonito will be the first to leave our cooler waters, so they should be the first species to target. To compete for the grand totals, you’ll need a bonito on the board! Best of luck to all the anglers in the Inshore Classic!
With the change of season, it’s time for us to sign off from Current Waters for now. We’ve had a great summer fishing and just being out on the water. While the fishing is still great and Topspin will still be on the water for a few months yet, the reality of school, high school sports, and the travel involved mean it’s time to wrap up the writing for now.
A quick recap of the season: we had some highs and lows dealing with bits of weather and changing fishing conditions. But the highs really outweighed the lows. We have been fortunate with a great striper season. We had to deal with the closure of recreational bluefin tuna, but we’ve adapted pretty well. Fortunately, we have the commercial side of tuna fishing to keep us going into the fall and get people on a giant bluefin tuna. My favorite season is tuna season. Some exciting new things will be happening for Topspin this winter. We’ll keep you posted.
We want to thank all of our clients for a great season. We love catching up with clients who have become friends, and the friendships that have blossomed. We hear about their kids, the adventures that they’ve started, and get their fishing stories. Keep those stories coming!
Current Waters will return next spring. But don’t forget to check us out in the meantime if you want to get out on the water. If you want to know what we’re up to, check us out on Instagram or come visit us down on the docks.
Until next tide…