Current Waters: Nantucket Fishing Report

Keep in mind, this report reflects conditions before Erin came to visit.

There have been lots of bonito around. They’re making a good showing, including the west end and the harbor areas. There are a bunch elsewhere for boaters. Cover some water and find them.

Bass fishing: We had a little slow stint of August bass fishing (as expected), but I would presume this weather will do great things to fire up the striper fishing again. Really stir the pot.

We still haven’t seen a significant number of bluefish. A little here, a little there, but nowhere super reliable. That might also have to do with me chasing colder water for stripers, so take that with a grain of salt. There is still time to participate in the Nantucket August Blues tournament. The competition is heating up. It’s a fun time for a good cause, so get out there!

There aren’t many days left of black seabass. The season closes September 1. We’re picking at them, but not in significant numbers. All it takes is a few to make a great meal.

We’re all hoping for a big showing of Albies (false Albacore) soon. Maybe this weather will do the trick and bring us a good flush of albies. The Nantucket Inshore Classic fishing tournament is coming up shortly, so they should be here in time.

We had a great week leading up to the storm with a huge tuna landed on a commercial fishing day. The approximately 1,000-pound bluefin tuna was a personal best. Seeing the photos of the giant bluefin tuna on my boat, several people have asked about how we got a fish that size on the boat. Well, the first thing to know is that the boat has a tuna door which is a small door that opens on the stern of the boat. It’s always been of adequate size for the fish we’ve landed. For the big tuna, we first attempted to pull it into the boat through the door head-first with a pull hook and some gas. It didn’t take us long to realize we needed a mechanical advantage. Fortunately, we keep a block and tackle aboard. We used the rod holders on the roof of the wheelhouse as an anchor point for the block and tackle to pull it into the boat. Luckily, they’re well-built to withstand the monster tow. Even then, the fish still got stuck in the door. It took three people to roll it onto its belly into the boat. It was sloppy, awkward, and difficult. That’s why all the photos taken were once it was already on the boat. One of the unfortunate things is trying to get good photos of a fish that size while on the boat – it takes up so much space.

Steaming home was also interesting. Having that much weight on one side of the boat made the boat list hard to starboard; the side the fish was on. It made for an awkward ride back.

All in all, it was an amazing day for us and our clients. This was a fish of a lifetime, for sure. It’ll be a tough one to beat. But we’re getting into my favorite time of year for tuna fishing, so I am happy to try.

Commercial tuna fishing is now the primary way to go with a charter. Ask your favorite charter boat about the options and days available for the commercial season.

For clarification for those who have asked, this fish was harvested on a commercial fishing day under a certain license. All bluefin tuna over 73 inches cannot be harvested unless it’s an open commercial day for those with the proper permits. We have a charter head boat license with a commercial endorsement. The commercial season for bluefin tuna is regulated by set quotas for certain time periods, which are separate from the recreational seasons and quotas. For a charter boat to do charter head boat with commercial endorsement, it involves having a captain’s license and a vessel safety inspection.

Many of you may know that recreational “rec” tuna was shut down recently for various reasons. Really, it started last year with the over-harvesting of recreational tuna, so we have to pay that quota back from last year. Some say it didn’t get shut down in time last year. There is also some responsibility from the rec tuna fishery for not reporting their harvest for catch and release so the authorities had to estimate. When they underestimate the population, the quota is smaller. The best thing we can do for our fishery is to properly report the catch. That way, the authorities are using actual data rather than their underestimates. It is estimated that the recreational tuna fishery is less than 20 percent compliant in tuna catch and releases - that doesn’t include charters or commercial boats.

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Aside from fishing, this week has been about storm speculation and then storm prep. This involves pulling or securing boats with no time (or too much wind and waves) for fishing the past couple of days. For those with boats still in the water, make sure the bilges are clear, the batteries are charged, and your dock lines are doubled up. I’ll be checking my dock lines throughout the storm which we hope will pass quickly. This is nothing the island hasn’t seen before. We’ll be out again this weekend to see what’s up.

The storm will certainly change things moving forward, but it will take a few days for things to settle down and water to clear a bit to know what’s up. We’ll get out there this weekend and let you know how it goes.

Until next tide…