Current Waters: The Arrival Of Striper Season

There is some exciting news that has come out since last week’s article. The Atlantic bluefin tuna daily retention limits were just updated for the recreational harvest. As of June 1 (Monday) recreational boats can keep two bluefin tuna measuring 27" to <73”, of which only one may be a large school/small medium bluefin tuna (47" to <73”). For charter boats, we can keep three bluefin tuna measuring 27" to <73”, of which only one may be a large school/small medium bluefin tuna (47" to <73”). These retention limits are per boat (not angler) and you still need to have all of the proper permits.

I think this is great. It’s the welcome bump that we all wanted and it will make for a great charter season. Be sure to check the regulations every time you go out because these regs are always subject to change as we’ve learned in previous seasons.

Here is a link to the NOAA fisheries so you can know before you go. Right now, these regulations run through December 31^st.

I can’t wait to get out there.

Before we really get into tuna season, though, we’re in the onset of striper season and it is awesome! It’s finally (almost) June and our world-class fishery is heating up. The stripers have really been showing up and right now, it’s like we’re on bonus time. Anything happening when we’re still in May marks a fantastic start to the season.

One way we celebrate the start of the Nantucket fishing season is with the Nantucket Spring Sea Run Opener fishing tournament. This catch-and-release striped bass tournament is all about getting back outside after a long winter and enjoying the best of what Nantucket has to offer. The Spring Sea Run Opener is a charity tournament focused on stripers. It’s open to everyone and only $25 to enter. The tournament is already underway, but there is still room to knock out some of the leaders. There are weekly winners and team efforts, too.

This tournament runs through June 15^th this year. For the latest on stripers, keep an eye on the Nantucket Sea Run Opener leaderboard.

And you don’t even have to have the first, biggest, or smallest to win! Any participant who registers a catch will also be eligible to receive one of many 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! If you’re going out fishing anyway, you might as well register your catch and support a great local cause. Kids can enter for free! In fact, the first bluefish was already caught and it was by a junior angler. The Junior Division is generously sponsored by the August Blues Fishing Tournament (another fantastic Nantucket tournament).

Fishing Report

I’ve already mentioned how awesome the stripers are right now. We’ve been having fun with it out on the water. Lots of boats getting into fish. We’ve been catching them on topwater, paddle tails, and flies. Basically, whatever you want to throw will probably work. Right now they’re eating squid, butterfish, and bunker.

There are also some stripers being caught from the beach. The fishing should get better with every day and every tide. It’s an exciting time.

The first bluefish was landed on Nantucket recently. It’s pretty early, but I’ve been hearing about other bluefish caught in Massachusetts. So the bluefish are in the mix now – there’s always a chance for one of them.

The same pattern continues for black seabass from last week. They’re in Nantucket Sound – structure and hard bottom.