1) A permit from the town in which you will be clamming
Permits can be secured at the town hall of the location you wish to clam. (A list of links to the various towns is posted at the bottom of this page.) Fees and regulations vary by the town. When you pay for your permit, you will be given a copy of the town regulations and likely a map or list of open areas in that town. Follow these regulations carefully...a run in with the shellfish warden over an infraction is likely not the happiest ending to a good days clamming! Most towns maintain and update their websites with all the information you will need regarding permitting and regulations.
2) Boots/ Waders /Hip Boots:
Depending on which body of water you choose to clam, the footwear you require will vary by the prevailing conditions found in the bodies of water open to recreational clamming.
In towns that offer long expanses of very low water (flats) with easy access, rubber boots will suffice during the summer months. No matter the warmth of the water, some type of protective footwear should be worn to protect against the broken shells and glass that can be prevalent in areas that clams like to live. Knee high rubber boots offer great protection from mucky bottoms.
In some towns, the best spots to clam have deeper water-even at dead low tide. In these areas, it would be wise and much more comfortable to wear hip boots or even chest waders.
For hard shell clamming, having a pair of waders will greatly increase the time you spend clamming, as you can continue to dig with a basket rake almost to high tide in some locations. There are very few, if any waders / hip boots that will withstand consistent kneeling on clam shells or rough bottom...use care.
3) Rake
On the exposed sand flats, digging for soft-shelled clams is usually done with a short handled clam rake or a spading fork with its short handle bent perpendicularly away from the fork's head. A digger typically uses the rake by digging down into the mud, clay, or sand and then pull it up and towards him/ herself. This digging action, done in close proximity to the tell tale siphon holes of the clams, opens up the soil to expose the clams. The digger then gently removes the clam by hand.
Recreational clamming for the larger surf and quahog clams (chowder clams) is primarily done with a basket style rake. The head of these rakes have long tines attached to a "basketlike" cage in which the clams are collected as the digger rakes through the sand or mud. There is a tell tale sound/ vibration produced when the rake tines run across the shell of a quahog.
4) Legal Limit Basket and clam gauge
Most towns on the Cape use the 10 quart wire basket as their legal limit and recognize the size limits of the commercially available clam gauge. To meet the legal size limit, a clam must be large enough to not be able to pass through the opening in the gauge.
In most cases, a legal soft shell will not pass through the gauge lengthwise (2 inch), while a legal hard shell will not pass through the gauge width wise (1 inch).
Most towns have strict regulations on how sub legal size clams must be returned to the water...be sure to follow these regulations to help insure the future of this abundant Cape fishery.
]]>For sure, some rigs whistle better than others. By the same token, some rods get a rig whistling better than others. To reach your true musical potential try a Mojo Surf rod. A combination of strong SCIIgraphite and weight-saving surf guides, these hardcore surf sticks look sweet, feel sweet and in the right hands, sound sweet, too.
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MODEL | LGTH. | PWR. | ACTION | PCS. | LINE WT. | LURE WT. | ROD WT. (OZ.) | HANDLE | PRICE |
MSS70MLMF | 7' | ML | Mod. Fast | 1 | 6 - 12 | 3/8 - 1 | 6.2 | 1 | $ 150 |
MSS70MMF | 7' | M | Mod. Fast | 1 | 8 - 17 | 5/8 - 2 | 7.1 | 1 | $ 160 |
MSS80MMF | 8' | M | Mod. Fast | 1 | 8 - 17 | 3/4 - 3 | 8.8 | 2 | $ 170 |
MSS90MMF2 | 9' | M | Mod. Fast | 2 | 10 - 20 | 1 - 4 | 10.1 | 2 | $ 200 |
MSS90MM2 | 9' | M | Mod. | 2 | 10 - 20 | 3/4 - 4 | 10.2 | 2 | $ 200 |
MSS100MMF2 | 10' | M | Mod. Fast | 2 | 10 - 20 | 1 - 4 | 12.6 | 3 | $ 220 |
MSS106MM2 | 10'6" | M | Mod. | 2 | 10 - 20 | 3/4 - 4 | 12.8 | 3 | $ 230 |
MSS106MHMF2 | 10'6" | MH | Mod. Fast | 2 | 12 - 25 | 2 - 6 | 12.9 | 3 | $ 240 |
MSS110MHMF2 | 11' | MH | Mod. Fast | 2 | 15 - 40 | 3 - 8 | 13.9 | 4 | $ 250 |
MSS120HMF2 | 12' | H | Mod. Fast | 2 | 20 - 60 | 6 - 16 | 21.0 | 5 | $ 290 |
MODEL | LGTH. | PWR. | ACTION | PCS. | LINE WT. | LURE WT. | ROD WT. (OZ.) | HANDLE | PRICE |
MSC100MMF2 | 10' | M | Mod. Fast | 2 | 10 - 20 | 1 - 4 | 12.7 | 6 | $ 220 |
MSC106MHMF2 | 10'6" | MH | Mod. Fast | 2 | 12 - 25 | 2 - 6 | 12.6 | 7 | $ 240 |
MSC110MHMF2 | 11' | MH | Mod. Fast | 2 | 15 - 40 | 3 - 8 | 13.6 | 8 | $ 250 |
MSC120HMF2 | 12' | H | Mod. Fast | 2 | 20 - 60 | 6 - 16 | 20.0 | 9 | $ 290 |
By Capt. Derek A. Barber
Today was definitely looking more like summer, finally. No rain, few clouds and temps in the 60’s. So what better of day to take out my new Old Town® PredatorTM, Minn KotaTM series kayak, for its first of many trips looking for stripers. I started the morning going to The Goose Hummock Shop in Orleans to pick up some last minute essentials, one of them being live eels. Then I packed up the truck, loaded the ‘yak, the reels, the tackle boxes and everything else that could possibly fit into the cab of the truck and off to Barnstable Harbor I went.
High Tide was high at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, so I launched just before 2 o’clock. The fishing started out a bit slow. I was trolling two eels and trying to keep the yak close to the edges of the marsh embankments where it seemed deepest. I managed three hits in the first 45 minutes but none of the fish sucked down the eels entirely to the hook. They were just grabbing the tail and not taking the whole eel down. I started thinking to myself that they must be really small fish and that this may be a slow day unless I change it up and start to target smaller stripers. But I decided to keep at it. I ended up finding some deeper water further in the harbor that was 15+ ft deep so I dropped another eel out down the center of the yak with some weight on it. Now I had three live eels out, had never fished this kayak before for stripers and was in a section of the harbor that I was not to familiar with.
Then it happened. Right when I was rounding a point, where a little side estuary was emptying, the starboard side rod went off and when I say went off it was screaming line out. I quickly pulled in the port rod in while the fish was taking line and then I managed to retrieve some of the center deep rod when I noticed that the fishing was still taking line and the spool was starting to get low. I grabbed the rod out of the holder and tightened the drag down two clicks and the fish came to a stop. The fight was on, the kayak slowly started turning toward the fish and, once again, the fish started to take more line before I had even gotten any back. Now I was starting to think this fish may be bigger than the little schoolies that were earlier trying to grab the tails of the eels but were unable to take the whole eel down. The ‘yak was getting pulled across the marsh a good distance before the fish started letting me get some line back. As it was finally slowing down, I retrieved a bunch of the line back and the fish was now in sight. I could could tell it was a keeper and a decent one at that. Once I had the fish within sight I backed the drag off allowing the fish to be able to take line if it could. It was tiring out, as was I, but the fight was not over. He held his head down for a few more minutes and a few more short runs but he was almost done. I grabbed my fish grips and was now ready to land the fish. After a quick tail splash at the side of the kayak that got me pretty wet, I was able to leader the fish and lip him in the same movement. I had done it! Not only was this the first fish that I had hooked up on in my PredatorTM kayak but it was also the first keeper I landed as well. I quickly pulled the fish out of the water and measured and weighed it. Wow, 40” and 24lbs.! A slob I must say. I revived the fish for the next few minutes, took a couple of pictures, and released him back to the water like I do every year with the first keeper striper that I catch.
That was great. What a relief and what a great way to start the kayak season. I continued to fish and did very well over the next two hours. I went on to catch three more keeper bass in a row after that, measuring 30, 28 and 30 inches. By the end of the day I had caught six keeper and six schoolies between 23 and 26 inches. What a great day. The kayak performed great, all the gear worked well and the fishing spoke for itself. I could not have had a better first trip.
My name is Capt, Derek Barber and I am a kayak fisherman. I hope to see you on the water soon. Good luck and happy hunting.
Here's some advice from Goose Hummock Pro Staffer Dan Jones on fishing the frozen ponds of Cape Cod...
I prefer to have at least 3 to 4 inches of solid black ice for safe conditions.You can always check with your local fire department or tackle shop for information on ice conditions, and always be cautious before venturing out.
It’s the most wonderful time of year. No, not Christmas…it’s steelhead fishing in November. Each November, I head to upstate New York with a group of buddies to chase chrome. Chrome are Steelhead that are bright silver in color and enter the tributaries of Lake Ontario in the early Fall. These fish are bright and colorful and fresh to the river. They’re ferocious fighters pushing any angler and their gear to the limit!
We wake up every morning at 4 am to prep and head out for a long day on the water. We fill the thermos, layer in merino wool and GoreTex. Chasing chrome is not for the faint at heart. Wading in 30-40 degree water and braving the elements (wind, snow and rain) for 10 hours can be both mentally and physically challenging. Chasing chrome is fun, challenging and rewarding. Landing just one fish a day is considered a successful day! Believe me, there’s plenty of days when you don’t feel a fish but it doesn’t matter. Chasing chrome is a passion and addiction that all steelhead anglers live and breathe together.
It’s so important to be on the river early. It pays dividends. During the low light hours, fresh chromers will move and transition into the river. It’s during the first half hour after sunrise these fish are most aggressive and eager to eat. As the sun gets higher and more anglers work the river, the fishing gets tougher. We call this pressure. Steelhead are smart. They don’t like pressure. They prefer solitude. They seek undercut banks, submerged logs and boulders for shelter and protection from us and other predators. These are great areas to target. We call this structure.
Our most recent trip to the Salmon River was challenging but rewarding. We fished hard for two days. We didn’t hook or land a ton of fish but we landed our biggest fish. We did better than most anglers because we were persistent and flexible with how we approached the fish. We were the first ones on the river, we covered a lot of water and adapted to the conditions. Both days we fished, the river saw a lot of pressure. The water was low and clear so we stepped down our leader diameter and test. Once we dropped from 6 to 4 pound we started getting more hook-ups than the anglers around us. We changed flies and colors often and paid close attention to each drift. We fished with confidence.
There weren’t a lot of fish in the river. In fact, everyone we talked to complained about how tough the fishing was. That’s steelhead fishing for you.
I caught two of my biggest steelhead on a size 10 Rushers Nymph in the color Chartreuse. Both fish were hooked in the same exact spot on Friday and Saturday afternoon, contrary to the early morning bite theory. We estimated they weighed between 15 to 17 pounds. They were landed on 4 lb. test using a 10 foot, 7 weight fly rod with a floating running line. We don’t use the purist of fly fishing methods, but its effective. We call it the chuck and duck approach. We add split shot to the 10 foot leader system to help keep constant contact with the bottom. It’s important to tick the bottom keeping the fly in the strike zone. Too much weight you’ll snag and not enough weight, you’ll drift the fly over their heads.
I’m already thinking about next years trip. We call this trip “a poor mans Alaska.” It’s only a 6 ½ hour drive from the Cape. It’s inexpensive and offers world class steelhead fishing from Fall through the Spring. We stay in a lodge five minutes from the river for only $35.00/pp a night. I highly recommend drifting the river in a drift boat with an experienced guide if it’s your first time. They charge $300/day and it’s a wise investment to help you catch your first chrome. Good luck and tight lines!
]]>September 20th, my family and I packed up for a trip down to southern Florida to target the elusive Tarpon. Every year around this time we head south just after the busy tourist season on Cape Cod. My family owns property in Stuart Florida where there is a wide variety of inshore as well as pelagic species.
Late summer early fall is an exciting time for land based anglers on the east coast of southern Florida as wide variety of game fish follow schools of bait within casting distance of the beach as they migrate south to warmer waters. The most sought after species being the "Silver King" or tarpon. These fish are known for their long runs and stunning acrobatics during battle.
[caption id="attachment_1381" align="alignleft" width="386"] Nick Gallagher, working the beach for tarpon.[/caption]Tarpon are not easy to catch and bait presentation is key when targeting these fish successfully. During the fall migration the tarpon are moving at tremendous speeds and there is so much bait in the water it is difficult to get them interested in what’s on the end of your line. The most effective way to hook a tarpon is by using live bait. When using this method I find that a circle hook tied to a long fluorocarbon leader is most productive.
The tarpon are on the hunt for mullet and glass minnows. The minnows are too small to be live lined so the mullet is the most commonly used live bait when fishing for tarpon. The first thing you have to do is catch some Mullett for bait and I have found that throwing a casting net is the best way to to land a enough for a sessio. When presenting the bait I like to pierce the hook through the back under the secondary dorsal fin. This will ensure that the bait is going to swim away from the beach to where the Silver Kings are waiting to ambush.
Fishing for tarpon from the beach is not a lazy man's sport. Spotting these fish takes a lot of skill and you will be constantly moving around, up and down the beach, chasing the schools of bait and their predators. When a group of tarpon are spotted you only have one shot at hooking up before the school moves on. On occasion the tarpon will gorge on giant schools of bay anchovies commonly referred to as "glass minnows." When feeding like this you need to change tactics and you will have a better chance at a strike using smaller artificial baits. A favorite of mine in this situation would be a five inch pearl white Gulp jerk shad with a half ounce white jig head or even a smaller Yo-Zuri crystal minnow.
On our first day of fishing we walked down to the St. Lucie inlet to search for of our prey. The mile long walk from the beach access to the inlet jetty was loaded with bait. A mix of silver mullet, bunker and glass minnows were being ambushed by predator fish all along the shore line. I observed hammer heads, blacktips, jack crevalle, blue fish, mackerel, snook and most importantly for me, tarpon corralling bait in the trough just off the beach.
My early attempts at hooking the silver king while live lining mullet were thwarted by sharks constantly attacking my bait. With this in mind it was time to switch tactics and I started throwing some artificial baits. My father and I ended up landing some descent sized jack and snook, but the tarpon eluded us. As the sun went down it become difficult to spot fish from shore so we moved spots and headed towards the artificial light near the docks and bridges. The bait becomes attracted to the light after dark which consequently brings in the predatory fish like snook, redfish, jack and tarpon.
The game fish like to hide in the shadows and ambush bait in the lights. I find fishing jig style baits along the shadow line and bottom are the most productive in these situations.
Throughout the course of the week I noticed less mullet and more glass minnows off the beach which is disappointing as it makes the chances of hooking fish less probable as its difficult to catch the attention of a big fish. Again I start using small presentation baits to "match the hatch" with little success. I tossed every small minnow imitation bait that I had in my box with no interest from tarpon. I put in lots of time and effort for the next few days of my trip with no luck. I was discouraged but the memories of previous battles with the Silver King keep me focused and I keep casting.
Its the second to last day of my trip my father and I arrive at our spot and immediately started spotting bait getting crushed by tarpon. That morning I decided to throw a Yo-Zuri 3D crystal minnow and much to my relief, my first few casts resulted in some follows. While I chased the school south, I was able to make an opportune cast in front of a hundred pound class tarpon. As soon as the crystal minnow hit the water the tarpon inhaled the bait and I was on!!. Initally the Tarpon goes ballistic, its imperative to keep the rod tip low every time the fish becomes airborne, this ensures the line stays tight and makes it difficult for the fish to shake the hook. After 30 minutes of long runs and breathtaking acrobatics I safely landed the "silver king" in the surf for some pictures and a clean release.
Targeting tarpon from shore is a difficult but rewarding task, with hard work and perseverance you can land this incredible species for what can only be described as the light tackle fight of a lifetime. If you are an experienced angler looking for a challenge, I encourage you to take a trip to a region where these fish thrive. Be prepared for an extremely difficult but rewarding expedition.
Tight lines - Nick
]]>Even though the winds are turning colder and the leaves are falling doesn't mean you can't plan for next year. This is a great time of year to get big savings on new 2016 kayaks, 2015 boats still in stock or used boats from out summer rental fleet. We carry kayaks by Necky, Old Town and Ocean Kayak. It is a good time to pick up a boat for yourself or for a gift for someone special for the holidays. If this will be your first kayak there are a few things you may want to think about.
There are several considerations you may be faced with when you think about buying a kayak. Most likely, the first one you will encounter is that kayaks come in different categories:
An important thought to bear in mind, at this point, is that your decision regarding the type of kayak you buy should be based on what you want to do with the boat and not your experience level. Different types of boats are designed for different environments and uses; not particular ability levels. To help decide what might be right for you, ask yourself these important questions:
The answers to these questions will shed some light on the type of boat you should consider. Some things to remember as you think about these questions are:
Where am I going to use this kayak? Ponds Lakes and small rivers are very different from bays, harbors and the ocean as far as current and wind impact on paddling. You can take pretty much any boat into a pond or mid size lake and have a great time but you can not necessarily take a boat designed for a pond into water with more challenging elements and have a good time. The pond boat will not offer the safety and performance characteristics you will want in a more dynamic environment.
If you want to advance your skills for both enjoyment of the sport as well as more challenging water conditions, consider buying a boat your skills can grow into. Make sure the boat has the features you will need to practice and learn new skills.
The following information should help you get started identifying the type of boat that is right for you.
[caption id="attachment_1241" align="alignright" width="380"] The Necky Manitou Sport. A great recreational kayak.[/caption]Day Touring or Recreational Kayaks: These boats range between 13 and 15 feet in length and are a little skinnier, usually 24 to 26 inches in width. They are designed with characteristics to handle larger bodies of water such as the bays and harbors we have here on Cape Cod. They have safety features such as bulkheads and deck lines which allow them to be emptied of water and reentered more easily by the paddler in deep water. They are also narrower and longer which greatly enhances the tracking. The hull designs vary, buy generally provide good initial stability and acceptable to good secondary stability for rougher water. Secondary stability is what we rely on when the water gets choppy and the boat gets bounced around. In other words, it is not always sitting flat on its bottom! These boats typically come with an option for a rudder to assist the paddler in maintaining a course in wind or current.
[caption id="attachment_1242" align="alignright" width="545"] Necky Looksha 14' Touring Kayak[/caption]Ocean or Performance Touring Kayaks: Ocean going boats are typically 16 -18 feet long and very narrow, 19-23 inches in width. They are designed to handle ocean type conditions and surf. They typically have 2-3 bulkheads, lots of deck lines and upswept bows and sterns to slice through waves and chop. The hull designs are more aggressive which provides adequate to good initial stability, but lots of secondary stability- which is exactly what you want in rough water. The length of the boat helps maintain course and keeps the boat from broaching in following seas. Many also feature a skeg for directional stability rather than a rudder. With a touring boat, fit is also important as we control the boat with our lower body...so, proper, comfortable contact points are critical. To provide the proper fit, these boats are manufactured in a great variety of different sizes. For this reason, it is important to "try one on for size"- under the watchful eye of an experienced salesperson.
Hopefully, this information will start you thinking, but perhaps the best way to get a handle on this is to ask a lot of questions- both to friends that paddle and here at the store with our knowledgeable sales staff. We'd be glad to help you with the choice and explain the different boats in more detail. We will also demo any boat, weather permitting, that you may be thinking about buying so you can get a feel for it before you lay down any money.
The more information you can gather, the better. The paddling season will be back upon us before you know it and we here at the Goose would be happy to help you with this information gathering process. Stop by and see us.
]]>This last weekend, I started the process of preparing the gear for winter. It is really important to maintain and then store your gear correctly to ensure that it will be working how you want it in the spring.
Firstly, I took the Tiagra 50’s and Talica 20’s off the rods, I have kept the 80’s and 130’s going for the fall run which will be more of a bait bite, that said the Tuna spinning gear will accompany me on every Tuna trip till the end of the season. I then broke down all of the Bass gear and put the reels with the trolling gear and presented it Tom in the Rod and Reel room. Tom will clean and lube the reels, check the rollers and make sure the top shots are ready for next year.
The bass rods get a thorough wash with fresh water, a light oiling on the reel seats and are then are stored in the basement in old rod racks to ensure they are kept nice and straight. It is important to do this as leaning them against a wall for the winter might cause the rods to bow slightly.
[caption id="attachment_1224" align="alignleft" width="317"] Tuna bars on 12" pegs[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1225" align="alignright" width="253"] Stringers hanging on 2x4. The hooks are tucked behind cooler.[/caption]This year I created a new system to store the Tuna bars, I simply mounted an old piece of slat wall onto the garage wall (out of the sun) and then used some 12 inch pegs from the shop. All of the bars now hang nice and evenly. Its really easy to see which bars and line need attention and most importantly the squid shells will hold their form and do not get flattened. On the other side of the room I used a piece of 2x4 and screws to hang the stingers, they needed to be hung separately as the overall bar would be too long if not separated. I then stacked my cooler boxes in front of the stingers to keep the hooks themselves out of harms way.
[caption id="attachment_1226" align="alignleft" width="297"] The left overs.[/caption]Once I had hung all of the bars, I had a small pile of broken bars and messed up lines remaining, I then took them into the store for Danny to fix over the winter for me.
We offer a full repair and maintenance service at the store, if you would like us to provide the winter maintenance, storage and repair of any of your fishing equipment, please bring it along to the store for Tom, Mark and Danny to get things sorted.
Phil
]]>A good fisherman knows that in order to predict the future you must look at the past; they are always watching trends and trying to figure out patterns in order to catch more fish. The 2014 season East of Chatham and Stellwagen bank was one of the slowest tuna bites I have seen in my career; while the area south of Martha’s Vineyard / Nantucket had solid fishing well into August with lots of school bluefin, mahi, white marlin, and a few yellowfins. It was a tough season for the average recreational fisherman. But many seasons ago I was told by an “Old Salt” that a cold and snowy winter will bring a good tuna fishing season, so I was filled with anticipation following the brutal winter of 2014/2015. I was not disappointed: 2015 was a great year with good fishing for Bluefin to the East, North, the canyons and even south of the islands.
East of Chatham had a school Bluefin bite that was substantially better than the previous season. There was a steady pick of fish from July all the way through the Fall (I caught my last Chatham Bluefin November 10th!), from the BC buoy area1 and down to the Sword2. We had more mid-day, off slack bites than I we have had in any season that I can remember. The troll bite with splash bars stayed effective throughout the season, and if you put your time in and paid attention you were nearly guaranteed to catch a fish.
The Bank held fish all Summer, and the Golf Ball area in Truro was hot for August and September--both on the troll and live bait, with a fair amount of surface activity which made for good casting season. Mackerel were on the bank all year and there was a good mid-Summer school bite on the troll. I caught more fish up at the Golf Ball area this season than all of my other seasons combined. The best news was that there were a lot of giants around, both inshore and offshore. That bite turned on in June and stayed strong well into December, with the highest commercial Bluefin landings since 2002. This is proof that the Bluefin stocks are on the rise and the numbers are up. Goose Hummock owner Phil Howarth and Team Goose caught three giants on back to back trips off the SW corner using live Macks, with the first one coming on Thanksgiving Day and the last one on December 5th.
South of the Islands was on fire, with large numbers of school Bluefin in the 42 inch range everywhere from the Dump3 back towards Rhode Island starting in early June. We caught 28 bluefins in two days enroute to winning the Hyannis Tuna Fest Tournament for the second year in a row. That’s two solid days of fishing! We continued to have double digit days until the middle of July when the small bluefins took off. Small Mahi’s were on the fliers by the middle of the Summer, and there were days when the White Marlin were around the Dump and North of the Lanes4. The sharking was consistent, with a lot of pup Makos, Threshers, and the ever present Blue sharks.
The Offshore canyons were hot in July, with most of the fish holding more in the Eastern Canyons like Hydrographer and Oceanographer. Lots of Yellowfins and Mahis as well as White and Blue Marlin, Bigeyes, and Wahoo’s. Deep drop swordfishing both at night and daytime produced a lot of bites. We even managed to catch a Sailfish, which is extremely rare in the Northeast Canyons. I had White Marlin bites on every trip out to the edge this year, which is always exciting. The Canyon season was very strong and there were some huge days around some of the Offshore Buoys with big days of tuna bites in the double digits. As the season progressed the warm eddies were back to the West, and the Western Canyons had some great weeks. The water stayed warm well into the Fall and the fishing was still strong in late November in the Hudson.
Trends and Predictions
The first Bluefins will arrive in Chatham in early June as usual. You can always tell what will happen by the first full moon, if we see good numbers of fish in June than we will have another big year. I have watched this trend for years and June is the barometer for the Chatham season, and by July 1st we will know what the season will hold.
South of Martha’s Vineyard/Nantucket will have the school bluefins back again in big numbers by early June. The fish this year will likely be in the 48”-50” range, marking their third year returning, and likely their last. The area South of the Island tend not to hold the fish once they get over 50” or 4 years old, and so I hope to see a significant new class behind them in the 30” range.
The Canyons will see good numbers of fish if they get the warm core eddies and warm temperatures. You need to pay attention to what is happening off of the Jersey\NY coast to see the breaks curl up to our Canyons, this is where a good Surface Sea Temperature chart comes in handy. I used SST-Online (sstol.com) in 2015 was able to win two offshore tournaments, and place third in two more. It’s always about the temps and bait in the canyons.
Stellwagen is all about the bait. The Macks have been so thick for the past several seasons and they have been holding well into December. 2015 was the best Bluefin season in over six years for both small fish and giants. This trend should continue as long as the bait shows back up, though El Nino will be a bit of a wildcard.
Whatever happens there is only one constant: “You can’t catch ’em tied the dock!”. If you have the weather, go fishing. That is what I will be doing!
Tight lines and good luck,
Capt. Eric Stewart
1 The BC buoy area is a former shipping lane buoy due east of Chatham, MA.
2 “The Sword” is a nickname for The Regal Sword, a wreck located aprox. 27 mile SE of Monomoy.
3 “The Dump” refers to the old dumping grounds for New York City, located approximately 45 miles SW of Martha’s Vineyard.
4 “The Lanes” refers to the NY shipping lanes located south of Nantucket.
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