On Friday of last week I had the pleasure of fishing with Kent, Frank and Gerald. The day began with a gusty north wind that went northeast and seas built to 3-5 feet, which made for interesting commuting from one area to the next. These guys handled the conditions like old salts! We spent most of the day anchored up fishing chunk herring and boated several nice sized stripers and a bluefish. I am looking forward to fishing with these “old salts” in the near future.
On Wednesday of last week, Captain Allan Smith and I fished together. We started out fishing flies for stripers and landed several including a nice 35” fish. After an hour or so we decided to head offshore in search of Tuna. We set course northwest from the Cape Ann buoy and found ourselves in the midst of some 12-15 Humpbacks! What a sight! As we looked to the north, we spotted a large number of what appeared to be Tuna busting on the surface. We raced to the location and found ourselves surrounded by a hundred or so Dolphins. Again, what a site! Later that afternoon we did see birds working over small groups of Tuna, but we had few quality shots at them and called it quits. It appears as though the huge balls of baitfish we have seen recently, may have been scattered about by the whales and Dolphins and this has probably scattered the tuna as well. The tuna fishing will no doubt return to the quality it was a few weeks ago.
Another good week! Last Sunday, despite heavy boat pressure and a slow start, we managed to hook three tuna and land two. We had many good shots, but the fish seemed a little more educated than the previous week. I didn't fish offshore much during the week, but did do a little scouting a couple of afternoons. I saw large numbers of whales, white sided dolphins, bait, and a few tuna. On Saturday, I fished with my father and my friend Chuck. It was tough conditions with a nasty chop, making sighting breaking fish very difficult. We got one shot with the spinning rod, and that was it. We decided to switch over to trolling mode, and managed to hook and land a double. My friend Bart who was also trolling in the area landed a tuna, and had a second fish up, but the fish missed the hook. That day we kept a tuna, and much to my surprise found his stomach full of shrimp, and a few butterfish. With all the bait we marked, and all the whales in the area, I believe there should still be plenty of tuna around for some time. They may be feeding deep on shrimp, and are not as apparent as when they where on the surface feeding on mackerel or peanutbunker, but they are there.
As for the inshore action, it was a little spotty early in the week. Monday we found a good feed in by Salt Island and Good Harbor beach. However, Tuesday things were pretty slow. Then on Wednesday, it was on again. This time of year you just never know. If you don't see fish where they were yesterday, keep moving. You can bet they are going off somewhere, and it might be just around the corner.
As we said last week, now is the time to get out there with us. The Cape Ann Grand Slam of stripers, blues and bluefin are waiting