The best analogy we can come up with is that it feels like Christmas Eve. For the last month we have told you that our fishery is getting better and better and it has. For the last month we have seen more bait and more fish enter Nantucket’s waters, however, the negative over the last month is just when it looks like it is ready to go off, we get a wind that scatters the bait around Nantucket.

Well, we finally have a few days of stable weather and the bait is here and it is thickening up quickly. We are truly on the brink of the best Striper fishing of the year and that is why we say its Christmas Eve. At Bill Fisher Outfitters, we’ve always preached that if you find the bait, you find the fish.

This past week a pile of bait has moved in around Great Point as well as on the South East Corner of the island. Fishing from a boat you are likely to see striped bass and bluefish rolling on the surface north of Great Point Rip as well as south of Sankaty Light House.

This bait is affecting the beach fishing in a positive way as well. Fishermen from the South Shore beach are noticing more and more bait pushing up on the shoreline and the catch rates of Striped Bass are steadily increasing. The best reports around Nantucket have been from Madequecham east to Sconset, with some guys pulling fish in as far west as Madaket. Our fish are not that large yet, but the vineyard reports are strong and we are confident that the 20-30 lb fish we hear being caught over there will meander to our waters in the next week as they find our bait.

As for the past week, the trend is that Nantucket harbor is slowing down, while Madaket harbor is picking up. So those with fly-Rods and small inshore rods should fish Madaket Harbor with soft plastics. Typically the fish migrate from Madaket to Nantucket Town, so expect Nantucket Harbor to pop again after the little lull that it is in. The reports of fish that were in town for the last few weeks were small fish, and those fish have moved on, so Nantucekt harbor proper is likely to get another push of the bigger fish now in our waters.

We have also seen more Striped Bass Fish in the Madaket/Tuckernuck/Nantucket water system, which is also a positive, as the fish tend to enter our fishery from the South/West. These fish have been up on the flats as well as in the edges.

Over the next week we encourage fishermen from the beach to put time into Madaket harbor, The North Shore and those who want a shot at a bigger fish should fish the South Shore.

Most of the fish being caught are a bit bigger than two weeks ago and are in the 26”-32″ range.  The rips are predominately holding squid, so use big soft bait (got Stryper) or a slow moving swimming plug that pushes a lot of water.  The harbors are still 90% plastics and on the south shore, guys are using anything that pushed a lot of water, think danny boys or big darters…

Bluefish are coming in big numbers by the day.  Early in the week, we saw acres of blues rolling on the surface at Great Point.  These fish have also filled in the rips and are competing with bass for the bait. If you are on the east side of the Island, look for big pods of birds and there a big schools of blues under them. From the beach, the north shore continues to be the best spot to focus on these fish.

Bottom fishing is really good… Black sea bass have been swimming in the rips and sitting on any structure. We’ve heard of fish up to 5 lbs.  Do not overlook this fishery- it’s awesome!!!

We are looking forward to this coming week, because it’s about to be really, really good.