June 18^th Fishing Report:

Last week we spoke about the need for this fishery to turn on and while it has yet to explode, it has taken major strides this week. The two major blows in the last seven days have brought a ton of baitfish into our waters and it has warmed our waters up. The two areas of particular note are the main harbor and Great Point. Both areas are now loaded with sand-eels, which is needed for the fish to come in.

To the above point, the most consistent bass fishing of the week continued to be Nantucket Harbor and Madaket Harbor. Most of these fish continue to be small but active. I recommend fishing the outflows of the various creeks around the harbors as the fish like the mixing of the waters. Outside the harbors, the best and most consistent fishing continues to be off of Sankaty. The negative here is that most of these fish are being caught with wire line. If you know what you are doing with this, than go for it, as it has been productive. Those fishing with spin and fly rods should focus on the rips, specifically the Eastern rips as they are about to explode. While I am still not seeing a lot of size, many are happy about this as we are seeing a lot of fish in the 24-27 inch range, which bodes well for the future. The few fish that I have caught East have had size, so I am optimistic that we will get our big fish in.

As for bluefish, we continue to see big fish on the South Side off of Surfside and in Old Man Shoal. There are also blues being caught amongst the Bass off of Sankaty. We have yet though, to see our major push of blues come in. With Bait now here, the blues are sure to be here quickly and will likely fill in great point and the chord shortly.

Those with an eye for the exotic, should think about making a run south of the island as there are large numbers of small Bluefin tuna north of the dump and in the claw. These fish are 30+ miles away and are being caught on both spreader bars and spinning rods. They are scattered amongst the whales and porpoises, so even if you are not fortunate enough to catch a fish, there are still attractions. Our own Bill Wittenberg landed one Bluefin on Tuesday and I know more members are planning on fishing on Sunday.