Hi Folks !It is supposed to be Indian Summer here on the Cape, with balmy days, bright sunshine and cooler mosquito free evenings. But the winds from the northeast or southeast have been persistent. With the new boat I have been able to fish some of this "snotty" weather, but it has been hard to find the school tuna with not much of a fleet working on them.
The last several trips I have taken my customers to the Regal Sword area. It has not been real good for me in the last week, as it is strictly a morning (and I assume an evening) bite with only a few fish being caught during the mid day slack water periods. I have managed to pick a few fish out of the slow periods though, so I guess the boat and rigs are fishing properly. Last Thursday it blew 20 kts from the north and we fished to the north and east of the harbor, about 10 miles outside of Orleans, and caught a couple 45 inch fish weighing 45 pounds or so, before we had to come in. There was lots of bait marking on the color sounder and a couple of midwater herring boats working the area, but it was too rough to stay on the fish and troll properly. Friday I was supposed to leave at 4:30 to head to the Sword, but the breaking swells on the harbor entrance bar kept us in till daylight and so by the time we got to the area the morning bite was over. Saturday I had 2 bass charters. The first one was just OK with mostly blues with a couple of decent bass. The afternoon trip had increasing winds and I told the guys it was going to be rough and they were game to try so we went back out. The stripers bit like wild dogs, with hardly any blues at all. We caught bass on every drift. It is amazing what a difference in tide and conditions can do to the bite. I had a couple more bass trips on Tuesday with small fish and one nice 40 inch bass in the morning, and then it shut off and we only caught blues in the afternoon.
The last three days have been school tuna trips, and it has been a morning bite on every day. Friday the winds were about 12-15 kts and although the forecast was worse than it was, as usual, we did manage to get the day in and catch a few nice tuna. One was caught on a spinning rod with a green RonZ lure, by casting ahead of the boat and dropping the bait down under the boat as we trolled ahead. That made for an interesting 1/2 hour battle for my customer, who said that fish alone made the trip worthwhile.
I have 3 more school tuna trips scheduled and then I will focus on the giants that will be moving into the area. I have the herring bait net hauler and the tuna tubes (for live bluefish) mounted on the boat and am now ready to have a decent bait supply. All I need now is some decent weather to put in a couple of good days of effort. I have seen a couple giants jump clear of the water and I marked a group of four fish at the Sword on Friday, so it will soon happen I am confident.
Care to try your luck, karma and skill on a giant bluefin tuna ? Are you capable ? Call or email me.
Good Fishing to you,
Bruce and "Marilyn S"
