Hi Folks,Yes, it has been a while since my last reports. My charter phone stops ringing soon after the kids go back to school, except for a few random calls of folks looking to do a last minute half day bass charters or a tuna related call about the sales of giant tuna when on a charter. My last trip was October 16 and started out as a bass trip, got extended to a 8 hour tuna version, due to a shortage a bass around, and ended up with us catching only one bass and a few bluefish with light spinning gear at the end of the day ! (no tuna produced)
By mid October, the fish were about 25-30 miles away and the winds were just too high that day to make that run and at that compass heading away from Chatham. My customer said he would rather fish for the best we could do, than sit in the hotel room so we gave it our best shot. Folks that call for tuna fishing in October should be prepared to book the longer more expensive trip so we have the travel time to get you to where the fish are. The old saw, “you get what you pay for” rings true when booking fishing trips. With fuel at over $4 per gallon not many captains are going to run very far on a short trip because it cuts too deeply into the profit margin. I get many calls looking for the 8 hour tuna trips and during the summer months when the fish are closer we can effectively do that, but at this time of the year the 10 and 12 hour versions will produce more and better sized fish consistently.
Since the beginning of September we have been planning to fish for the larger giant tuna that migrate through our area at this time of the year. We have already made several successful trips to Georges Bank and the BB buoy areas and have landed eight giants to date. Hopefully, after this latest big wind storm goes by, we can get back out for another trip or two. The water temperatures seem warm and reports of lots of fish still in Canadian waters means there are many more fish to come through. Our largest this year has been 790 pounder, and we are hoping for a few more like that. It seems our affectionately named hurricane “Sandy” (why not Sandra?) will be with us for more than a few days with prolonged high winds and big seas, preventing us to get out for several days even after she has gone by.
Tuna fishing at the Regal Sword area has dropped off as well as at the Crushed Shells, just south and west of the wreck, as of Saturday noon time when we were there. On Friday one giant was taken 4 miles east of Chatham in the 900 pound range according to some reports. Perhaps I do not need to go so far next time ??? There are bluefish around the “C” buoy outside the Chatham Inlet and if one was to troll a wire line and jig head across the bottom I am sure that a few stripers could be caught as well. The fish finder did show lots of bait and fish stacked up there on Saturday afternoon. If you go make sure the seas across the Chatham bar have subsided enough before you try it ! Pictures and video of tuna landings and fish fighting can be seen of the Capeshores Charters Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/capeshores.charters
Good luck and good fishing.
Captain Bruce & Marilyn S
