Hi Folks,June 1 is the opening of the 2014 bluefin tuna season. Anglers looking for a bit more excitement and challenge than the usual blues and striper fishing trips we offer will start their quests for this challenging fish at this time. The upgrades to the Marilyn S will be completed and she will be ready to carry your party to the teeming waters east of Chatham. Charter bookings have picked up considerably these last few weeks and those of you that have decided you are going to be trying for a bluefin this year, I would suggest you reserve your day on one of the very good but limited small tide days. Those days are listed in a previous fishing report. (scroll through)
Although fish bite at varying times every day, especially when there is bait in the area, the best periods seem to be first and last light, and at the times of slack water. Ten miles from land tide moves like a river in a north and south direction. It flows to the North as it comes in and flows to the South as it goes out. The period when it slows and reverses direction is what we call the “slack”. In selecting a day for a bluefin tuna trip, it is prudent to look for both a smaller than average tide and a slack water period in the morning, as well as a not very bright moon in the evenings, to have optimum conditions.
I expect this year to have a good amount of larger than normal bluefin in our area, based upon the sizes of the previous couple years of fish we had seen. Most of the 65-70” fish of the last two years should now be of commercially legal sizes of over 73”. These fish will surely challenge you as you safely do battle in the latest Braid harnesses and belts. I have also recently purchased another pair of the Shimano and Van Stall spinning combinations for trying to jig up one of these monsters when we can see them on the Furuno fish finder but they wont come up to bite the squid bars.
Check out the videos of some of our fishing outings at www.sportfishingcapecod.com/video/ or on Facebook. Keep your eyes peeled for a soon to be released new video, on how to make your own Chatham squid bars. If you have any questions or would like to reserve a date, please call 508 237-0399 or email me at bruce@sportfishingcapecod.com to discuss your options.
Thanks Very Much,
Capt. Bruce & Marilyn S