Hi Folks !I painted the bottom of the Marilyn S a few days ago. She will go in the water next week. The Governor of Massachusetts now says we can start taking charters on the 25th of May, as long as we adhere to the guidelines recommended.
The guidelines are as follows: 1. all must have masks, (unless unable due to a medical reason) 2. required social distancing (not required if from same household) 3. hand washing stations or sanitizer 4. I must post signage saying the above is required, in addition to a Covid-19 Mitigation Plan. 5. login customers to enable contact tracing
A link to the guidelines :…https://www.mass.gov/doc/for-hire-and-charter-fishing-application-of-guidelines-5-18-20/download
That is the legal stuff. The next hurdle to cross is for the State to open lodging rentals to vacationers. Folks need to be able to ensure they have a place to stay and they need to reserve in advance to plan their vacations. Only then will the phone start to ring with charter fishing requests and reservations. Phases 3 and 4 will fully open the rest of the businesses on the Cape soon, and we will be in full operation and making up for lost time by early to mid July, I would think. Covid-19 cases and transmission are declining steadily. September may be our busiest month on record.
As for the fishing, the fish will be here. Striper schoolies are being caught everywhere already. The bigger stripers will migrate right behind as the waters warm. Giant tuna are being caught early already to the south of us. I suspect with the lack of fishing effort due to Covid-19 in the last few months will allow more fish to migrate northward into our waters. The sea bass and porgy biomass has been untouched so far and should be wide open. Since we succeeded in pushing the mid water herring boats offshore, I am expecting a big push of bluefin tuna inshore and close to Chatham this year. The fish will surely be here, if you can secure some lodging, make sure to give me a call and set aside a day for your gang to go fishing.
Thank you,
Bruce & Marilyn S
