Fishing Report - Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod
Capt. Rich Antonino
July 6, 2007
Stellwagen Bank - Saltwater Fishing Report
June 30th--Tuna fishing off of Chatham, MA.
Very, cool morning on the Black Rose! We left from Chatham for the first time and headed far offshore looking for the tuna that have been off of the cape lately. Within an hour of dropping lines, we had two nice fish completely on ice and packed in coolers (ok, we had to cut their tails off to fit them in the 150 QT coolers, but they fit!) The biggest was, according my customer, "heavier than my girlfriend!" and the second fit the 27-47 inch fish, coming in at 44". Such a cool morning and what friendly people out there. The whales were out there and the dolphins were everywhere in force. It was a great day. We released another 46" fish and had many short strikes. We can't wait to get out there again. What we learned today: My boat, running tuna charters as shared charters, is a great option for the customer who wants a custom trip. Sharing a trip with one more person--that's $400/person and you have the whole boat to yourself! It's great not having to "share" time waiting for "your turn". Seeing my customer so excited was a blast!! Tomorrow, I run a shark trip and it should be a blast. Fishing off the Vineyard, we should be in tune for some good action! I'll be curious to see how the tuna racks work as extra chum! One more thing, regarding the morning bite and tuna. If you are interested in joining a shared charter (or private charter) and leaving in the late afternoon to get there and fish all night, being there for the entire morning bite, then let me know. I think it'd be a blast. Capt.Rich Antonino Black Rose Fishing Charters
July 1--Shark fishing off of Marha's Vineyard
Whoa, what a day on the water! The news today was action and action for sharks. It was amazing. We headed out from Falmouth to do some shark fishing south of Martha's Vineyard. We found the water in the 64 degree range, with warmer water to the south of our drift. We ended up with 68 degree water. The action was non-stop all day, with 20 sharks hooked. Most of the sharks were in the 100-150 pound range, with a few in the 150-200 range, a few in the 200-300 range, and... With 5 minutes left before lines out, two rods went off at the same. Both fish were big and were going in different directions. Not knowing yet what we had, we fought them for 15-20 minutes, seeing that one was a 350+ pound blue shark. The other fish was coming to the surface, giving us hope that it was a mako. When it jumped, it removed all doubt. We horsed the blue shark to the boat and cut the leader, letting us fight the mako without distraction. After another 1/2 hour of complete chaos, we had the 7'2" mako tailroped and bled. It weighed in at 250# at the pier. What a great fish and amazing fight. So...wanna go shark fishing? Keep having fun out there. Photos to follow on my website. Video as well!
July 2---Tuna Fishing off of Plymouth, MA
Well, they're not always good days on the water. Today, we planned on going out for cod, but the NW winds that were cranking today changed our plans quite a bit. We just opted for a half-day of trolling for tuna off of Plymouth, where the fish were, but weren't biting. We marked fish all day and saw them on the surface in small schools, but it didn't work. It happens. We were safe and comfortable inshore, but the fishing didn't cooperate.
It was good seeing breaking fish within a couple of miles of the Gurnet. It's great when that happens. Nothing too big, but all fish looked 40-60 pounds. That's some great sushi!
July 6--Stellwagen Bank Tuna Fishing
Today, we tried to put a tuna on board as a special fish for a customer's 15-year old son, but it didn't happen. I've never heard less chatter on the radio on Stellwagen Bank. I think that tomorrow will be a different story, as the fish were there all morning, lighting up the 50' depths. In the afternoon, as we were heading in, we saw lots of scattered small schools breaking to the west of Wood End. Great weather today, after a shaky, rainy start and before a tumultous end (bad storm that we just missed).
Well, it does bode well for tomorrow. That's fishing. I'll be out there at 4:30 on Saturday and 5:00 on Sunday trying to pull some tuna up for dinner! We'll also be trying the NW corner of Stellwagen or perhaps the backside of Cape Cod by Peaked Hill Bar. We'll have to see.
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