Dear Fishermen and Friends,


 
The Stripers are close by!!! There is an optimism in the air on island that is palatable. It could be the string of warm weather we have had, more people on island, the epic spring bite last year or that the vineyard just had its first fish a few days ago, but there is a fishing buzz on island right now for sure! While we often think that first fish will be caught around May 1st, the optimists in us always target a date around April 15th to start logging our hours. We do think with a nice stretch of weather after this blow, we will see fish caught in the next few days. Prove us right, please!

The early fish are usually caught on the west end of the island, either on the beach in front of hummock pond or in more recent years in Madaket Harbor, so if you are looking for a locale early, head west! as they say. As for typical early season gear, most people are fishing light 7 foot rods with smaller profile lures. Lots of people fish small plastics like albie snax or paddletails. Hogy's slowtail soft plastic will likely be a big hit this spring as it is designed for a slow retrieve which is what these fish are looking for with the still cold water.

The shop is open Saturdays-Mondays as we welcome inventory into the shop. We are 80% full with everything for the summer, but we have all the early season needs in the shop, so come on in.

While we always seem to focus our thoughts on ocean run fish, we can't forget about the ponds, which have been so much fun thus far this season. The anglers club had its pickerel tournament last Sunday and there was not a spot along Miacomet that was open. Long Pond and Hummock have been steady producers of perch, crappy and… landlocked stripers. In fact, I feel like everyone I talk to is catching a squaretail in the ponds this spring. They are around all winter, but like everything else as water temps warm and bait comes in, these fish stop resting and feed more and more. While stripers are on all of our minds, understandably! we can't ignore the reliable fun that the ponds produce.  Whether you need a reprieve from work or want to take your child for a memory, you won’t be disappointed. Come on in and see us, we have you covered and can show you right where to go..
 
Also, don’t forget about getting your gear ready for the season. If you have mono on your reel, you will want to replace the line for sure. We also highly recommend a once over on a your reel as well, and if you haven’t changed those treble hooks over, become one of the many that only fish with singles. Boy does it make life better when releasing fish and the fish say thank you every time!   

Lastly, but certainly not least, please sign up for the Striper Sea Run Opener. This is arguably the best tournament of the year. ALL proceeds go to charity and it is run by Raf Osana, who is a great Nantucket angler and who, as a person, is all about giving back. Here is the registration, and here is the website describing the tournament.
What is the current state of Striped Bass?

Quick Summary
Due to many changes in the Striped Bass Fishery including the benchmark survey in 2018, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Committee (ASMFC) is looking to make the first monumental change to how striped bass is managed in the last 20 years. As many of us will remember after the above mentioned study, Striped Bass were deemed "overfished" and "overfishing is occurring. In short: this forces the hand of the overseeing body to make major changes to how they are overseeing and regulating the fishery

In ASMFC words: 
The last time a new plan amendment to the Fisheries Management Plan (FMP) was adopted was in 2003 (Amendment 6). Since then, the status and understanding of the striped bass stock and fishery has changed considerably which raises concern that the current management program no longer reflects current fishery needs and priorities. The results of the 2018 Benchmark Stock Assessment in particular led the Board to discuss a number of significant issues facing striped bass management. Consequently, in August 2020, the Board passed the following motion:

“Move to initiate an Amendment to the Atlantic Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan focused on the following management topics: (1) fishery goals and objectives; (2) stock rebuilding/timeframe; (3) management triggers; (4) biological reference points; (5) regional management (recreational measures, coastal and producer areas, regional reference points); (6) recreational discard mortality; (7) conservation equivalency; (8) recreational accountability; and (9) coastal commercial quota allocation. 

To dig into the current state of the stock more, I HIGHLY suggest you go to this link to learn, but here are a few quick highlights.
  • Female SSB (spawning stock biomass) peaked in 2003 and has been declining since then; SSB has been below the sustainable threshold level since 2013.
  • Total Fishing mortality rate(F) in 2017 was estimated at 0.31, which is above the fishing mortality threshold of 0.24. Total fishing mortality has been at or above the threshold in 13 of the last 15 years of the assessment (2003-2017)  What this means is more fish are being removed from the fishery than are produced via natural reproduction
  • From 2004-2014, recreational harvest averaged 54.8 million pounds (4.6 million fish) annually. From 2015-2019, recreational harvest averaged 33.6 million pounds (2.8 million fish) due to declining biomass.
  • The assumed Release mortality rate is 9%, meaning 9% of all Striped Bass released are assumed to die because of hook placement, type of hook, handling of fish etc…***hence our stance against treble hooks
  • FROM 2015-2019 Release mortality accounted for between 40-49% of total harvest by number. 
Tides of Nantucket: An amazing short film from a few years back

This is an amazing video that we took 6 years ago now. It is amazing how just watching this still gets us revved up. We truly are the luckiest guys in the world.
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Book a Charter!

Many customers are getting trips on the books. June is starting to get pretty busy, if you know you are planning on being on island, be in touch!
Thanks, as always, for being so supportive of Bill Fisher Tackle. If there is anything we can help you with, please let us know!

Sincerely,

Capt. Corey Gammill: 203-962-8867
Capt. Cam Gammill: 508-332-9149
Capt Mike Ruby 508-221-7144
Capt. Nat Reeder