The captain’s (b)log

The fluke season is open and the fluke are in! We fished yesterday throughout Vineyard Sound and found some really nice fluke in the 5 lb + range. However, as expected, with the increase in the size limit this year to 18.5″ there are many throw backs. Those who have fished for stripers with me this spring know of the battles we’ve had with all the sand sharkes; well, on the fluke grounds are some really huge skates! Although not the problem the sharks created the skates are a nusance.

We will be fishing the east running tide all week for the flatties – stay tuned.

OK, OK so I’m retired and haven’t written in a long time.
But, you know it is winter and cold and who is thinking about fishing anyway. Well, I guess you are so I have responded with an early email to my regulars for booking those prime dates.

For those who have written about the article in “On The Water”, yes that is Pro-Fishin-Sea on page 22. I guess you just never know who is watching. We were catching stripers on a beautiful late July day with a crew from New Jersey.

I have been fishing here for Sea Trout, Snook, and whatever bites the hook. One thing about Florida fishing is you just never know what you will catch – the variety is something else. On Sunday, I volunteer at Biscayne National Park. My job is to open the lighthouse on Boca Chita Key for visitors. The Lighthouse and grounds were developed as a playground by Honeywell in the mid-40’s. He hosted many black tie parties then. Last week when up in the 85 ft. lighthouse we saw a dolphin swimming around and around. Alll of a sudden, it went after its dinner, chasing a small foot long fish. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It took the dolphin about 3 minutes to catch the fish, all the time making hair pin turns and doing loops under water. What a show. After it caught the fish, the dolphin made what looked like victory laps around the light house showing all the visitors his catch. You just never know what you will see out here.
Take care, keep in touch
Capt. Paul

Well for all you die-hards, the season is over for Pro-Fishin’-Sea. We hauled the boat out on Friday and she will be all winterized, wrapped and readied for winter. After checking the final records 2008 goes in the books as a good season. The best fishing again proved to be the end of June into mid-July. Several fish tipped the scales in the low 40’s and high 30’s during this time. Given the high fuel costs and the resulting lower number of boats fishing there were probably lots of fish that survived the season. Who thought that fuel costs would be boon to species conservation.

So, thanks to all my crew who fished with me this summer. We had many exciting times and hopefully we can all “hook-up” again next year. Shortly, I will be heading to Florida to explore and fish the “skinny” waters of Biscayne Bay, the keys and the Everglades. I’ll try to put a couple of posts on the site so you can get a bit of a feel for my Florida waters and the fishing we have down there.

Again, thanks to all and have a great winter.

Paul

Well, its still all about the Bluefish! For those who enjoy fighting this ocean warrior, this is your time. The smaller 5-8 pound fish continue to hit small trolled or casted lures. Birds have been marking the schools where the fish are hitting small baitfish. Much bigger fish are caught deeper in the water column with pogies. Richard D. and his group had some real gorillas yesterday. The surprising catch was a nice batch of good sized sea bass. They don’t give the fight of the bluefish but are a fun to catch bottom fish and just wonderful cooked in butter in the fry pan!

The commercial striper season is finally ending. This is the latest closing in years and many say it points to a decline in the larger striper population. I’ve been told that most of the fish closing the MA market came from the Glouster area.

September 3 , 2008
MarineFisheries Advisory

COMMERCIAL STRIPED BASS FISHERY TO CLOSE
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

Landings permitted until midnight on Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Current landing and dealer reporting information indicates that the Commonwealth’s annual striped bass commercial quota (1,107,828 lbs) for 2008 will be reached by Tuesday, September 9.  Therefore, effective Wednesday, September 10, at 12:01AM, fishermen are prohibited from landing or possessing striped bass for commercial purposes, for the remainder of this year.

Dealers are reminded that it is unlawful to purchase striped bass from Massachusetts commercial fishermen when the fishery is closed.  Regulations can be viewed at the MarineFisheries web site: www.mass.gov/marinefisheries.

The later part of August has produced numbers of hungry bluefish all around the islands. Mid-sized fish (6-8 lbs) are thick in Quick’s Hole and are feeding on small baitfish. Trolling or casting bucktails will put all the fish you want in the boat. Al C. was out with his daughter and grandchildren and took blues trolling and bait fishing. The next day, fishing with Frank S. we caught well over 50 fish on a completely catch and release trip. Much larger, gorilla blues were caught using bait rather than jigs. If you enjoy bluefishing, now is the time!

The other side of the coin is that striper fishing has slowed down. Partly because the blues beat the bass to the bait but more so that there are just fewer stripers around. The best part of the tide for stripers is the fist 2 to 3 hours of the incoming tide. Some are saying already that this will not go down as a good year for stripers. One indication is that as of this writing, the MA commercial quota is only 47% filled. Typically, the season has reached its quota and is closed by mid-August. It’s possible that this year will not even fill the quota! It’s hard to tell if the fish are starting a decline or if there are just not as many people commercially fishing for them given the price of fuel. One guy told me that even with a price of $4.00 a pound, its not worth going out to Nomans for the fish. Who ever thought that the high price of fuel would contribute to the conservation of the fish. Given these reports, we should feel really great that our striper fishing has been so good.

So, the weather will soon turn cooler and we share see what September brings. Hope you can make it out this season.

It’s that time of year when the water warms and the fish bite slows down; unless of course if your a bluefish. Blues in the 5 – 8 pound category have been feeding on the surface early in the morning in Quick’s Hole just about every day. They have also been beating the stripers to the bait when we anchor up. I’m still waiting for the bass to come alive on the slow water at the second half of the tide but, until then we will continue to take our fish early.

Fluke fishing ends August 15th and the bite has gotten tired. Last attempt at the flatties found only a few keepers and lots of under sized fish. There is talk of increasing the quota or lowering the size limit for next year – stay tuned.

For those who like to take a few scup on the slack tide please note season closure below.

August 7, 2008

MarineFisheries Advisory

COMMERCIAL SCUP FISHERY TO CLOSE

The Division of Marine Fisheries (MarineFisheries) has projected that 100% of the Commonwealth’s scup quota for the summer/fall fishery will be taken by Thursday, August 14, 2008.  Consequently, fishermen are prohibited from landing or possessing scup for commercial purposes effective 0001 hours on Friday, August 15.  Note, federally permitted commercial fishermen have been prohibited from landing or possessing scup since NOAA Fisheries closed the summer period federal fishery on June 16, 2008.

The federally-managed Winter II period opens on November 1^st with a possession limit of  2,000-lbs. per trip as approved by NOAA Fisheries and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.  By November, the fishery is predominately in offshore (federal) waters when scup migrate to deeper waters in response to dropping temperatures inshore.

Recreational fishermen are reminded that the scup recreational fishery will be closed beginning  September 18 for anglers aboard for-hire vessels and beginning September 27 for anglers aboard private vessels or fishing from shore. Dealers are reminded that it is unlawful to purchase scup from Massachusetts commercial fishermen when the fishery is closed.