by Steve “Tuna” Tornovish
My wife and I were able to sneak away for a short trip to Florida last week and boy oh boy did we need it! Life can be a lot at times, and a vacation, even a short vacation, is really important to allow you to reset and get prepared for the next chapter. Yet even as we were lounging in the Sunshine State, I felt a lingering feeling that I was missing something important back on Nantucket. A quick perusal through Instagram and Facebook revealed that my premonition was correct. There was some big stuff going on in the world of Nantucket fishing and yes, indeed, I was missing out.
FOMO – the fear of missing out. It’s actually a diagnosed psychological disorder. Who knew? And man, did I ever have a bad case of it when I saw what was being posted. The Nantucket Anglers Club was hosting a Trout Fishing Derby at Maxcey’s Pond and Washing Pond, and I wasn’t there. So it turns out that my fears were completely rational. Hard to believe!
“Jeff (Allen) had invited us to Tammy King’s talk about saltwater fishing at the Anglers Club and my girls saw the flyer there. I took a picture of it. The original date had been rained out so they had rescheduled for May 4. And the girls had also heard about this at their Scout meetings. We had to go!” Julia Heise doesn’t have FOMO because she’s always on her game and, therefore, doesn’t miss out! Julia rounded up her daughters Abby (6-years-old) and Evelyn (8-yearsold) and her husband Jameson and headed to Maxcey’s Pond on that recent Sunday morning.
“We parked in the public lot and walked down to where everyone was. Matt Roberts was there, helping everyone. He got fishing rods for the kids. They had bait – nightcrawlers, meal worms, and live minnows. Matt showed us how to hook them.”
Ok, so there’s a lot to unpack here. First of all, where did the trout come from? The answer to that question led me to Joe Tormay. Joe is an amazing guy who always seems to be in the right place at the right time. Joe and Nick Whitbeck were searching for striped bass off of Monomoy Island last October when they came upon a man in his 70s clinging to the hull of his capsized boat. The man had been there for about an hour. Joe reverted to his U.S. Coast Guard training and they were able to rescue the man. Yeah, that’s just Joe doing Joe stuff.
So Joe, how did the trout end up on Nantucket? “It was during COVID in 2020, in early spring before the stripers show up. I thought that it would be really fun to catch trout here. They’re such predatory feeders – it would be nice to have a little different fishery! I grew up in Connecticut, and the ponds were always stocked with trout in the spring. I was talking with my buddy Mike (Thureson, another Connecticut transplant) and we got to thinking that there’s got to be a way to stock trout on Nantucket. Massachusetts does trout stocking all around the state but not here.”
Joe did some research. He learned that a crazy situation exists here on Nantucket. While we are a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the ponds were not given to Massachusetts when the island left the purview of New York many moons ago. The good news is that freshwater fishing licenses are not required here. The bad news? Yeah, no fish stocking by the Mass. Fish and Game department. “Seeing all the trout stockings got me thinking, hey, why can’t WE stock it? The ponds belong to the Nantucket people, right?”
Joe discovered that the Nantucket Anglers Club had stocked trout into Maxcey’s Pond and Washing Pond in the early 2000s. Jimmy Ellis had been one of the main players in those earlier efforts. Joe picked Jimmy’s brain and learned a lot about what worked and what had not. “Trout need good deep and clean water that stays colder. Washing Pond and Maxcey’s Pond worked. We raised donations from the public. Cam and Corey Gammill helped out a lot. We raised about $6,000 in no time. Jimmy also told us that rainbow and brown trout would do better than brook trout because they could stand a little warmer water temperatures.”
Joe was off and running. “I had to get in touch with the guy who issues the stocking permits for Mass. He was very helpful.” The Anglers Club crew had funding, they had the blessing of the regulating authorities and now they needed one final, critical element: Trout.
“This is our sixth year doing the stocking. We originally got trout from a guy who had a hatchery on the Cape, but a family of otters decimated his farm. He lost 5,000 trout in about two weeks! Now we work with Gilbert’s Trout Hatchery in Plymouth, MA. Great people. Arlene is the best!”
Joe shared pictures from the trout stocking events. Because the stocking truck couldn’t pull down to the island ponds, the Anglers Club members formed bucket brigades to dump approximately 800 rainbow and brown trout into the two ponds. Keith Mansfield has been involved with the stocking days, working with his son Owen, currently a Nantucket High School freshman. Keith told me, “It’s all about the kids. Joe has been such a big asset for them, and they all love and respect him with all outdoor activities. Owen really looks up to him.”
All of these efforts led to this wonderful and relatively warm event held on Sunday, May 4. A lot of work still remained to be done. That’s where guys like Homer Ray IV, Keith Mansfield, Matt Roberts, and others stepped up. “We try to hold the trout tournament in April, but it’s always subject to weather. We really got it done this year—such a great turnout. Got to get the next generation out there!” Homer Ray was excited. He fishes with his two sons every chance that he gets. “We’ve been working with the Scouts as well. Most of the kids who showed up were Scouts. Each level of Scouts have a merit badge related to fishing. This event is just a great way to introduce kids to the sport.”
“We had a nice picnic after the fishing was done at 11:00. The best numbers in years! A great turnout. Close to 25 kids fishing. Only two trout were caught, both by a kid from an off-island scout troop. He got a nice 18-inch rainbow, almost two pounds! He got one out of Washing Pond and one out of Maxcey’s. He’s a member of the Falmouth Scout Troop that was here for disc golf merit badge event. He was an avid fisherman, 12- or 13-years-old. He won a fishing rod! The second place winner received a tackle box loaded with gear, and the third place prize was a nice minnow trap and stuff. All in all, there were prizes for six kids who caught a fish. This is open for any kid on the island! Five different species of fish were caught.”
Yeah, I really missed out. Oh well, maybe next year! But the best news is that the boys and girls of Nantucket don’t have to miss out, thanks to great people like Joe, Homer, Matt, and Keith who generously give their time through great organizations like the scouting programs or the Nantucket Anglers Club.
To take some of the edge off of my FOMO, I ventured out to Maxcey’s Pond yesterday afternoon. I tossed a Red Devil spoon in the pouring rain and BOOM! Yes, folks, I reeled in a beautiful rainbow trout . And that’s how you cure FOMO!
Steve “Tuna” Tornovish is a Nantucket native who has spent his life fishing from the beaches of his beloved island. He loves to introduce clients to the joy of fishing with his Nantucket Island Fishing Adventures: stevetuna.com
