by Steve “Tuna” Tornovish
Sing it with me, my fellow fishing types: “It’s the most miserable time of the year…” We Nantucket fishers have been watching for weeks as the striped bass migration moves slowly north from the Chesapeake Bay. Then into the Connecticut River. Throughout the Rhode Island costal zones of Narragansett Bay. Then into Buzzard’s Bay. We constantly scanned the Larry’s Tackle website on Martha’s Vineyard, waiting for someone on that other island to catch their first sea-run striper of 2026. And we waited. And waited. And, well, you get it—we’re still waiting. But it’s getting closer!
It is getting closer, isn’t it? Larry’s Tackle reported that their first beach fishing striped bass was landed on April 20. That’s almost three weeks ago from the time of this writing. C’mon, fish, let’s get a move on!
Perhaps we fishing folk should put it in gear as well. Taking my own advice, I hit the south shore a couple of days ago. The water looked great. I was tossing a homemade bucktail jig with a red fish strip attached, a lure that’s put a lot of fish on the beach for me in the past. Nothing. Not a bite. No baitfish were seen in the waves. No birds were diving offshore. The only good news was that the day was somewhat foggy so those godawful windmills were hidden from view.
Desperate times called for desperate measures. It was time to get very scientific in my quest to catch a 2026 striped bass from the Nantucket beaches. Thus, I put on a white lab coat and consulted two authoritative resources to help me know when to head back to the beaches and start casting.
The first resource was AI. I asked the great computer oracle the following question: “When will the first sea run striped bass be caught on Nantucket in 2026?” Oz, the great and terrible (actually Grok) replied as follows: “Likely midto- late April through mid-May (most commonly early May), but as of early May 2026, it hasn’t been publicly reported yet or is imminent.”
Cool fact: I looked at the sources for this reply, and Grok had links to Bill Fisher Tackle, Nantucket Tackle, the Spring Sea Run Opener Instagram account and, of course, Yesterday’s Island!
Ok, so that’s one authoritative resource. I needed further verification. It was time to turn to that bastion of truth, the master of the unknown, the provider of answers for kids everywhere since 1949: the Magic 8 Ball.
Oh, Magic 8 Ball, is it time for me to get out there to fish for the first striped bass? A good shake, a turn to see the viewing window, and voila! The answer was clear: “You may rely on it.”
Hmmmm… A little fuzzy, but that seemed to be a positive response. Let’s pose a follow-up question: “Magic 8 Ball, should I round up my fishing teammates and head out now?”
“Definitely.”
Ok, that’s conclusive. Science has clearly indicated that it’s time for me to get out fishing with Team Irredeemable Irrelevants. Our little trio has fished the team portion of the Spring Sea Run Opener tournament together for eight consecutive years. Our best finish was a third place, I believe. Hey, we live up to our team name, right?
I texted Dave Bold and Dave Small. Mr. Bold was ready, as he always is. To our surprise, Dave Small was already out on the beach, checking the south shore to see if maybe, just maybe, he could get us on the leader board first. We agreed to meet up to fish the harbor.
But first, a quick perusal of Instagram to see if there was any fishing news to be gleaned. And there certainly seemed to be. Nathan Skerritt, a fantastic local beach fisher (and maybe the best account to follow on Instagram @Strangeagent007), was in the bow of a small aluminum boat holding a monster striper!
My teammates and I analyzed Nathan’s picture like it was the Zapruder film. Is that Nantucket harbor? We concluded that we really couldn’t tell. So I hit Nathan up to get the straight shot. He told me the following:
“Nah, I’m over in Buzzard’s Bay with my wife. We’re visiting friends. My buddy took me out and put me on fish. It was absolute insanity today. All the fish we caught were 40 plus inchers. The water was boiling with feeding monsters. They were feasting on menhaden. It was wild!”
Nate may not have realized that he had built us up just to let us down. But that’s ok. Nathan was simply stoking the fire that we needed to get together and fish.
Our team planned to fish the outgoing tide on the harbor channel. We met up near the west jetty, put on our waders and hiked out into the extremely shallow water. A full moon tide had drained the area significantly.
The three of us spread out and fished hard for about an hour, to no avail. Enough was enough. We were all cold and hungry. Lunch seemed to be a great plan. We headed to the Surfside Taco Stand for a great meal and a much needed catch-up. I love being with the two Daves. Fishing is simply a conduit. And it worked again today.
Magic 8 Ball, is fishing only about fishing? The reply was, “No, definitely not.”
Magic 8 Ball, will someone eventually catch the first striped bass of 2026? “It is certain.”
And there you have it. Get out there, folks! You can’t catch them from the couch. Soon the fish will fill the shores ,and it will be (sing it with me) “…the most wonderful time of the year…”
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
