by Steve “Tuna” Tornovish
Oh man, what was I thinking to book a 6 am fishing charter on a Saturday? Well, it had to be, as some medical appointments had shuffled my week pretty thoroughly. I somehow woke up a minute before my alarm went off. Now I’m not flexing here, but this ability is something of a superpower. I was fairly beat from bass fishing the night before. Maybe not my wisest decision to go but those stripers aren’t going to catch themselves, right?
I stumbled to the coffee maker, dumped in three scoops of whatever blend was in the blue coffee container, added some water and hit the magic button. My first task completed, I hopped online to see what kind of crazy was happening in the world. I read the news today – oh boy… As I lamented the affairs of the world, my coffee maker sounded different than normal. Well, as it turns out, that little plastic part on the top of the carafe, integral to its operation, had been left off. My coffee was not quite coffee. I now had very little time before I picked up my clients and nothing but some hot brownish water to get me moving. Not optimal.
Looking up, I noticed I was late. My clients were staying at the Chestnut House. I had to get moving. I quickly scrubbed my pearly whites, tossed a half dozen fishing rods in the truck and boogied on downtown. As I drove, I heard a Beatles song playing in my decaffeinated pea of a brain: “Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head…”
A Day in the Life—wow, what a cool song! Quirky, catchy, trippy, enigmatic – yeah, Lennon and McCartney really crushed it with that song. I’m not the world’s greatest Beatles fan but I had a pretty strong suspicion that John Lennon had written most of the song and then sat down with Sir Paul to see what he might add to it. According to Lennon in an interview he did with Playboy magazine’s David Sheff in 1980, Paul had written the elongated bridge portion and, most importantly, added the tagged phrase, “I love to turn you on.” This song was somewhat risqué for 1967, the year that the Beatles released “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” It was ultimately banned by certain radio stations for the suspicion that it contained drug references. As with most things banned, the general public couldn’t get enough of it. The album sold millions of copies and A Day in the Life became an iconic hit.
Sure, cool story, Mr. Tuna—now let’s get back to fishing, you say. And I say to you that A Day in the Life was a very important and influential song. Freddy Mercury doesn’t write Bohemian Rhapsody without it. And you might retort that Lennon and McCartney don’t write their masterpiece if Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys hadn’t put out the entire Pet Sounds album. And Paul’s band, Wings, doesn’t write Band on the Run, either! We can do this all day, kids…back to fishing it is.
My clients surprised me, literally. I was checking my emails when they suddenly appeared at the passenger door of my truck, making me jump. Folks, please meet the wonderful Dustin and Katie Foerster from Seguin, Texas. I just knew that these two were going to be a blast from my texts with Katie while setting up this trip. They were completely understanding when I had to humbly request changes to their vacation schedule due to unexpected changes in mine. No problem, said Katie. And yes, they wanted to fish early. And, most importantly, they thought that a stop at Wicked Island Bakery sounded like a great idea on the way out to the fishing grounds. Yeah, I like these guys already!
Dustin is a tall, athletic, and handsome cat. If he had told me that he had just left a career in major league baseball, I would have believed him. The beautiful Katie is an absolute dynamo. She reminds me of the women on a lot of the home renovation shows that my wife loves to watch: smart, determined, and not to be denied. They were fun right out of the gate.
My need for coffee was significant at this point. We rolled out to Wicked Island and made a sad discovery—they don’t open until 7:00 on the weekends. Ouch! Well, I had promised the Foerster crew breakfast but it was going to have to wait an hour. We trucked it on over to the south shore to see if maybe we could catch something early.
One of the absolute coolest things about being a fishing guide is getting to learn about the people that I meet and fish with. Katie and Dustin told me about their two children. Their son Nash is 7 and their daughter Charley is 6. Somehow we got talking about largemouth bass fishing. Dustin quickly pulled up a picture of little Nash holding a fantastic fish that he had recently caught on their home lake in Texas. Wow, what a clone of his dad! Nash and Charlie were hanging out with Katie’s parents while the couple snuck away to Nantucket for a quick vacation. I was grateful to get to be a part of their getaway.
We hit the south shore to see if by chance we could chase up a striped bass. Dustin and Katie showed me that they both knew how to cast well. That eased my caffeine-deprived mind. The water looked promising, but somehow the fish hadn’t gotten the memo. Bad news – no fish. Good news – it was now 7:00. We headed back to Wicked Island Bakery for coffee and goodies. As a bonus, my lovely niece Olivia was working, and I got to introduce her to my guests.
I learned that Katie and Dustin were fans of two of our more famous Nantucket residents – Elin Hilderbrand and Dave Portnoy. Katie loved discovering the locations that Hilderbrand described in her many books that starred our little ol’ island. Katie delighted in seeing the Chicken Box, evidently a key setting for many of Elin’s stories. And why wouldn’t it be? She just had to look, having read the book…
We headed to Great Point. As we rolled up the Polpis Road, I received a phone call from my friend Homer Ray. Homer and Matt Roberts had been fishing the Point hard and shared that bluefish were at the Point, feeding on squid. This was very welcome news to me. Bluefish had been scarce last season. I was hoping that this was an indication that this summer’s fishing would be much better.
It didn’t take long to find out. Dustin hooked up almost immediately. My line went tight as well, and I passed the rod to Katie. Soon we had two small bluefish on the beach. Dustin loved throwing the Island X Hellfire, a topwater lure, and watching the bluefish smash at it. He used it to great effect, catching a nice gator bluefish that I would estimate was 32 inches long. The fish had ripped drag off of his reel, but Dustin worked the fish masterfully to the beach past a half dozen seals that I was sure would have stolen his catch. The fishing mission was a success!
Our drive back to town required a quick viewing of Dave Portnoy’s mansion in Monomoy. El Pres was nowhere to be seen. Nor was Miss Peaches. We talked about Buc-ees, about the Savannah Bananas, about Ray Wylie Hubbard and the various challenges that life sends our way. I dropped my new friends back at their hotel. I drove home feeling that I am the most fortunate guy in the world to be able to do what I do. And, as Sir Paul would say: I love to turn you on…to Nantucket, and to beac h fishing. Katie and Dustin, please come back soon!
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
