News and Events for Nantucket Island
Heather Unruh has won a lot of awards over the years. Four Emmy awards for her journalism and the Clarion Award for women in communication. How about the Gracie Allen Award from the group American Women in Radio and Television? Yup, she won that as well. But which award is displayed prominently in the family room of her Nantucket home, you ask? Of course it’s her first place framed August Blues—Nantucket Champion print that she won last year.
Island people are meant to stay on islands. Them’s the rules. But every now and again, things happen and rules must be broken. This is the tale of a wayward island kid and his recent encounters in a slice of the real world.
Not to divulge big secrets, but when I’m not taking people out beach fishing, I spend some time working with my buddy Mike Ramos. Mike is a master plumber. He often needs a hand while turning on / closing down houses for the seasons. I have a blast working with Mike, playing the role of “plumber’s monkey.” And a real fine monkey I am, if I do say so myself!
“I don’t do a lot of beach fishing. I’m a boat fisherman. And I never fish at night. You guys do this all the time.” My brother Billy seemed a bit nervous as I drove him and Dale Gary to Pocomo Point to fish the incoming tide in mid-September of 2020. Night fishing does require a different skill set, no doubt. It’s important to fish by feel. Generally, the targeted species is striped bass, the most nocturnal of the fish hanging around Nantucket. And yes, Dale and I do fish a lot at night together. Quite a bit. Both of us could pretty much cast and retrieve while blindfolded.
Over decades, the word Nantucket has long been used in limericks because of its natural rhythm and inviting ease of rhyme. The first instance we found of Nantucket used in a limerick dates back to the 1800s. This famous series of limericks was discovered in a June 14, 1924 edition […]
It started with an email that I received on my fishing account last summer: “My son Matt and his family arrive (next week). They live in Louisville Kentucky where Matt is the bass fishing coach (varsity sport) at Saint Xavier High School. He has been fishing every chance he gets ever since he could stand up!”
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 recently received a phone call from Mark Bradley, one of my dearest college buddies. He was in Florida, enjoying the glorious sunshine, when he found himself trying to explain to his golfing friends about the importance of catching the first striped bass of the year on Nantucket. Needless to say, the subtle nuances of this event were lost on his fellow snowbirds. This led to Mark calling me to make sure that he had a working knowledge of this matter.
