An Island Point of View

Nantucket surfcasting story
An Island Point of View, Nantucket Voices

“Bad Luck Billy”

“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.

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Matt Yarborough bass fishing Nantucket
An Island Point of View, Nantucket Essays

Fishing with the Coach

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!”

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Nantucket fishing charter story
An Island Point of View

A Day in the Tuna Life

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?

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Nantucket fishing tournament
An Island Point of View, Exploring Nantucket

Time to Catch a Striper

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.

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An Island Point of View, Nantucket Essays

The Ornaments

In winter, the island returns to Main Street. During the warmer months, we avoid Main Street: too much traffic, too much chaos, and too few reasons to be downtown. The Hub no longer saves the Sunday papers in their cubby holes, there’s no wing night at the long gone AC, and Hardy’s has disappeared and taken Bingo the parrot with it. Almost everything we could want, from glazed donuts to step ladders to Mom’s prescriptions could be found near empty parking places, away from the confusion, chaos, and cobblestones.

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