by Steve “Tuna” Tornovish
It’s around 7:00 am on Friday morning, July 26, and I’m ankle deep in the beautiful water of Nantucket’s south shore. I hear an unusual sound over my left shoulder. I turn and see an oddly familiar object coming towards me, low and slow over the beach. I recognize that it’s the 11 million dollar helicopter that Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus Moller uses to pop over here when he is forced to put on his oh so sorry face and address his victims—you know us: the people who live, work, visit, and cherish the island of Nantucket. It was as if Klaus (or Hans Gruber, as some of my buddies refer to him), was trying to figure out what those of us who love the Nantucket shoreline might be thinking of his problematic but highly profitable wind turbine scheme. Well, folks, don’t you worry, your buddy Stevie let Klaus know that he was still Number One in my book. Had I not been reeling in my lure, he would have got the message in stereo.
There were two reasons that had me out on the beach early that morning: First, as always, was to perhaps catch some fish. The second reason was to meet up with Nate Skerritt, one of my favorite Nantucket beach fishers, in his natural environment. One of the many things that I love about Nate is that he was as mad as I was that our shoreline had been so callously attacked by the so-called “green energy project.”
Nathan Skerritt is one of Nantucket’s best beach fishers. He’s also a category 5 fishing storm. Nate’s Instagram bio sums him up perfectly: “I am semi-controlled chaos. Sigmund Freud would have a field day with me. Fishing extremist.”
Yeah, Nathan, you had me at fishing extremist! I first became aware of this surfcasting maniac last year during the August Blues fishing tournament. A series of posts from some unknown madman with the Instagram handle “Strangeagent007” were constantly tagged on the August Blues page. I could see why. This mysterious Strange Agent was the epitome of the tournament’s spirit. His Instagram posts showed a fisher who has an absolute passion for getting on the beach and getting after those blues! The short videos that he posted were always entertaining, funny, and captivating. I immediately started following the Strangeagent007 and never looked back.
When I finally had the chance to meet up with Nate, I discovered that there’s so much more to this guy than the wild man who fishes like his hair is on fire. I learned that he’s a dedicated and hard-working manager who handles a ton of responsibilities for Nantucket Island Resorts. He’s a loving husband who married a Nantucket girl and fell in love with her island, too. He’s a poet of sorts who posts eloquently about the things he cherishes: fishing, his wife, the Nantucket beaches. And finally there’s a man who has received a second chance in life, someone who is now proudly ten years clean from a heroin habit. Nate Skerritt is a huge success story, plain and simple.
“Eric, my best friend back home who I’ve known since kindergarten – once I got clean, he basically forced me to start hanging out with him again. Once he realized how wild I had become in my ‘adulthood,’ he would just laugh and shake his head and say, “You are one strange agent, bud!”
Nate’s story is typical, as we say in the recovery community. Just as my story is. Our drugs of choice were different. Alcohol was my downfall and, by the grace of God, I have been sober for many years. Thus, I understand Nate on a somewhat different level. I know where he’s been and greatly respect where he is now.
Nathan grew up in Kingston, MA. He lived there until his father sat him down one day and told Nate that it was time for him to leave. “Some law enforcement guys told my dad that either I left town or I was going to end up in prison for ten years. So my dad sent me to live with my uncle in Arkansas.” Nate entered a rehabilitation facility. He lasted for about six days. Nate was travelling down a rough road. “I was out of control, running through the woods of Arkansas, shooting squirrels and living on squirrel gumbo.”
But things changed for Nathan. The program of Narcotics Anonymous helped him to develop a firm foundation upon which to build a new life. He stayed clear of trouble. And he met Jodi.
“I met my wife at Eastbay Grill in Plymouth, near my hometown. She flew me to Nantucket for our first date. We swam with the phosphorescence. It was a total set-up! Jodi knew that I would end up moving here immediately. She saved my life. Fishing made it a little easier on her—she can only take so much of my high octane.”
Nate instinctively knew that he needed something to occupy his free time. Fishing was a perfect fit for him.
“I got into surfcasting on my own. I was big into pond fishing as a kid. I would pester all the fishing charter guys on Straight Wharf for fishing tips. For some reason Bob DeCosta took me under his wing like I was a lost baby tuna. I kept pestering him…wouldn’t let him walk away! I think he smelled the helplessness on me.” Bobby DeCosta is a Nantucket native, and he grew up fishing off of the island beaches. Believe me when I tell you that if there was a Nantucket fishing university, Bobby would be a dean. I asked him about Nate in the early days.
“Nate is my favorite student ever. His attitude is so positive: he’s just so happy to be alive! Nate doesn’t care what kind of fish he’s catching, he just wants to catch them. I remember thinking, ‘hey, check out this guy with all the tattoos. But he was positive, and he wanted to learn so badly. I don’t think that Nate misses a single morning during fishing season. He goes out before work, and he loves every cast. It really helps him out with the stresses of his job.”
Nathan asked for one consideration when I spoke with him for this article. “Please dedicate it to my friend Ryan Benjamin Nicotri – July 24, 1985 to November 21, 2011. He would’ve been the best man at my wedding. And I would have been the godfather to his kids. But unfortunately he was chosen to be the angel on my right shoulder.” Wow. I hope that everyone reading this has a friend who loves you as much as Nate loves Ryan.
So what makes Nathan such a great fisher? First and foremost, he has that burning passion I see in the greatest fishers that I know. Tammy King, James Hatton, Denny Dias, Rafael Osona, Greg Chotkowski, Noah Karberg, Dan Holmes, just to name a few: they live to fish. That’s why they’re some of the best out there on the beach. Next is the energy level to keep fishing when others would just give up from exhaustion. Add in the ability to recognize what’s happening up and down the beach—the skill to see a subtle change in the conditions, the bait pattern, or any of the endless fishing variables. Nate reacts quickly to these clues, something that he does better than almost anyone. Nate is very dialed in.
Nate is very excited about the August Blues tournament. When he heard that the first prize for the biggest bluefish is an autographed New England Patriots jersey from the awesome Tedy Bruschi, Nate immediately posted, “I will fight tooth and nail for this! Tooth and nail!” And I don’t doubt it one bit.
Nate has some advice for anyone out there struggling: “A cliché, but don’t ever give up. It’s ok if you keep tripping and falling. Tie your bootstraps. Ice up. And give it another go.”
That’s pretty fantastic advice, folks. Follow Nate on Instagram and watch your days get brighter. Get out there and fish hard. And don’t ever give up.
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