News and Events for Nantucket Island
Never look a gift horse in the mouth. A curious saying, right? Evidently it was semi-common back in once-upon-a-time land for one person to grace a friend or relative with a large, four-legged draft animal. The receiver of such a fine gift would be considered rude if they then examined the teeth of their newly acquired horse to determine the resale value of said beast. It’s good to have some context, right?
Hurricanes make for wonderful metaphors but lousy forecasts. Hurricane Erin came a’ creeping up the east coast and ruined a lot of late August plans. Number one on my list was the Derby Day fishing event, wisely cancelled out of an abundance of caution. High winds, rip currants, and huge ocean swells are not conducive to a great family beach day. On the bright side, some of the surfing pictures and videos that came from the southern shores of Nantucket are flatout amazing. The good with the bad, right?
The signs are everywhere. Shorter days, football teams getting ready, the August Blues fishing tournament in full swing—yup, this summer is slipping away like a Don Henley song. So when I found myself with an open afternoon last week I decided to get out to the beach and see if maybe I could actually participate in the tournament by catching a bluefish. Seems reasonable, right?
I’ve started my days this week fishing from a bridge in Salem, MA as cars and trucks cruised by me at 30 or so MPH, scaring me to death. Yeah, this was not first choice, but at least it allowed me to catch some fish and clear my head out a bit. Another thing that it did was to help me to better appreciate the beauty of Nantucket, particularly Great Point. I’ll be home soon enough and will have some sand between my toes shortly thereafter.
American society was simply not prepared for the impact of the movie Jaws when it arrived 50 years ago. Nope, never saw it coming. Producer Steven Spielberg caught lightning in a bottle and just like that Jaws became the highest grossing movie in history (until another Spielberg flick called “Star Wars” showed up in 1977).
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.
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!”
