Tag: Nantucket fishing

An Island Point of View, Insider Tips, Nantucket Voices

Fishing After the Storm

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?

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An Island Point of View

Note to the Blues: the Derby Is August 23

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?

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An Island Point of View, Nantucket History & People

A Dedicated Ranger Making Our Isle Better

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.

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An Island Point of View

Jaws 50 Years Later

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).

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Nantucket tautog fishing 2025
An Island Point of View, Nantucket Essays

Going Out after Togs

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!

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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 legacy
Nantucket Essays, Nantucket History & People

It’s a Family Tradition

“It’s in his blood.”

“He comes by it naturally.”

How many times do we hear someone say things like this? I’m guessing that these are common refrains if you’re hanging out around the University of Texas football field, watching young Arch Manning warming up. Arch, projected to be one of college football’s better quarterbacks this season, is the son of Cooper Manning. Cooper was a football player at one time as well, destined to play for Ole Miss, but a diagnosis of spinal stenosis caused Cooper to leave the game. Cooper went on to have a successful career as an entrepreneur, a slight variation of the quarterback business.

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Nantucket Events

Looking Back to the Past & into the Future

Egan Maritime Institute invites the public to attend the season’s first Foghorn Speaker Series event, Fishing for Food and Money, this Wednesday, June 25 from 5:30 to 7 pm in the Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum. The evening will feature a panel discussion that expands on the themes explored in […]

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