Fishing Report: Bluefin Tuna Abundance!

Hi Folks,

First let me correct the last report. The buyer of the supposedly 74" bluefin last week never bought the fish because it was too small according to Will Case of Nauset Marine East. I saw the fish and knew it was close, but with the fish bent into a curve like that, it may have been measured wrong. At any rate it was a "no sale" - too short !

There are lots of fish being caught east of Chatham and up on Stellwagon though. These fish are on either side of 68 " with lots of 71" fish in the mix. These will fool you into thinking you have a legal fish, but once on deck you have nothing more than a huge amount of shashimi for all of your sushi loving friends. The Green Harbor boats are using live pogies when they can get them for an instant bite. A real big menhaden splashing around on the surface really gets the tuna fired up !!!

Fran, from the Goose Hummock told me there were huge schools of bait fish 3 miles off the beach north of Coast Guard beach. Bass and tuna were feeding on these bait balls and he reported fish were puking up butterfish. Ben a lobsterman friend in Chatham told me today he saw a mile wide school of smaller ( 3 footers) tuna breaking water on Saturday. Today he saw only the big ones again. ONLY ?????? The small ones are good to see, as that is another younger years class of fish and multiple year classes is an indication of a healthier resource of bluefin tuna. Lets hope they continue to show up.

The Marilyn S went into the water today and we are now booking charters for bass and tuna. We got the bait, water temperature and the fish. I hope top see you.

Good Fishing,

Bruce & Marilyn S