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bluefish

    THE SCUTTLEBUTT

    Flounder and Mackerel Are Here, but Haddock Are Not

    We’ll be getting the blues early this year

    By

    The water temperatures off Cape Cod are only sluggishly increasing this spring, reaching the upper 40s and in some spots the low 50s last week. If all you’re thinking about is where the striped bass are, it certainly feels like we are in a holding pattern. But there are more fish in the sea.

    Reports of large schools of mackerel are beginning to come in from across Cape Cod Bay. And the flounder fishing down by Sesuit Harbor has been steadily improving, according to word I am getting from the charter fishing boats out that way. Things are beginning to get going.

    That said, one big disappointment this year has been the absence of a spring run of haddock up on Stellwagen Bank. These very tasty deep-water bottom-dwelling fish usually come into shallower water in the spring, giving sport fishermen a chance to catch them close to home. But they were pretty much no shows this spring. For a time, there were reports of a good haddock bite up on Jeffries Ledge, which is farther offshore to the northeast of Stellwagen, but even that has fizzled out somewhat.

    So, what about the highly migratory striped bass and bluefish? Well, it’s good news, bad news south of us so far. I’ll start with the bad news: they didn’t have a great spring for striped bass down in New York and New Jersey. Whether that’s because most of the fish migrated farther offshore than the three-mile limit for charter boats or because the stock numbers are low remains to be seen. The good news, however, is that the bluefish are early in big numbers and are larger fish so far. I am already hearing of bluefish catches around Block Island Sound, and it’s still very early for that.

    Where I can’t tell good news from bad is the fact that the fisheries are part of an executive order signed by the current president on April 17 having to do with “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” In theory, this is trying to promote a more productive harvest of our seafood resources by easing the headwinds for commercial fishermen from federal regulations and from uneven trading policies with foreign nations.

    A Kemp’s ridley sea turtle swims off Tortola with a remora hitching a ride on its back. (Photo by Tammy Rabbett)

    In the opinion of many commercial fishermen, myself included, overregulation is a chronic problem. While the intent of federal regulations is to promote sustainable fishing and protect marine ecosystems, some of the rules are poorly crafted and make the costs to fishermen too high. This could be a step in the right direction. But as the saying goes, the devil is in the details, and those, so far, are few.

    Just as we’ll have to wait and see what kind of striper season we get, we’ll also now have to wait and see whether all this flowery speech and strongly worded text translates into actual plans that get implemented in a timely manner and are truly effective.

    Here’s something that makes every sort of waiting easier to do: First Mate Tammy Rabbett and I are on our annual trip to the Caribbean, navigating and diving in the warm waters of Tortola. We’re set to beat the striped bass back to Provincetown.

    THE SCUTTLEBUTT

    Summer Weather Brings On the Blues

    Pacific tuna are rebounding; here’s hoping that’s true in the Atlantic, too

    By

    Fishing around the Outer Cape is heating up with this summer weather, which has been ideal; we are getting a fraction of the heat they’ve been feeling on the mainland.

    Striped bass fishing has improved dramatically, with the bulk of catches still between Race Point and Peaked Hill Bar. Trolling umbrella rigs and Jig-n-Eels remain the clear favorites, catching the most fish. But the bass have finally begun to chase and bite swimming plugs and poppers, too.

    About 30 percent of the fish we’ve been catching have been in the tight slot size for keepers. That number has finally crept up this week, and we’re seeing more slot-sized fish coming in than we have at any other time this season.

    This week we saw something that I don’t recall ever seeing before. We have had a fairly good-sized pod of humpback whales very near where we’ve been fishing for striped bass lately, though out a little farther into deeper water. These humpbacks are feeding on an enormous number of sand eels and herring, but we are also catching striped bass under the whales — and under the bait they are eating.

    Levi Joseph Pullman, 4, of Buckeye, Ariz. was determined to catch his first big fish, and he did, landing this jumbo bluefish with a little help from CeeJay mate Tammy Rabbett. (Photo by Mike Rathgeber)

    It’s pretty common to see bluefin tuna mixed in with feeding whales, and we’ll even see bluefish mingling with them, too. But with the striped bass, it’s always been a different story. But there they were out in the deep water, feeding with the whales. There are also quite a few bluefin tuna mixed in, and some are being caught there and around the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank.

    Bluefish made an appearance in the bay last week. It was quite a charge of fish from Wood End to Race Point until we got a wind shift from the southwest to the north, which brought in much colder water. Suddenly, the bluefish departed to parts unknown.

    I recorded a surface water temperature of 47° F one morning on the way out at Herring Cove. I’ll bet those beachgoers were surprised when they dipped their toes into the water that morning. It recovered slowly to the low 60s the next day, which still isn’t the optimal swimming temperature, though it’s way better than 47.

    NOAA reports that the Pacific bluefin tuna population is making a remarkable comeback. It looks like their endeavors, involving cooperative international action to end overfishing of Pacific bluefin, have resulted in new stock assessments that show that the species is increasing and that there are a good number of juvenile fish that should help accelerate the rebound. The new assessment was presented at a recent convention of the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-Like Species in the North Pacific Ocean.

    The assessments confirmed that the current stock exceeded the goals of the first rebuilding target set in 2019. By later this year the population is projected to increase beyond the second rebuilding target established by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.

    Pacific tuna are not interconnected to Atlantic tuna, but NOAA is managing both species, so it stands to reason we should experience some success, too. Meanwhile many fishermen here — and I’m among them — question whether our East Coast numbers are all that low.

    THE SCUTTLEBUTT

    The Thrill of That First Keeper

    Bluefish are on-again off-again, and big tuna are still elusive, too

    By

    The way some people see it, we are hitting the summer doldrums fishing-wise. And it’s true, bluefish have been camping back by Head of the Meadow and show no signs of coming around the corner at the Race and entering the bay. There is another body of bluefish down by the north end of Billingsgate shoals. Patience is necessary: they are there one day and gone the next.

    Striped bass have been somewhat consistent in the Race and also in the very deep water off the Mission Bell, but a lot of shorts are being reported in the catches. Small tuna are also in and out around Peaked Hill. The giants still haven’t hit their stride yet.

    We’re still seeing charter fishing boats from the west side of the bay in our waters right now, which clearly says fishing in the bay is slow. We’ve got baitfish virtually everywhere in our area. What surprises me is that we don’t have bigger fish chasing them.

    Cee-Jay mate Tammy Rabbett with Keegan DiRosario of Cumberland, R.I. and his first fish, a keeper bass. (Photo by Mike Rathgeber)

    Whale watching is outstanding at the moment, with a lot of humpback whales up in Stellwagen Bank exhibiting feeding behaviors. The fin whales have been noticeably absent from the Race, though. There is a pair of smaller minke whales in the Race, however, that we’ve been seeing every day. They are hard to spot from the beach as they do not have prominent spouts.

    Fishing has always provided thrills and lasting memories for children, even when it’s slow. In fact, when things slow down it gives us a chance to really notice their experiences more than at busy times on our charter and party boats.

    Two heartwarming fishing stories unfolded on the Cee-Jay this past week. A boy named Luca had anxiously awaited the day he would go out to catch his first fish ever. You could see the excitement in his eyes as he boarded the boat. Wouldn’t you know, we had a tough day with a lot of wind. The fishing conditions were not favorable, and although he stuck with it, Luca never caught a fish. Again, the look on his face got us right where it counts.

    Our mate, Tammy, felt really bad for him, and she sat down next to him to console him on the ride in. Would he like to come out tomorrow as her guest, she asked. I don’t know where she found the nerve to do it, but she promised him he would catch a fish. Sure enough, Luca came back the next morning. Tammy got busy making sure all the little details were perfect, hoping to give him the best chance possible. Luca crushed it that day, catching a keeper striped bass, a short striper, and a sand shark. Now the look on his face was priceless: pure joy.

    A few days later, Tammy spotted a young fisherman on board who was sitting quietly while everyone else was fishing. His name was Keegan, he said, and Tammy asked him why he wasn’t fishing. He told her he was too nervous to try. Tammy took him under her wing and helped him to the rail. Lo and behold: Keegan caught a keeper bass.

    These are the reasons we love taking families out fishing. With all that’s wrong in the world, and all that’s tough about fishing these days, these moments are what’s right and will always be right.

    THE SCUTTLEBUTT

    Tuna Chase Bluefish While the Bass Nap

    Warmer water slows bass fishing, but the blues have arrived

    By

    What an exciting week this has been, though things were deceptively slow at the start. Fishing was pretty good for striped bass even though water temperatures have been skyrocketing lately. In the harbor, temperatures have been hovering around 72 to 74 degrees. In the bay, it’s up to 68 to 71 degrees, which makes beachgoers very happy. But striped bass get rather lethargic when it gets that warm.

    We found some cooler water — about 65 degrees — down the back side by the ranger station. The bass bite was far better there than in the bay, though a lot of slot-size fish were taken. Trollers had a good week, as they were able to catch fish when the currents were weak and bait fishing got bad.

    Let’s not forget, however, that there are other fish in the sea. We had a major bluefish blitz this week. They seem to be everywhere. Great catches have been reported from Billingsgate Shoals all the way up to the Pamet. A lot of fish showed up along the outer beaches as well, from Long Point to Wood End, and they were solid from the Bathhouse to the Race.

    A bluefish flies out of the water with a tuna close behind. (Photo by Tammy Rabbett)

    But what made for the real excitement was still to come. We were fishing for and catching bluefish a little past Long Point when a few seals showed up. They were hungry. They started grabbing bluefish that were hooked and being reeled in, so I decided to leave the area to find fish elsewhere — a spot with no seals nearby, I hoped.

    Suddenly, a massive explosion erupted on the surface as a school of medium-size bluefin tuna appeared, pursuing the bluefish. We all sat and watched the show, and my mate, Tammy Rabbett, began taking video of the scene. It included 100-pound tuna jumping clear out of the water, and bluefish jumping, too, both of them flying a good five feet above the surface, the blues trying to get away, the tuna trying to get dinner. All of us on board were in complete awe watching this incredible display of power and speed.

    When Tammy posted the predator-prey interaction online, her video went viral. Even WBZ in Boston picked it up — they put it on their evening news. You can see the entire video on YouTube at this link: youtube.com/watch?v=57hr0HOZd6A. Now, my talented mate, who is also an extraordinary home-care nurse, can add videographer to her résumé.

    Whales are still present in big numbers on the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank and have been putting on a show for whale watchers with active feeding and breaching. Tuna fishing has been hot and cold at Peaked Hill and on Stellwagen Bank. I haven’t seen any giants come into Provincetown yet.

    The annual Fourth of July fireworks show in the harbor was an odd one, as the fog muted the colors, especially at the beginning of the show. The rainy weather kept the numbers of people watching down significantly, too. All in all, it made for a quiet Independence Day on the waterfront.

    THE SCUTTLEBUTT

    Stripers, Blues, Bonito, and Sunsets

    Now is prime time for big fish and spectacular autumn skies

    By

    Fishing has looked like the old fall runs we used to get around here. It’s as if we’re making up for all the fish we’ve missed out on over the past three years.

    Striped bass fishing has been outstanding this past week. The fish are here in huge numbers between Race Point and Peaked Hill Bar to the east. We have a ridiculous number of hand-sized bonito virtually everywhere, and catching them for bait is very easy using mackerel tube rigs or Sabiki rigs.

    Max and Levon Goldberg of Tappan, N.Y. caught a couple of huge bluefish on their first-ever fishing trip. Tammy Rabbett, the Cee-Jay’s mate, gives two thumbs up. (Photo by Mike Rathgeber)

    Striped bass and bluefish are hitting rigs baited with these small bonito very well, but trolling umbrellas and throwing diamond jigs and swimming plugs have also yielded good results.

    That said, the combination of northeast winds and the swells from an offshore hurricane passing way to our east really muddied up the water and cooled it down a bit over the last few days. It was challenging finding clear warm water. So, as good as the bluefish and bass fishing has been, patience has still been part of the game.

    The bluefish have been huge, with many weighing in at 10 pounds or more. The striped bass have also been sizable, with many fish too big to keep. The idea behind that rule is to preserve the breed stock.

    Tuna fishing has taken a step back in the bay and up on Stellwagen Bank. The full moon usually has a dramatic effect on fishing, and this last week was no different. The giant tuna were around but very finicky and not taking baits very well at all.

    Whale watching has slowed down. There has been an occasional fin whale around the Race, but for the most part sightings have been scarce. Tons of mola mola are here — they’re also called ocean sunfish. Their floppy dorsal fins are the telltale sign what you’re seeing is not a shark.

    Speaking of sharks, we had a rather sobering sighting on the Cee-Jay the other day. There was a small sailboat race going on in front of Beach Point, and we had to go around them to get where we wanted to go. As we did, we spotted the dorsal fin of a great white just ahead of the pack of sailboats.

    Nothing happened, of course, but it was a reminder that these creatures live here among us. And that won’t change as long as we have the number of seals we have in our waters.

    Whiting fishing has gotten better year to year, and this summer the fish are bigger and more plentiful than they have been in a long time — good news for those who target these very tasty deep-water fish. They can be caught in depths of 160 to 200 feet off the Herring Cove bathhouse to the Race. Small strips of squid or clam or mackerel on a high-low bottom fishing rig work best.

    Although the weather has been very good this September, we all know that at this time of year the weather and the fishing can change in a heartbeat. Now is the time to get out here, when the backdrop to the fishing includes sunsets that are explosive in color. This is really the most beautiful time on the Outer Cape.

    THE SCUTTLEBUTT

    The Magical Month of September Is Upon Us

    Bluefishing is good and the fish are big

    By

    With Labor Day and the peak summer season now in the rear-view mirror, we can collectively take a deep breath and enjoy the quieter pace of September before we all put our boats away for the winter. Let us hope for some good fall fishing with much smaller crowds on the boats.

    Bluefishing is very good right now — and they are big fish. That’s the good news. The bad news is they are camped out in the ocean way down on the backside, between the water tank and the golf ball. (The golf ball is that huge spherical structure on the cliffs of Truro that was used by the military in its distant early warning radar system decades ago. Today it’s still part of an FAA/Air Force joint surveillance system that tracks civilian and military aircraft, according to the National Park Service website.)

    The bluefish are all over the Peaked Hill Bar as well as the deeper water on both sides of the bar. There are also schools of good-size striped bass around, but they haven’t been nearly as consistent in presence as the bluefish.

    Swimming plugs and diamond jigs have been the ticket for catching these big bluefish, and steel leaders are a must, as their razor-sharp teeth can easily rip through monofilament and braid fishing line.

    Noah Santos with his sons Myles and Mason and their schoolie football tuna caught down the backside. (Photo by Mike Rathgeber)

    Commercial fishing for giant bluefin tuna has reopened, and right out of the gate the commercial guys got some giants in the bay just off the Pamet. The bay season for giants is typically a late summer and fall thing, and right on cue the giants have shown up. Noah Santos of Flyer’s Boat Shop took his boys down the backside looking for giant tuna but instead came upon a bunch of schoolie-size tuna feeding on the surface. They caught one.

    Whales have mostly disappeared from our immediate vicinity, with the notable exception of a young humpback whale who showed up in, of all places, the mooring field at the West End. We also got another visit from a rather large pod of white-sided dolphins, who hung around most of the day, going back and forth between Long Point and Beach Point. I have seen them cruising around and playing hundreds of times in my career working offshore, and I never get tired of watching.

    September can be a magical month for fishing, as the striped bass migration begins and massive schools of them cruise through our area on their way south to the Chesapeake and Delaware bays. The bluefish will hang around until the water chills, and then they start their migration south as well. Tuna fishing for both giants and recreational schoolies peaks in September as well.

    The wild card is the weather. September can be summer-like but can also be windy, cold, and wet. We have had an epic summer weatherwise. Here’s hoping it continues.

    Now is the time to get out there and enjoy all the beauty and splendor the ocean has to offer, because very soon gray skies and chilly north winds will put an abrupt end to all the fun.

    THE SCUTTLEBUTT

    North Winds and Pogies Come and Go

    Changeable weather may be part of global warming’s domino effect

    By

    The inconsistent weather has continued to affect fishing at the tip of the Cape, making it very difficult to get a handle on where the fish are and what they’re doing from one day to the next. We’ve had an unusual amount of north wind, which isn’t our friend when it comes to fishing. And even when the wind has come from the south, that shift has been only for a day and then it’s right back to the north again. We seem to be in an early fall pattern already.

    Evie Holden of South Hadley with a 25-pound striped bass she caught on Monday on the CeeJay. She was fishing with her dad, Rick Holden, who landed a 12-pound bluefish. (Photo by Mike Rathgeber)

    Water temperatures have settled into a mid-60s range practically everywhere. The cooler water has the striped bass more actively feeding, and there have been some nice catches down the back side, especially in and around the Peaked Hill Bar. But striped bass being striped bass, you can also be sitting right on top of them and they won’t bite for love or money. Mackerel baits seem to be working well, and they are finally hitting swimming plugs like Bombers and SP Minnows, which have been strangely ignored most of the season.

    Mackerel have finally dispersed off Stellwagen Bank and are being caught in the rips at Race Point as well as in the deep water off the bathhouse at Herring Cove. Pogies came into our harbor, as they usually do in late summer, as thick as I have ever seen them. But only for one day. Then they disappeared and haven’t been seen again.

    Bluefish are moving around quite a bit. The bluefish in the bay seem to be going north to south from the Pamet River all the way to the Brewster flats; on the ocean side, they are moving up and down from Head of the Meadow all the way up to Race Point. Food movements and water temperatures are probably the motivations here, but the fish are driving the charter boats crazy with their here-for-this-tide-and-gone-for-the-next antics.

    The whales also have been affected by the shifting winds and currents and for the moment have vacated the area around the Race, where they had been providing outstanding whale watching for boaters and beachgoers for weeks.

    One thing I have noticed that is very different from other years is the amazing clarity of our harbor water this summer. Clarity of sea water means the water is clean, but it also can mean that it is relatively lifeless. As our sea water warms each summer, certain algae and plankton typically percolate along. This can at times cut down on the water’s clarity, but at the same time it provides needed nutrients for sea life.

    While it’s very pretty to see the water looking crystal clear in the summer, that sight also worries me and makes me want to know the reasons behind it. Perhaps that is why the pogies, which eat plankton, came in for one day and then left. Our waters, though cooled down this week, have been warming, generally, along with the rest of the planet. Is the harbor becoming too warm for these plankton? And what of the animals that come here to consume it? Everything in the ocean is connected, and warming will have a domino effect.

    THE SCUTTLEBUTT

    Fish Flee the Cool Front

    After a thunderstorm, runoff heads for the harbor

    By

    Fishing had a major reversal this week, as a fall-like weather pattern with stiff north and northeast winds and cooler temperatures took hold. This followed the mother of all thunderstorms, which preceded the front with much-needed (but still not enough) rain, a few lightning strikes, and deafening thunder along the waterfront.

    Water temperatures have been steadily going down with each day of these north winds: as of Sunday, the harbor had gone from 76 to 62 degrees and the ocean backside from 72 to 52 degrees, while the bay hovered around 60 degrees. Consequently, the bluefish and striped bass made beelines out of here.

    The charter boats and CeeJay party boat were able to find a few bluefish way down in the bay on the north side of Billingsgate Shoals, where the water temperatures were a little higher, but it was a long ride for very few fish. There are also a few bluefish sporadically showing up down the backside by Head of the Meadow. But the bay is a dead zone at the moment. Striped bass have all but disappeared from our local spots since the front came through.

    So, where do we go from here? Typically, when the winds go back to our normal summer patterns from south to southwest, the ocean warms back up, and, in theory, the fish should trickle back in. We’ll have to wait and see. The baitfish that the big fish were feeding on haven’t left, so that’s an encouraging sign.

    A storm drain sending rainwater runoff from the streets and sidewalks into Provincetown Harbor. This drain runs for hours after a hard rain. (Photo by Mike Rathgeber)

    The changing weather has not altered the fin whales’ behavior. They’re still hanging around Race Point, visible from the beach. The outer beaches around Race Point are finally open to over-sand vehicles, and the entire area was packed with them last Sunday. Nice to see people able to enjoy the beach this way. Better late than never, I suppose.

    Rant warning.

    I was sitting on the CeeJay as that violent line of thunderstorms came through. Watching the storm drain pouring thousands of gallons of rainwater from the streets into the harbor, I kept wondering why we can’t come up with a better idea for stormwater that literally washes the streets of dirt, gasoline, oil, pet excrement, and whatever else happens to be out there when a storm hits.

    How can that possibly be good for the harbor? Why can’t we redirect all that tainted fresh water into a place that can treat it and reuse it somehow? The obvious answer is “there’s no money for that,” but our harbor is a delicate ecosystem, and this situation doesn’t sit right with me.

    If we can put a man on the moon, we should be able to come up with a viable plan to redirect this filthy runoff. We deserve better.

    THE SCUTTLEBUTT

    The Stripers Are Slippery, and So Is the Breakwater

    Warm waters bring plenty of bluefish into the bay

    By

    We finally got our first legitimate heat wave this week and, true to form, the striped bass reacted the way striped bass do when that occurs. They hunker down close to the bottom and get a serious case of lockjaw.

    We sat on top of huge numbers of fish with hardly a bite, as did most of the other boats in the area. The trollers seem to have fared a little better, but the fishing was far less successful than it had been leading up to the heat wave. What these fish will do when the weather cools off a bit is anyone’s guess. Typically, a heat wave shuts them down for a while.

    The water temperatures are ridiculously warm for this area and time of year. I recorded surface temperatures of 74 degrees at the Race and 76 degrees in the harbor, and I heard of an 80-degree surface temperature recorded down by the Pamet.

    The good news is all this hot weather has brought the bluefish into the bay in solid numbers. Fishing for blues was good last week from off the cottages at Beach Point all the way down to the Pamet. Most of the fish have been in 40 to 60 feet of water. They are good-size fish. Bluefish are also currently thick down the ocean backside around the Race Point Ranger station and beyond as far as Head of the Meadow.

    It’s been a quiet spell for whale sightings in the bay and around Race Point lately, and we still have not had our first dolphin sighting around the harbor, which is a bit unusual for this time of year, especially given the numbers of squid in the harbor. Squid is one of the dolphins’ preferred foods.

    The West End breakwater, with its uneven surface, can be a challenging hike for the unprepared. (Photo by Mike Rathgeber)

    Shark activity has suddenly ticked up along our beaches. The number of alerts I am receiving on my Sharktivity App increased quite a bit last week. Most of the sightings have been down around Nauset, but a few were up our way on the ocean side. We did see a Great White lazily swim by the CeeJay while we were fishing at the Race a few days ago.

    There have been a few 911 calls for injuries sustained by people walking the West End breakwater out to the beaches at Wood End Light and Long Point.

    There are some things you need to know and do before attempting this challenging hike. The first is wear a good pair of shoes. Flip-flops don’t cut it. Also, check a tide chart before venturing out. The breakwater is completely covered by some high tides, particularly the ones that occur on the full and new moons. This could leave you stranded out there for a few hours.

    The surface of the West End breakwater is not smooth asphalt like many others. Quite the opposite: prepare to walk on uneven rocks with gaps between some of them. When the wind is blowing hard, waves can break over the rocks making them slippery, too.

    If you start across the breakwater and realize you’re uncomfortable walking it, do everyone a favor and just turn around and go back. Making it across on foot is not worth getting injured, and rescues out there, if it comes to that, can be difficult for the EMS people.

    THE SCUTTLEBUTT

    A Trip to the Bank

    Finding mackerel for striped bass fishing in the company of humpback whales

    By

    Last week was a good one for fishermen. Striped bass are here in numbers we haven’t seen in quite some time. They are seemingly everywhere, with acres and acres of them on the surface, feeding on sand eels off the Race Point Ranger Station. And at the same time, there was a huge body of fish biting between the Race rips and the Herring Cove Bathhouse and also off the Beach Point cottages. I’m hearing about big schools of fish farther south, from the Pamet to Billingsgate shoals.

    Humpback whales use bubble-net feeding to capture many fish at once. (NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center/Christin Khan)

    Given all this, with the areas teeming with fish being so expansive, there really is no reason for people to be fishing out there on top of one another. Yet we still see boats that simply look for other boats and head towards them rather than looking for their own fish.

    Bluefish are in a now-you-see-them now-you-don’t phase right now. They seem to come and go with the tides, with no pattern at all to their behavior.

    Tuna fishing is starting to gain some traction on Stellwagen Bank, and a few fish have already come in to Provincetown to be taken to market. These early-season fish are typically not very fatty and therefore do not usually fetch a good price at auction.

    Vaughn Cabral and I took his center console up to Stellwagen to get mackerel for bait, as they have been notably absent from their usual places in the harbor and the bay is absolutely loaded with mackerel. We quickly caught 150 pounds of them to use as bait for a week of striped bass fishing.

    We had the company of about a half dozen humpback whales, which were aggressively feeding on the copious numbers of sand eels and mackerel on the bank. The bank looked very healthy, with whales, tuna, mackerel, and sea birds all in big numbers throughout the southern edge.

    A breaching humpback close to the writer’s boat. (Photo by Mike Rathgeber)

    The fin whales have also finally showed up off the Race and Herring Cove, and there are plenty of sand eels there to keep them hanging around. This is a good time to take in a whale watch. Fin whales have the tallest spouts of all the whales here, so spotting them from the beach with a pair of binoculars shouldn’t be too difficult, either.

    We are still looking for the first appearance of white-sided dolphins in our harbor, as they usually come when the squid are here. And the squid are definitely here.

    It was heartwarming to see the Blessing of the Fleet return to our waterfront last Sunday after the Covid pandemic pretty much shut it down last year with minimal goings-on. We went right back to all the time-honored Blessing traditions that take place over the weekend of the Provincetown Portuguese Festival.

    In all, it’s certainly starting to feel like a “normal” season. We all know that can change on a dime, so here’s hoping we can keep staying safe and doing the right things for a healthy summer ahead.

    THE SCUTTLEBUTT

    Bluefish and Blue Crabs, Too

    There’s also bonito out there, and a chance at more stripers as they migrate south

    By

    Happy days are here again. Bluefish are still solidly in our area, and catches have been fantastic. Can we officially declare the five-year bluefish drought over? I don’t think anyone knows the answer to that. When it comes to fish behavior, it always seems “we don’t know what we don’t know.” But right now, it certainly looks like we are back to normal — and no one is complaining, least of all charter boat captains.

    The bluefish are in all the usual spots, like the edge along Herring Cove, off the cottages at Beach Point, and off the Pamet. They have been in all depths from 20 to 70 feet, and there is plenty of food around to keep them here. Trolling umbrella rigs, casting swimming plugs, and vertical jigging remain the top three ways to catch these toothy critters. The fish have been mostly medium sized, which means four to eight pounds.

    Surface water temperatures are tropical in some areas, with some charter boat captains reporting readings as high as 75 degrees F. Bluefish like warmer water, unlike striped bass, so they may stay put for a while.

    Striped bass are still camped out down the backside ocean beaches from Peaked Hill Bar to the south and east, but fishing there has been inconsistent, which is to be expected at this time of year. We are all hoping that, once the cooler winds blow, ushering in autumn, the bass migration south will commence, and we will get a shot at some of the fish now to our north as they pass through. The migration has been good for us in the last few years, so let’s remain hopeful for a good fall bass run.

    A fair number of bonito are around right now, with catches being reported along the edge from Wood End to the Race and also off Cold Storage Beach in Truro. They are being caught by people targeting bluefish, as these two fish often mix and feed in the same places.

    Blue claw crabs like this one, caught in the east end of Provincetown Harbor, are showing up more and more here. (Photo Stephen Ryan)

    I am hearing more and more credible reports of blue crabs being seen and caught around here. This would be yet another example of a species moving north because of the warming ocean water. It’s hard not to have mixed emotions about this. On the one hand, it’s another canary in the coal mine in terms of climate change, and that’s not good at all. But on the other hand, blue claw crabs are big business to our south, where going crabbing in rowboats is a popular summer family activity — it’s something I did with my dad all through my youth.

    Blue claw crabs are among the finest tasting in the world, but their meat is typically very expensive, fetching anywhere from $30 to $50 a pound at fish markets. This writer certainly won’t complain about tossing a couple of crab traps in the harbor and catching a few crabs to make pasta in crab sauce like Mom used to do.

    LOCAL CATCH

    A Summer-Only Cape Cod Secret, With Thanks to Dr. Bluefish

    The blues go well with bold flavors of tomatoes, olives, and capers

    By

    Bluefish are misunderstood on the mainland. Detractors there moan about them being “too oily” or “fishy.” But Cape Codders wait hungrily for this season. What we know is that, handled right, bluefish are extremely fine eating.

    In high summer, I make a near-daily pilgrimage to Hatch’s, behind Wellfleet’s town hall. On a recent trip I knew the season was on when I saw a truck emblazoned with a familiar logo. Behind the wheel was Tom Smith, captain of the F/V Sea Wolf. He is the fisherman who has been feeding my love of bluefish for over two decades.

    When I asked him about the catch, Smith, a.k.a. Dr. Bluefish, as his T-shirt tagged him, jumped into his flatbed and opened an oversize blue cooler. The fish inside were magnificent, with vibrant golden eyes, ruby gills, and shimmering sea green-indigo skin. His blues were “stiff as a board,” not from freezing, he explained, but in rigor, a true mark of fastidious handling. I was an instant fan girl.

    Tom Smith harvesting bluefish on his F/V Sea Wolf. (Photo David Hills)

    Freshness rules when it comes to blues, which is why they don’t have wide distribution off Cape. Also, the fishery is primarily recreational, with only 20 percent of the catch landed commercially.

    Blues are feisty, with nasty knife-like teeth and voracious appetites (even for their own kind). They’ll put up a fight that anglers love. They “strike like a blacksmith hammer,” wrote John Hersey in his 1988 classic, Blues.

    Smith has spent the past four decades fishing for blues. His family moved to Orleans from Connecticut when he was 10 years old and he got his first fishing job when he was 12, working part time on Stu Finlay’s charter boat, the Empress, out of Rock Harbor.

    He no longer catches blues with a rod and reel, except when testing whether the fish are biting. Over the years, he has refined a technique he first saw practiced in Florida, where he worked on crews for several years right after he graduated from Cape Cod Tech. He calls it strike netting as opposed to gillnetting, because the fish are pulled up and removed from the netting right away.

    Smith came back home to focus on fishing for blues here in 1981. He starts the season fishing near Chatham, not far from his home port in Hyannis, and follows the fish, so that by July he’s fishing just outside Provincetown Harbor.

    Blues are eating machines, Smith says: “You want to see a feeding frenzy before a set.” He looks for a slick on the water and sniffs the air for “a watermelon-like aroma” that confirms they’re at it. Then he guides his boat to set the net in a large circle, while the crew makes a racket to drive the fish into the net.

    The fish are dispatched immediately — he bleeds them with a cut to the throat — then they’re gutted and cleaned and slipped into a slurry of ice water within minutes. This is a game changer from his old charter days.

    “We would catch beauties, but just toss them into coolers without ice,” Smith recalls. “By the time we got them off the boat and filleted them, the flesh was like mashed potatoes.”

    Smith is committed to delivering the freshest fish, so he drives directly from the boat to the markets — no middleman. The proof is in the fish case: the flesh is firm and translucent steely blue and smells sea sweet — nothing fishy about it.

    His methods are a big reason people on the Outer Cape seek out the blues when they’re in season. Smith tells of one late delivery after a slow day — when he pulled in at Hatch’s, he says, “There was a line out the door and folks started clapping!”

    Bluefish are high in omega-3 fatty acids, something we need to eat more of. But sidestepping the sensible “it’s-good-for-you” bit, they’re also rich, and, as cooks know, fat equals flavor. Think bacon. It’s a fish that can be enjoyed in so many ways: grilled, broiled, or smoked, and you can even fry the skin into crisp chips.

    When I want things really easy, I season a fillet with salt and lots of pepper and wrap it in a foil pack with a squeeze of lemon or splash of wine and a bit of butter or olive oil, then cook it outside on a moderate grill.

    Blues stand up to assertive flavors. When I add sliced jalapenos, garlic, scallions, and lime juice to the package, and finish it with lots of cilantro at the end, guests are ecstatic. “What did you do? That bluefish was amazing!” I take it in, even though I know all credit goes to Tom Smith.

    The recipe here is one for an indoor cooking day. I love sautéing bluefish to give it even sear. In high summer, when real tomatoes are in, I default to a compote inspired by pasta puttanesca that serves at once as a kind of sauce and side. Bluefish welcomes capers’ and olives’ bold acidity.

    This uses a genius technique for quick tomato sauces: grating. Trim a disk off the tomato bottom and rub the cut end over a grater’s large holes. The tomato purees off the skin, which flattens without going through the holes. Use a big juicy tomato for the saucy part and a multicolored mix of small tomatoes for a bright complement.

    Sautéed Bluefish With Tomato, Olive, and Caper Compote

    Serves 4

    Bluefish, seared and settled into a bright summer compote. (Photo Robert S Johnson)

    For the compote:
    2 ripe tomatoes, or about a one-pound mix of large and small
    2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
    ½ medium onion, diced
    1 rib celery, with leaves, diced
    3 cloves garlic, minced
    Generous pinch red pepper flakes
    8 olives, pitted and chopped
    1 Tbsp. capers, with brine
    2 to 3 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley, basil, or mint

    For the bluefish:
    2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
    1 bluefish fillet, 1½ to 2 lbs.
    Kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper

    Make the compote first. Slice a round off the bottom of a large tomato. Rub the cut side over the big holes of a grater, letting the pulp and juices fall into a bowl. Grate until all you have left is the skin and discard it. Dice or halve remaining tomatoes.

    Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery, garlic, and pepper flakes, cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, olives, and capers; cook over high heat, stirring, until thickened, about 3 minutes. Off heat, add the herbs. Reheat or serve at room temperature.

    Now sear the fish. If you cook on a griddle, a full fillet will work. If not, cut the fish into four portions.

    Put a large skillet on medium-high heat. Season fish generously with salt and pepper. Add oil to the skillet, and, when it is hot, place the fish in the pan, skin side up. Cook about 5 minutes — you want it about three-quarters of the way done. Adjust the heat to medium and flip the fish carefully, cooking until the fish cooks through, 1 to 2 minutes more.

    Spread compote on a platter and top with the fish.

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