Fishing bounced back in a big way this past week with striped bass and bluefish biting well; many boats had some big catches. As has been the case most of the summer, the productive area was between Race Point and the Peaked Hill Bar. There are fewer shorts coming in, and more fish over the slot, which of course means they have to be returned to the water, too, though they make for a great photograph to take home.
Bluefish have also shown up off Beach Point and along the bayside down to the Pamet. How long they’ll stay is anyone’s guess.
Tuna fishing has been up and down so far, and the commercial market reopened Sept. 1 as we await the fall run of giants in the bay. They came in a few times this month chasing pogies, but each time they left just as fast as they arrived.
I do not believe anything happens randomly in the universe. I’m one of those people who believes everything has order and purpose. Last week on the Cee-Jay Capt. Nico and mate Tammy had the kind of day that proves my theory. The wind was blowing hard from the northeast, and the backside ocean was too rough for fishing, so they had to look in the bay. That meant exploring the usual places where fish might be but also looking where they never would on a normal day without excessive wind.
That’s how they came upon a rather large sea turtle entangled in a lobster buoy. They made a quick call to the Center for Coastal Studies, which immediately launched its disentanglement team. In no time the turtle was freed. If there hadn’t been that hard northeast wind keeping the boat in the bay, they would never have come upon the distressed turtle. And with no other boats nearby, the turtle, which was struggling to breathe, might not have had such a fortunate escape. Things like that leave me pondering the thin line in our natural world between life and death.
Soon after the turtle incident, Tammy got two of three hooks from a treble hook deeply embedded in her arm. Capt. Nico did a masterful job removing the hook, which is not an easy task.
Fishing hooks have barbs, and when one is embedded beyond the barb you cannot just back the hook out. The barb won’t allow that. What you have to do is push the point of the hook out through the skin in another spot so you can expose the barb to clip it with wire cutters. Then you can back the hook out.
Tammy, who is a nurse when she’s not onboard, appreciated the skill Nico showed in getting the hooks out without inflicting more pain. Just another day on a party fishing boat.
I’ve been following a very interesting development in our local waters: we are starting to catch fluke more often while drifting baits for striped bass. Can the fluke actually be coming back? I think they may be. Many local fishermen really miss all the fluke we used to catch here, and I am very much in that camp. I’m already thinking about how next season I’ll do some exploratory fishing to see what’s around.
