With Hurricane Earl barreling up the eastern seaboard, residents have been clearing the decks, taking down awnings and boarding up windows in their Nantucket homes preparation for the storm. The latest reports predict that Earl will weaken a bit as it reaches Nantucket and will travel further east than originally thought. However the approaching weather has brought up memories of the No Name Storm of 1993 and Hurricane Bob in 1991 and all are taking it seriously.

As of 12:30 pm Friday, September 3, 2010, the water on Nantucket harbor is still calm and the air is incredibly hot and humid offering only the slightest breeze in the way of relief.  But as you walk the streets of Nantucket Town, there is a frenzied energy in the air as people buy last minute supplies and anxiously wait for Earl to arrive. Nantucketers  are used to strong  Nor’easters and should weather the storm with no problem.

From Madaket to Siasconset to Great Point and everywhere in between the Nantucket fishing report is all about small Bluefish and not much else right now. These hard fighters are everywhere around the Island and are feeding voraciously. The Seals at Great Point are allowing beach fisherman to reel in a few and patient fisherman elsewhere have been rewarded for their efforts. Hopkins lures with a bucktail have been a popular choice for the small Blues. If this or some other metal lure is not working, try a surface plug and your luck should change.

Bonita have been sporadic and the False Albacore have not yet arrived. Hurricane Earl is expected to blow by Nantucket on Friday, September 3. Optimists remember some legendary blitzes just prior to the arrival of a big storm such as this one. They also are hoping the tropical storm will bring in the Spanish Mackerel along with the Bonita and False Albacore.

The next month and a half should provide some great Nantucket fishing with a wide variety of species and the largest fish of the season so be sure to get out there!

There has been more talk about Seals stealing the fish before anglers can land them than  of the fish that are actually being caught but the reports are starting to be more positive.

The Bonito Bar in Madaket is starting to heat up with more multiple catches being reported. One boat landed 11 Bonita  in the 4-6 pound range. They are also catching Bluefish out there. Trolling Yozuris seems to be the most effective technique at the moment. There have also been spotty reports of Bonita in the Great Point Rip.

There are a lot of small Bluefish feeding off the beaches at Great Point right now but the Seals continue to be a problem. The further away from the actual Point that you fish, the better your chance of landing your fish before it is grabbed by a seal! A few Bonita have been landed by beach fishermen. There is a lot of bait in the water so the Bonita and False Albacore should not be far behind. Keep your eyes out for concentrations of feeding Terns and cast small metal lures with a quick retrieve on the surface.

There is talk of Bass starting to feed in close again. Sea Bass and Scup are still being caught off the West Jetty in Nantucket Harbor.

As always, book a trip with your favorite Nantucket Charter Boat Captain or check in at your favorite Nantucket Tackle Shop for the latest up-to-date Nantucket fishing news. The fishing should be improving daily from now through October so plan on taking advantage of the outstanding fall fishing on Nantucket.

Check out townpool.com, a new website that offers daily discounts for Nantucket activities, stores and events and then funnels some of the proceeds into local non-profits.

Each day there is a new exclusive deal for subscribers to purchase. A minimum number of people must buy the deal within a set time. Then Townpool emails the coupons out to everyone who has purchased “the deal”.

For example, on July 13, Nantucket Ice Cream offered all Town Pool “swimmers” two free ice creams with the purchase of one ($15 value). Nearly 150 people “jumped in” and took advantage of the deal, which benefited the Friends of Nantucket Public Schools.

Each day there is a different deal to benefit a different non-profit. To learn more or to sign up for free daily emails, visit www.townpool.com.

Local boat fisherman and those coming from their Nantucket vacation homes have also been doing well off Great Point, fishing on the bottom for Fluke and Sea Bass.

Great Point is now open again to Beach drivers, where there has been some good Bluefishing as well as along the South Shore.

Be sure to check with your  favorite Tackle Store for the latest hot spot or with your local Charter Captain for a trip to the “Bonito Bar”.

The good news is that fishing for Bluefish by boat off the South Shore and elsewhere around Nantucket property has been pretty good. The bad news is that they have not been close enough for beach anglers to reach them with any consistent frequency. For Nantucket beach house fishermen, in fact, the summer doldrums appear to have arrived a few weeks earlier than normal. The water has really warmed up which has made catching Bass off the beach during the day a difficult endeavor. Normally the Bluefish invasion would take up the slack but this has not been the case so far. To make matters worse, a large portion of Great Point has been closed off again to Beach traffic.

As the water warms up, Nantucket fishermen begin to think about the arrival of Bonita and False Albacore. We will probably have to wait at least three or four weeks for the Bonita although there has been a report of Spanish Mackerel being caught in Long Island Sound.

Bottom fishing for Black Sea Bass and Fluke by Boat continues to be very good and the wire liners are scoring off Sankaty and the east end of the Island.

As we have said before, the Charter Boat Captains and local fishing tackle shops know where the fish are and will take you there or tell you where to go so be sure to check with them.

The fireworks will be launched from a barge off of Jetties Beach at 9 pm on Sunday the 4th-weather permitting. This is the perfect way to end your holiday weekend.  Be sure to tear yourself from your Nantucket vacation rental early to go to Jetties to stake your claim on a good spot on the beach for watching the fireworks.  Happy Fourth!

Anyone who spends time here knows the weather can be different from what is reported on the Cape and often times very different from what is reported in Boston.

This site provides the viewer with information regarding the tides, wave heights, wind speed and direction and barometric pressure. So while vacationing at your Nantucket summer house, the five-day forecasts can tell you  that today may be a movie day and that tomorrow is a great time  to hit the beach.

Coming by car? You can see live webcam shots of the bridges over the Cape Cod Canal. Two if by sea? The Hy- Line and Steamship Authority ferry schedules will tell you what boat you need to catch. If by air, Cape Air and Island Air schedules are also available.

Enjoy the  new Nantucket weather site! You can customize the page to those sources that most meet your needs, and most of all enjoy your stay on our magical island of Nantucket.

~Mark Burlingham

Bass fishermen continue to report good results all around the Island. A charter boat has been trolling for Bass in Nantucket Harbor and they are doing well off Sankaty and in other spots off the Eastern end of the Island. Fly fishermen are having success in Nantucket Harbor and in calm water fishing from  leeward shores. The Striped Bass are still feeding in close to the Island with best results now being reported during periods of low light. We have not heard much about the fishing at Great Point. Fishermen seem to be going elsewhere because so many of the good spots at the Point and Coatue are closed at the present time.

By the time you read this, the Bluefish may have arrived in force. So, if you have some luck out in front of your Nantucket vacation rental home or in one of your other favorite Nantucket hot spots, please be sure to let us know.

To find a Nantucket summer rental in your favorite fishing spot, use our Rental Search Tool and select the boxes next to the Nantucket areas you’re interested in vacationing near.

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