By offshore, I mean we’re fishing Provincetown, Billingsgate Shoals, or Stellwagen (huge bluefish). With my boat in Green Harbor, this is an easy run for us.
Whenever we can, we’ll sight cast at the fish with spinning gear. This is a blast, and we can have 4 people casting at once. The bow is amazing for this type of fishing. I can have two people casting from the front of the boat and two people in back--you'll never cross lines and you'll be able to cast easily. I prefer light tackle fishing over the many other methods because it "feels most like fishing". That is to say, you make the cast, reel it in, set the hook, and fight the fish yourself. I've been making some of the most productive lures around for stripers and they're very easy for even the novice to use. I love hearing the drag scream!
On Stellwagen and around Provincetown, we’ve seen the largest schools of massive bluefish that I have ever seen. As they are forage for tuna and sharks, you never know what will be around! Sometimes, the tuna will attack the school of bluefish and it is scary---seeing 800 pound fish attack a school of bluefish is something not easily forgotten.
When trolling for stripers, it’s customary to have two people actively working the rods as we troll. This is very relaxing for the others on the boat! It’s their turn to kick back, watch their friends, eat, drink, and socialize. The most popular method of fishing is wire-line jigging bucktails through the sand off of Provincetown, Truro, or on Billingsgate Shoals. It’s a lot of work, but it pays off. When you’re jigging aggressively as we’re trolling and a striper smacks your line, you know it immediately! It’s a thrill. We also troll umbrella rigs and swimming plugs as conditions dictate.
Stripers are delicious and more and more of my customers have been asking to catch bluefish to eat as well. Not only are they good on the grill, but they are also excellent in the smoker. I have some great recipes and links on my Recipe Page.
We usually leave around first light, to capitalize on the early morning surface bite that is usually accompanied by lots of bird activity. Much of the early morning is “run and gun”, moving from school to school to find the most aggressively feeding fish.
Striper fishing is a great summer species--they move into our waters at the end of May and fishing is tremendous in June and July. If possible and available, we'll use live bait as well when fishing for stripers.
