9/9/04 Nantucket News from Capt. Lynne Heyer

The albies are here. They have definitely arrived. Great Point is the place to be. Fishing off the beach has been awesome. There has been a mix of fish up there as well--Spanish mackerel, false albacore, blues and bass. Deadly Dicks and assorted metals are doing the trick. Captain Jeff reported this morning that his client, Jim Beasley landed a striper, had other shots and tried for albies, but they were not obliging.

Tim Griffin is sitting in the store just now, and his report is something like this: Today the albies were at the Jetties. He landed one and had shots at others. Yesterday, he lost count of how many stripers he caught. He said that they were not really big, but fun. The night before, the fish tended to be bigger.

During our offshore expedition on Tuesday, we landed five bluefin and lost two. It was much fun. We were hoping to hang out behind a dragger and fish in amongst his by-catch. We did find one dragger, and we landed three bluefins in his by-catch dump. It didn't last long enough for me to get any on the fly, but I think I landed two in that spot. We tried chumming to keep them happy, but I guess all good things come to an end. They didn't stay with us. There were a couple of other local boats that went out about another 10 to 15 miles. They found the draggers and had lots of tackle bustin' action. By the time we had all of our fish, they hadn't even begun fishing. We were already 30 miles out, and in a 23-foot Parker with the wind and waves picking up, we decided to be safe and not sorry. I will be ready when the call comes again. I have my leaders and flies all set.

-- Capt. Lynne