A ‘soup to nuts’ guide to making the run to the land of the giants.
Back in 2019 aboard the Helen H, I made my first venture to Nantucket Shoals. It was a trip that would forever change my perspective on one of the Northeast’s most prized bottom species.
It was a Shimano / G. Loomis “experience” event, where we were given the chance to try some of the latest and greatest rods, reels, and lines they had to offer at the time. This trip shortly led to a “slight” obsession, and since that day I have taken more than three-dozen trips to the Shoals aboard various boats, with some of the most diehard captains on the Cape. With a mix of friends and soon-to-be friends as part of the crew, honing experience, gaining knowledge, and spending a lot of time on the water has given me the experience to gain a good understanding of this remarkable fishery, and the Shoals truly are the area where the true doormat dinosaurs live.
Year over year, June through August are the months to hit the Shoals for the best chance of success. Depending on water temperature and bait, fluke begin to trickle in around late May and stay into September, but often the earlier and later part of the season will have captains focusing on other species.
The area of the Shoals itself is nearly the same size as the state of Rhode Island, so there is an immense amount of ground to cover in order to stay on top of the fish. Generally speaking, the earlier portions of the season require further travels to the eastern side of the grounds, while later in the season sees shorter runs and staying closer to Nantucket itself is the best bet. July tends to be a very productive month.
Party vs. “6-Pack”
One of the most important choices is choosing your captain. The Shoals have a very serious reputation for being treacherous to navigate even on the calmest days, so an experienced captain and larger vessel is highly recommended. The humps, ridges, trenches, and valleys throughout the area move overtime thanks to stiff currents, only to be further worsened by banks of fog that commonly plague the area.
Party boats such as the Helen H out of Hyannis, The Frances Fleet out of Point Judith and the Viking Fleet out of Montauk, among others, offer several different options throughout the summer to hit the shoals. These bigger boats offer ample cabin space to tie up new rigs, eat, and even sleep on the way out, keeping everyone comfortable. Larger coolers are easy to stow underneath the benches, keeping your drinks cold and your fish fresh. And most of these larger boats will store your fish on ice for you, so you don’t really need the big cooer. Another advantage to these head boat trips is that the boat is ‘open reservation’ meaning you don’t have to find your own crew of friends to split the cost with making them ideal for individuals or smaller groups still trying to get on the bite without serious headaches.
A reality of head boats is that the size of the vessel more often than not dictates a role in drift speeds. It takes a good amount of current and even wind to move this size of vessel, but when they are moving they generally go at considerable speeds. Heavier weights are generally needed to hold the bottom, while in the opposite effect it would be encouraged to bring a spinning rod for the slack tide situations, allowing you to cast and keep covering water.
With a six-pack charter such as the Emma Jack out of South Yarmouth, MA, Bad Influence out of Yarmouth, MA, Jail Break out of Harwich Port, MA, On Time Charters launching out of Bass River and various other Cape Cod locations, among other boats, they offer the perfect opportunity for a larger group of friends to get out with one another. I would also recommend following each of these captains’ Facebook or Instagram pages along with fluke related groups to fill in spots that may open up on your trip. Speaking from experience, keeping a group of trusted friends around that will stay committed to the trip and show up to the dock, saves the headache of having to find a sixth man in the eleventh hour.
The six-pack style charter boat generally offers ample room to fish, provided you shy away from taking large coolers and the kitchen sink with you. Most of these boats will actually discourage bringing coolers and instead keep your catch in the same area, along with whatever drinks, food, etc. you may bring with you. These boats, more often than not, maintain a decent drift speed, negating the need for a spinning rod or the truly heavy weights, unless the tides dictate. The captain himself is generally the sole mate onboard, providing a great chance to catch up on just about everything from the recent fishing, how the season has been going, and more.
Breaking the Trend
The steepest bend in the Nantucket Shoals learning curve is managing the current and choosing the right gear. The gear you might fish in your home waters might not be the best choice at the Shoals. More often than not, you will be fishing 80 to 120 feet of water in some of the fiercest currents you’re likely to encounter anywhere, requiring anywhere from 6 to 32 ounces of lead. On a handful of trips I’ve fished in a mere 15 to 20 feet, and still needed 8 ounces just to hold. The fish move around the Shoals depending on the time of year, water temp, and bait availability, but current is always a factor that should be expected.
This type of fishing is not for everyone and understandably so, but for me it has been a welcome break away from some of my local fluke fishing in Rhode Island, which has been somewhat inconsistent over the past several years. I broke my ‘personal best’ three times on my first trip, finally reaching well into the double digits with a true doormat of a fish. Its Jurassic jaws looked as if they were the size of a small trash can, impressive to see as a “keeper” fish further south would be a third, or even a quarter, of its size. Needless to say, the draw of that next personal best is the thing that motivates me to keep going back.
Picking Your Weapon
| PROS FOR THE SHOALS |
| Head Boats
Frances Fleet Viking Fleet Helen H Bounty Hunter Charters
6-Pack Boats Emma Jack Charters Wise Kraken Charters Black Rose Fishing Bad Influence |
For rods, I normally bring three setups every trip. This might seem excessive to some, but if there is a 1-hour window or less that we get the right current in the right area, fishing can be truly lights out. I definitely don’t want to be tying a new rig in the event of a tangle with the person next to me or we get the unfortunate bluefish or dogfish that wreaks havoc. The gas to get to your charter, hotels when needed, the trip itself, taking time off from work, and more just continues to add up at the end of the day, so I plan ahead to ensure that I can make the most of it.
I use a G. Loomis 903C Pro Blue as my “lighter” conventional rod that’s ideal for 4 to 10 ounces of lead and then a G. Loomis 904C Pro Blue when I need to step up to 10 to 16 ounces of weight. These same two rods are my go-to rods for blackfish season, and I feel that versatility helps justify the greater expense of these high-end rods. I like the longer 7-1/2-foot rods to keep my line away from the boat and maneuver around people easily, whether I’m fighting a fish or just staying in my drift zone.
Along with these two conventional setups, I will bring a spinning rod on most trips with a single bucktail-and-trailer combo. This is ideal to cast around and cover water at slack tide or during a wind against tide situation that keeps the boat at a standstill. Coming off a moon tide or times I know that we will be in heavier currents, I’ll generally forego the spinning rod and bring a heavier conventional rod, such as a G Loomis 905C Pro Blue or even a Jigging World Black Widow 300C. This will allow me to use weights in the 20-ounce range and above, comfortably.
As for other rod choices the Onyx Inshore, Nexus 2.0, MK2 Nano Carbon, and Black Widow from Jigging World, the ODM Terra, the Tsunami Slow Pitch Inshore, Black Hole Challenger 731, and the Century Pro Togger all serve as great options. If you’re friendly enough with your local tackle shop, see how these rods load with 6, 8, 10 all the way up to 24 and 32 ounces of lead, and make sure they’re comfortable in hand. The majority of these rods have suggested lure weight ratings from their respective manufacturers, but I would suggest performing these comfort tests in lieu of sticking to the label. These ratings are often quite subjective, and more often than not the manufacturer is labeling them for casting lures, not fishing vertically.
You don’t need the most powerful rods and reels for fishing this area, the bottom itself is sand and light gravel and snags are typically, few and far between. Fishing comfortably with the weights required is key to holding bottom, so some choices are nice to have.
For reels, many of the 300 to 400 sized, low profile baitcasters, such as the Shimano Tranx, Daiwa Lexa, Okuma Komodo, Penn Fathom and Penn Squall are great options. With a thumb bar clutch seen on all these models, constant bottom contact is much easier to maintain with a single hand, keeping you more consistently in the strike zone. Round reels are still a great choice, such as the Daiwa Saltiga 300, Daiwa Saltiga 15, Daiwa Saltist 15, Shimano Ocea Jigger 1500, Shimano Torium 14, Shimano Calcutta 300 / 400, Penn Fathom 8, Accurate Valiant 300 / 400, or Accurate Tern 300 / 400, if you prefer that feel.
For line, I like to run Berkley X9 in the 20- to 40-pound range. It’s super supple, ties extremely well, and is extra tough for a braided line. Color truly doesn’t matter, but I personally like the white because the majority of others I fish with have some sort of moss green on, so it’s easy to see when lines, inevitably, get crossed. For me, this transitions to a 6- to 8-foot mono leader, in case we accidentally find ourselves in dogfish city, then a barrel swivel to my rig.
Lures & Baits
A common rig to run for this area is a popcorn rig, whether it be with one or two teasers. Berkley Gulp or Fish Bites Grubs in the 5-, 6-, or 8-inch sizes are near standard issue for the majority of anglers, which are ideal to have in several colors to match the preference of the fluke on a given day. These trailers are ideal to accompany teasers such as poison tail jigs from Backwater Custom Baits or other small lure manufacturers. The rubber skirting material boosts up the profile of your bait, provides secondary action, and can provide a bit more color, which fluke may key in on.
Larger 6/0 and 7/0 baitholder and octopus hooks can be used to rig these soft baits standalone, which sometimes work when sand eels and smaller profiled baitfish are the food of choice. With the single teaser rigs or bare hooks, I will often try and nose rig live baits such as Atlantic macks or squid. This has been known to take the largest fish of the day, or at least culling out serious quality.
As for weights, I bring cannon ball sinkers ranging from 6 to 32 ounces. Most boats will have some to provide but I don’t like to search or wait. I personally like the cannonball style as they tend to drop extremely fast, bounce over sand, and drag through current suspended extremely well.
While the area is renowned for the opportunities it provides to the most diehard flatfish anglers, understand that – at the end of the day – this is fishing. Countless times I’ve seen the largest fish come to play in the last 20 minutes of the trip when people were ready to head home and relax after 7-plus hours of holding a rod in their hands. I’ve also been fortunate to connect with several double-digit fish at dead slack, where my rig definitely wasn’t presented well and I thought that I was snagged on a rock. These larger fish can suck themselves to the bottom, making it a true surprise when the rod tip starts moving and drag starts peeling.
Needless to say, opportunities for your next personal best might come at any time, regardless of the “correct” conditions, so just being ready to capitalize on them is key to a successful trip!
