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Massachusetts Sea Kayaking and
Fishing for Striped Bass and Bluefish
by Dave Williams (Adam Bolonsky)
Try Rockport, Gloucester,
Manchester, Cape Cod and Monomoy Island
Leon Granowitz, a Boston-area angler
who favors kayak fishing from a fast and narrow sea
kayak, finds it pretty easy most summer weekdays to show
off the bluefish and striped bass he catches. His
favored method: trolling a tube-and-worm or plug from a
sea kayak off Gloucester, Massachusetts, Halibut Point
off Rockport, and the Misery Islands off Manchester.
Striper and bluefish fishing, let alone yellowfin tuna
and bonito fishing, from a sea kayak is an effective way
to bring fresh seafood home or feed yourself well on an
extended kayak camping trip. Striper fishing from a sea
kayak is different, and simpler, than the present style
of kayak fishing that has spread throughout the angling
world.
The current style of kayak fishing, from sit on top
kayaks, has its origins in California and New York,
where saltwater fishing enthusiasts habituated to
yellowfin tuna, grouper, salmon and halibut catches
discovered sit on top kayaks' low prices, ease of use
and stability.
Fishing from relatively slow and wide sit-on-top fishing
kayaks about 12 feet long and equipped with electronic
fishfinders, drift chutes, anchors and bait wells, Long
Island Sound, New York and La Jolla, California kayak
fishermen fished close to shore or were transported
offshore via powerboat.
Fishing from a sea kayak has some advantages over the
current style. Speed, for one, given a sea kayak's
longer waterline. Seaworthiness for another, given the
rough water skills most sea kayakers gain after a few
seasons.
Finally range and versatility, with their higher speed
and enclosed cockpits, sea kayaks can be paddled greater
distances in rougher water. And if no fish are around,
you still have a fast and able sea kayak in which to
enjoy the day.
Good areas in Massachusetts to try fishing for striped
include Nantucket Sound, the harbors and inlets and
waters surrounding Martha's Vineyard, Boston Harbor,
Gloucester and Rockport and Ipswich Bay and Joppa Flats,
at Newburyport.
Photos from any of these tidal areas provide proof:
inevitably they show a striper or bluefish caught from a
sea kayak or fishing kayak in the fast moving tidal
current, say, Muskeget, Monomoy or Deer Island, the
latter of Boston, the former near Nantucket and Martha's
Vineyard, where the saltwater fly fishing likewise can
be predictable and consistent.
Bluefish feed in these area's fast moving water where
the tides' swirls and backeddies hold in suspension the
baitfish bluefish feed upon. Tidal currents in Nantucket
Sound and off Martha's Vineyard, for example often run
at about 4.5 knots, manageable for fishing from a sea
kayak if the weather is calm and the kayak fishing
enthusiast keeps an eye on the prevailing southwest
winds.
To read more about sea kayaking and kayak fishing, see
the content-rich blogs Sea Kayaking Dot Net and
NorthAmerican Kayak Fishing.
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