While the saltwater fishing has cooled off with the weather, the island's freshwater fishing has heated up considerably. With the easy access to the island's ponds you can fish for an hour or all day and be assured of consistent action and challenge. Fishing light rods and line, scaled to the target species, an angler can have a great time fishing. We recommend a 5-6 foot ultralight rod spooled with 4-8# test for the best experience for the skilled angler, but a larger rod and heavier line can be just the thing for taking a kid out on the water. And don't forget your fly rod. Wading to areas out of the wind opens up a whole new bunch of great spots where the fly angler can test his skills.

Large pickerel in the 2-3 pound range have been active in ponds around the island, with larger 4 pound fish being found occasionally. Many are being caught on live bait, but these fish will readily take artificials. Mepps #2 spinners with with a gold blade are consistently producing when fished under heavy cloud cover. These fish will also aggressively take streamer flies worked along the edge of the cattails. A small dun colored clauser type fly fished on a 4# tippet fished this way landed a 3.5 # fish in the last week.

White perch in the 1-1.5 pound range are being caught in Sesachacha and Long Ponds, with a few striped bass up to 10 pounds mixed in. Nearly all of them have been taken on 1/8oz. grubs fished along drop offs near shore. The most popular grub color is white, but an all black grub fished near the bottom has been the lure most effective at finding the stripers that are mixed in.

While the cooler temperatures have made fishing for crappie a bit more of a challenge, they can still be found along weed lines near deeper water. Schools of fish up to 1 pound can be found clinging to this submerged structure. Spinners and grubs have been the most popular artificals, but live bait has also produced its share of larger fish. The key is to slow down your presentation, giving the fish an easy target.

Small yellow perch can be had for the taking all day long using a variety of artificial and live offerings. If you're looking for a great way to get a kid into fishing, these fish are the ticket. A simple worm and bobber will allow them to catch 10-20 fish an hour. In addition, larger yellows of close to 1 pound can be found in deep water near drop offs. These fish are a bit more finicky than their smaller brethren and present a real challenge to catch, but if hooked on light line they can offer up a fun fight.

So even though the weather is getting colder and the saltwater game fish have begun their migration south, there's no reason to stop fishing. Dress for the weather and explore Nantucket's great freshwater fishing.

Tight Lines,

Capt. Corey Gammill
Capt. Cam Gammill
Capt. Nat Reeder
Dr. Mike Ruby
Bill Fisher's Tackle Shop
127 Orange Street
Nantucket, MA 02554
508-228-2261
billfishers@gmail.com
http://www.billfishertackle.com