deep sea fishing cape cod, cape cod inshore fishing, shallow saltwater fishing cape cod, tuna fishing off Cape Cod, sport fishing off Nantucket, bluefin tuna fishing massachusetts, fishing equipment reviews

The 2010 canyon season was outstanding when we could get out there. The bluewater south of Cape Cod was alive. This far away mysterious fishery rivals any bluewater fishery around the world. Where else can you fish, and be guaranteed to catch something? The fish out there are untouched. These trips are always a true adventure. The fishing in 2010 put the 2009 season to shame! We caught big fish on every trip to the edge, and managed billfish on all trips but two! There were a ton of marlin out there this year, and that is a positive sign for years to come. We averaged 4 to 5 shots at billfish on the troll each day. The whites were literally all over the place. It was the best white marlin season I have ever seen. Record catches were taken all up and down the east coast. Had we been focusing on white marlin, and not multiple species, we could have easily wound up catching double digits of billfish on practically every trip. The boys were on their toes in the cockpit, and we were able to bait a pile of nice fish. Some of our clients chose to set the hook themselves, which is fine. We encourage that. The weather in September knocked us out of canyon fishing, but up until then, it was pretty much lock and load. Lets take a look at what happened.

We took our first trip to the edge in mid July. 90 percent of the time the canyons are ready to go by the end of June. This season was no different. I enjoy taking early season runs to the canyons as were usually one of the first boats to get out there and pounce on the action. The early season fish are usually very aggressive, and not shy at all, especially the yellowfin tuna. If you're considering fishing out there with us, I would set your sights on an early season trip as opposed to a later one, especially since weather is always a factor, and fishing early means better possibility of rescheduling. We began our season working the water just north of Veatch Canyon. There was a good warm water eddy there all summer. The color was azure blue and there were good concentrations of weedlines and bait balls. The place was also loaded with yellowfin tuna from 30 to 100 pounds. We hammered into action the entire time we fished there. We were also tested by some very big blue marlin, one which we caught on the first day...in the first hour. What a great way to start the season! This particular fish was caught by 8 time returning Castafari guest, Dan Markham. I probably yelled at Dan for the majority of time he fought the fish...making his lifetime experience that much more enjoyable. It was his first big fish ever...and he was fighting a 400 pound class blue on stand up tackle. Good times were had by all. The marlin were all over the place out there...up on the flats...in the deep...on the flyers...everywhere. We caught three to the boat for a release. God knows how many we hooked and jumped off. The mahi were everywhere this year too. Though they weren't huge fish like last year, they were decent fish averaging 15 to 20 pounds. The tuna early on were solid 50 pound class fish, with an occasional 80 pounder thrown in.

The weather in July was spectacular. It actually felt like summer out there! The water temps were in the high 70's, and the color was perfect. It looked like Bermuda. It might as well been to be perfectly honest. The first few trips out there in July produced multiple marlin tallies. The water from Atlantis right on over to Veatch was filthy with fish. Scattered billfish basking on the surface and pods of hungry tuna pushing below. The fish weren't always hungry! The action came and went...which isn't uncommon for out there. The bluewater can be very unpredictable. There were plenty of boats that couldn't buy a fish. Swimming ballyhoo and mackerel baits were the winning ticket for us when the fish became temperamental. The yellowfin were all decent fish...nothing under 40 pounds. We also encountered some doubles and triples on white marlin. That was exciting! The weather remained picture perfect through July! The water pushed from east to west, and so did the fish. Eventually the ecosystem reached too far to the west and it was time to find another patch of fishy blue ocean.

By the time August rolled around, we were one of the few boats to discover an incredible fishery taking place at Hydrographer Canyon. There was a thriving offshore ecosystem loaded with live. We fished the Block Island Tri-State Bluewater tournament which is always a blast. We ran 130 miles...one way! It was well worth our efforts as we absolutely loaded up on yellowfin, and missed a bigeye! Two straight days of trolling produced well over 30 tuna to 60 pounds...but we missed the one shot we needed NOT to miss...the eyeball. Right at dusk too...one fish blasted completely out of the ocean...solid 200 pound plus. I knew where we would continue fishing throughout early August, and we continued working the area on following trips to the edge. The next trip out...right on our numbers from the tournament, we doubled up on bigeye and after a very heated battle, we lost both fish...one right at the boat...total heartbreaker. But the flip side to the equation was we caught a bunch of great fish, including a big 400 pound class blue marlin and two white marlin. We raised a marlin every hour on average...the action was outstanding. We also managed our biggest yellowfin of the season...a 92 pounder. Where was this fish during the block island tournament! The night bite was pretty non-existent for us which was disappointing. We had a couple of bites from swordfish but nothing to write home about, and we were not alone in our frustration at night. The morning troll made up for it though. This place was loaded with massive schools of yellowfin tuna, surrounded by pods of blue and white marlin...and wahoo too! We had our entire spread chopped to bits on more than one occasion.

Eventually this action slid to the west and broke apart leaving behind an oceanic desert. We wound up trolling for 60 miles before finally discovering another thriving ecosystem at Oceanographer Canyon...130 miles from the beach. One thing about Castafari fishing is that we go where we need to go to catch fish...end of story. If the fish are half way to the Azores...thats where were going! We experienced some great action with more yellowfin in this area. The fish were a little bigger too, averaging 60 to 70 pounds...very nice fish. We encountered some decent action with white marlin, but didn't encounter any blues way out there. There were some blue marlin around though. The consistent action with wolfpacks of yellowfin made up for it though. We hooked 6 fish at once a few times! On more than a few days out there, we were tossing 75 pound tuna back into the ocean as the fish holds were chock full!

Then September came...and the storms came with it. There was so much wind, that we literally fished 5 days all month...5 DAYS. It was the worst September I have ever seen! The couple of trips we made however did produce some good action with more blue and white marlin, big yellowfin, and some monster wahoo, including a fish that clocked in at 105 pounds...biggest hoo to grace the decks of the Castafari...a true monster. It was a great way to wind up the season with a bang up trip...2 wahoo, a big 500 pound class blue marlin, a swordfish, and a bunch of big yellowfin to 90 pounds. We were ready to switch gears and chase giant bluefin tuna, especially after my phone started ringing with reports of big schools of hungry fish chowing down and boats coming in with 3 fish. I am very excited about the 2011 offshore fishing season. I will be booking 2 day bluewater trips starting in early July. The bluewater fishery that exists off of our coast is world class, and a true adventure. If you decide to fish with us, just be sure and bring lots of wasabi and cooler space for fish!