In 2018, as the days grew longer, mid-May signaled the beginning of our annual, springtime bluefish season. The entire stretch of beach that flanks Nantucket Sound will hold blues from mid-May into early June, but there are a few spots that stand out as reliable producers, nearly every year. Topwaters, like this Guppy pencil popper, are some of the best and most exciting plugs to catch big bluefish on. Days when a 10-pounder would draw a casual shrug. That spring saw oily slicks and shimmering scales cover the flats as we plied the surf, with blues into the upper teens. The south side of Cape Cod in May of 2017 played out as many springs before it, with the aforementioned selection of baitfish and ravenous blues going to work. No, a blazing pencil popper or skipping lure will bring the choppers alive when in pursuit of prey. They typically don’t play games requiring a finesse approach. But there was no need for subtlety on this day.īluefish, by nature, are voracious predators. Herring, pogies, squid… with yellow-eyed devils casually in pursuit, triggered by a slight twitch of a fin, or a subtle splash of a popping plug. The wind howled from the southwest as the flooding tide, brought life across the bar. The ocean playing games with the palette as the clouds rolled across an otherwise brilliant sky.

It seems like a most beautiful dream, with turquoise and green, mixed with varying shades of blue and grey. South Cape plugging for big gator blues with bad attitudes. The author with the big chopper from the 2017 melee.

Gator bluefish