Nomans Land Striped Bass

These eyes had been open for far too long.

Yesterday was a layday and a chance to get some much needed rest. My marathon started Friday when the alarm went off at 1:30 AM -- it was time to work on my gear and load up the Durango for the trip to Marion, MA. At 6:00 I met up with George from “Think Twice” charters and we transferred my gear into his 28’ Pursuit for the long ride to Nomans Land. It was a gorgeous morning with light wind out of the north…not a particularly good fishing wind, but at least it was under 10 knots.


At Nomans we met up with the film crew from On The Water magazine’s TV show, “Fishing New England.” Once again all my gear needed to be transferred to another boat and it was time to start the camera rolling. Nomans Land Island is an extremely interesting place to fish, seeing how if you head due south the next land mass you’ll run into is Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, about 1,500 miles away. Head East and 3,000 miles later, you’ll run into the Canary Islands. In other words, it’s out there.



For many years it was used as a target range for the Navy who took over the island in 1942 by eminent domain. It has been a wildlife refuge since 1998 and no one is allowed on the island. Although there was a nearly 2 million dollar cleanup effort, there is still some unexploded ordinance on the island and in the surrounding surf. It certainly made me look twice before I settled down on the bottom.

Neil Larson and Chris Megan started fishing with live eels and it wasn’t long before I was called into service to video the last stages of the fight. Before the day was over I would film and video several bass in the 20 and mid-30 pound range being brought to the boat. I also spent over 2 hours in the water exploring this remote outpost. The bottom ranged from a desert of sand to rocky shoals studded with massive boulders and turbulent water. I covered nearly a mile of shoreline but I wasn’t surprised to find all the fish concentrated in only a few tight areas. Without giving away Twice’s honey holes, I can tell you this: with ANY ISLAND find the extreme corners of the land, and fish the north, south, east and west TIPS of the island and you’ll run into fish. Catch the show when it airs and you’ll see some nice fish that I found on a boulder field while scouting the area.

We made a quick pit stop for gas in Menemsha Harbor where I got a chance to say hello to the fine folks at Larsen’s Seafood Market and where I finally got a chance to eat my late breakfast/lunch at 4:00 PM. By the time I returned home, unpacked all the gear, washed it down and transferred the digital images, it was 10:30 and time to hit the sack.

striped bass