Kayak Fishing for Bluefin Tuna: Cape Ann, Massachusetts

East Coast kayak fishermen(for the best inflatable kayak visit this resource page) from Maine to the Carolinas interested in catching their first bluefin tuna will do well to take a long and careful look at the North Shore Massachusetts towns of Gloucester and Rockport.

Just an hour's drive from Boston, Gloucester and Rockport, set on the rocky granite outcropping known as Cape Ann, are a unique world unto themselves, not only for the variety of groundfish (pollock, cod, haddock) available in its nearshore waters, but also for the yearly arrival of three coveted pelagics: the heavily-targeted striped bass, the under-rated but truly delicious bluefish, and, finally, that perhaps most coveted of New England sportfish, bluefin tuna.

So-called football bluefin tuna arrive and feed in the nearshore waters of Cape Ann anytime between mid July and the end of October. Their arrival from distant corners and regions of the vast North Atlantic Ocean coincides with the arrival of bluefish and shoal-like schools of mackerel, two fish that migrate through these waters from late summer to late fall.

Bluefin tuna are fast-swimming and exciting to catch, and quite good to eat. Their caloric needs and demands are enormous. Thus they arrive in New England waters between Maine and the Stellwaggen Seamount waters of Cape Cod Bay not because they enjoy the balmy weather, uncongested waters and, relatively speaking, bath-like temperatures of the New England water column. They show up to feed on those previously mentioned mackerel and maligned bluefish.

Books, DVDs, TV shows have been written, produced broadcast and, with succeeding generations, fallen in and out of favor, on how to target, catch, fight, and land bluefin tuna. The key is where to find them. And when.

Enter the shorelines of Rockport and Gloucester, Massachusetts, from their nearshore waters off Milk and Thachers Islands, off Rockport, to the more open somewhat more intimidating waters off Rockport's northeastern Halibut Point and Gloucester's northwestern shores from Folly and Lanes Coves. And too the vast open stretch of water from Ipswich Bay to Newburyport and New Hampshire and the mouth of the fast-moving Merrimack River.

The kayak and inshore powerboat fisherman looking for bluefin tuna this in this worthy and relatively unknown but still-carefully target area need equipped with gear which is not so much different as a highly-exaggerated version of what they use when fishing for striped bass: trolling gear, leader, swimmer and popper lures.

Bait and lures needs to be bigger, as do hooks, rods and reels, terminal tackle, and, finally, the kayak fisherman's kayaking skills, physical endurance, and ability to land large, brutally powerful fish.

The kayak fisherman accustomed to slowly trolling shoreline structure 15 feet to 25 yards offshore and the mild physical needs this type of fishing demands -- essentially the ability to sit on your rear end for hours while trolling at molasses speeds -- need not apply. The angler in a kayak needs open water and rough water paddling skills plus the physical endurance and willingness to paddle further offshore, and at a much faster clip.

In essence, the typical kayak fisherman's 10 to 12 foot sit-on-top or sit-in kayak won't quite do the trick unless you happen across a school of bluefin tuna within a stone's throw of the shoreline or put in.

The kayak fisherman looking for bluefin will need to be delivered offshore via powerboat trailered in at Rockport's Granite Pier. Or he or she will need the skills and abilities to paddle a longer, faster kayak 14 feet long or longer, or, a 17 or 18 foot fiberglass sea kayak, from the handful of put-ins that service the area.

Here are put-ins in Gloucester and Rockport that yield access to Cape Ann's bluefin tuna waters. In Rockport, try Pebble Beach, a small rock- and boulder- covered beach with a steep firm and oftentimes intimidating launching conditions.

Also in Rockport, try Old Garden beach, a five to six minute drive from the quaint streets of downtown Rockport, where launching kayaks is informally allowed before after Labor Day weekend. Third put-in in Rockport is Back beach, also a five-minute drive from downtown Rockport, where you'll have to stuff the long-term parking meters with quarters.

Fourth on the list is Folly Cove off route 127, where the Gloucester villages of Lanesville and Bayview look across Ipswich Bay's open expanses. Parking in the tiny lot is restricted to Gloucester residents in June, July and August.

Finally, kayak fishermen looking for immediate access to Ipswich Bay, from the mouth of the Annisquam River to the open waters east of Coffins and Crane Beaches, can use the free public ramp and good-sized parking lot at Lanes Cove. Just be sure to use the ramp and avoid the temptation to plow through the eelgrass on foot (and thereby destroying baitfish hatching habitat).

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