Best Times & Seasons to Fish Nantucket (A Complete Guide)

Nantucket is one of the best fishing destinations on the east coast and abound with huge numbers of gamefish. Knowing the best time of year and of the day to fish Nantucket can make a huge difference for you and lead to more fun fishing.

The best times to fish in Nantucket is May through September for mahi mahi, striped bass, and bluefish. August through mid-fall is the best fishing window for false albacore, bluefin tuna, and bonito.

Fish Species	Best Times to Fish in Nantucket
False Albacore	September through November is the hot season for false albacore.
Mahi Mahi	Late May through mid-August is the best season for mahi mahi in Nantucket.
Striped Bass	July through late September is the best striper fishing time.
Bluefin Tuna	August through October is the best fishing window for tuna in Nantucket.
Bluefish	June through September is the best fishing time for bluefish.
Bonito	Early August through October is the best fishing window.

Nantucket is a small cluster of islands just off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The main island is known as Nantucket Island, a fishing destination that can go toe to toe with some of the best fisheries in the country.

Best Time to Fish Nantucket

Nantucket has proven itself time and time again that it is a world-class fishery. The best months to fish here are June through mid-October. Around these times, you can find a wide variety of fish that are actively feeding. The stripers, tuna, bonito, mahi mahi, and bluefish all make their way towards Nantucket as the water warms up, so you will have plenty of opportunities to catch fish during these times.

Best Seasons to Book a Charter

Nantucket is a lesser-known spot, compared to other New England fishing spots. It does have a busy season, generally being in the mid-summer, but doesn’t get insanely crowded. You’ll find the most variety of fish during mid to late summer and a good variety of quality-sized fish around September.

Species of Nantucket: Best Times to Fish

Mahi Mahi (Dolphin)

These fish have a unique look to them, from the way they’re shaped to their bright green and blue colors. Mahi mahi are also great tasting, with many local restaurants offering it on their menu.

Mahi Mahi make trips inshore when the water is consistently above 70 degrees, which usually happens in late summer. During colder months, they move offshore near wrecks and other structure.

Squid strips and lures have proven to be the most effective bait for mahi, when you’re fishing deeper inshore water or offshore. You can troll these baits and expect to catch a variety of fish with occasionally getting into a school of mahi mahi. As for inshore, you can use the same bait, just hand retrieve it rather than troll with it. Flies also work very well as inshore bait for mahi, anything that looks like a shiny minnow will do the trick.

Mahi tend to stick around deep wrecks and other types of structure, but that doesn’t mean you have to sit on the same wreck all day, they roam and make somewhat of a perimeter around the wreck, giving you some leniency on where you can target them. As for targeting them inshore, you should look for structure in open water and try to cover a lot of water in the 7-15’ depth range.

For a complete breakdown of the best time to fish Cape May, please check out this helpful article I wrote.

False Albacore

September is the best time to catch the false albacore, the water is warm and the fish are active. In some cases, the albacore can be found here through November, if the water temperatures stay warm. 

Nantucket has such good false albacore fishing because of all of the baitfish hovering around the island. Using any kind of shiny, oily bait will work great for false albacore, lures that imitate these will work as well. Some ways to rig this would be a 3-way swivel rig, 2-way swivel rig, or any other rig that has enough weight to get to hold the bait in a certain area while giving it enough line to swim around and look natural.

You can target these fish by inshore and surf fishing, making them very cost-effective fish. You can rig up a minnow and cast out into about 10’ of water and sit and wait. Jetties or piers are great ways to get to deeper water from shore and can also help your presentation look more natural compared to if you were casting from a beach, which makes it so your bait is only retrieved in one direction.

Striped Bass

Striped bass make their migration north around May when water temperatures start to warm up. They chase schools of eels, herring, and squid. You can find stripers all the way through late August or until the water starts cooling down again, June and July are great times to target stripers. Mid-day is a very popular time of day to target them because the water is warmed by the sun, making the stripers and baitfish more active.

Soft plastics are a great, cost-effective choice for these fish, anything that imitates the local food (squid, eels, herring). Live bait will also work great, if you want to be more confident in your bait, live bait is always a solid choice.

Stripers can be caught in both saltwater and freshwater, mainly around deep structures or right off the drop off of a sandbar. You can find plenty of stripers in the sounds/bays, lakes, rivers, or inlets of Nantucket.

Bonito

Bonito like to show up around late summer through September because the water is consistently warm and doesn’t get nearly as cold as it would during the spring. Late morning and early afternoon are generally good times to target bonito, the sun will warm the water up and they’ll be roaming for food.

A popular tactic to catch bonito is to troll lures through areas with strong currents. If you can manage to figure out the direction and general location of the main current, try to fish just outside of it, the bonito will sit just outside of the main current looking for baitfish to swim by them.

A popular spot near Nantucket is just of the southwest coast of the island. The current is strong and there is plenty of baitfish for the bonito. Bonito love strong currents, it brings fresh, clean water to them and brings a variety of food right to them.

Bluefish

As with most of the other fish on this list, bluefish are very active around Nantucket from June to September, the water is warmer and there are plenty of baitfish to go around. Bluefish can be caught all day but generally, the best time of day is around dawn and dusk, when they’re most active.

Bluefish are very aggressive, inshore feeders. Topwater plugs can be extremely effective, just cast them in 5-10 feet of water and hold on tight. You can also use lures like crankbaits and spoons, but if you mainly just want to catch bluefish, plugs will be your best bet. They’ll hit hard and fight hard, so strong equipment is necessary.

Bluefish are so popular because they can be caught at basically any beach on Nantucket, and not too far from shore either. Cast your plug just past a sandbar, around structure, or around the eddies of a strong current and you can expect to get some.

Tuna

The best time to catch tuna in Nantucket is fall, the fish start migrating north into the deeper waters offshore of Nantucket. Smaller tuna have been recently moving inshore around Nantucket, making it not uncommon to get one while targeting other species.

Drift with live or dead bait, squid, pogies, sardines, and other oily fish, most charters will either do a fast drift or trolling with these baits, because tuna are known to be aggressive eaters. Unless if you have your own deep-sea boat and all of the tuna equipment, your best bet is to get a charter to take care of those things, which will make your day on the water much more relaxing.

Most tuna are caught offshore, with a charter, they usually troll in open water. Tuna can be somewhat hard to find, but once you get on a spot, you’ll be able to take a few passes and get plenty of fish. The main way tuna are found is by following schools of baitfish or looking for structure.

Nantucket also offers Sailfish, Marlin, swordfish, sharks, and plenty more species. Atlantic Cod are also present here, but the numbers are very low and there are limits to how many you can catch, they are generally caught deep sea fishing in the winter.

Recommended Fishing Charters in Nantucket

These Nantucket-based charters have earned great reviews from anglers and will offer you a tremendous service. The captains are knowledgeable, friendly, and are sure to put you on fish. By clicking the links below, you will be taken to the charter’s respective profile on Fishing Booker where you can read reviews, learn more about the charter, view photos, and book online at the best rate.

Recommended Fishing Charters	Type of Fishing Offered
Grey Dolphin Sportfishing Charters	Inshore & Offshore
Salt Shaker Charters	Inshore & Offshore
JenniferAnn Sportfishing Charters	Inshore & Offshore
Cape Cod Charter Guys	Inshore & Offshore
First Light Sportfishing	Inshore & Offshore

Best Time of Day to Fish Nantucket

Some of the best fishing Nantucket has to offer is late morning or early evening inshore fishing. A variety of species move inshore, to the warmer water, where the baitfish are. They’ll still look for cover so that they aren’t directly in the sun, but the fish can be found all over the flats.

You can find bonito, bluefish, false albacore, stripers, and mahi mahi. The season, tides, and other conditions have an impact on what time of day will be best for when you go, but the most commonly fished time year-round is late morning or early evening.

Tidal Impacts on Nantucket Fishing

The tide can make or break your day on the water. You’ll catch the most fish as the tide is rising because the extra current pushes baitfish closer to shore, which attracts the predators. The rising tide also brings in clean water, which attracts all kinds of fish.

Fishing gets worse as the tides stabilize, whether it be high or low tide, fishing at the peaks won’t produce nearly as many fish on a normal day. Fishing while the tide is falling can be great if you time it right, the fishing will pick up for a bit when it first starts receding and gradually gets worse as it approaches the lowest point. Keep an eye on the charts for the day you’re planning on fishing and plan accordingly.

Affect of Rain & Tropical Storms on Fishing in Nantucket

Nantucket has a long history of tropical storms, some of them taking miles away from the already quick eroding shoreline. This has made the ocean floor surrounding the island very sandy. You won’t want to fish during the storm, but the island offers some solid fishing before and after.

If the wind is coming from the south, there is the Nantucket Harbor on the north island to fish, it will be somewhat protected from the rough conditions, giving the fish a place to getaway. If it’s a Northeaster, the southwest side of the island has currents that act like roads for the fish, and will also be somewhat protected from the wind.

Either way, safety is always key and no fish is worth risking damages or your life for, pay attention to the weather because it can change rapidly during a tropical storm.

Night Fishing in Nantucket

Night fishing can be a great time in Nantucket if you can brace the weather. Summer is the best time for nightfishing as the conditions will be much calmer and warmer, making everything much easier than if you went in the winter.

You can find all the species mentioned before while fishing at night, some fish will move deeper and be a little more sparse, but there will still be fish. If you’re planning on using lures, something that makes a lot of noise or vibrations, plug or crank, will work well. If you’re planning on live bait, any oily fish will work, herring especially.

Shore & Surf Fishing in Nantucket

Nantucket offers great shore fishing, you can catch bluefish, striped bass, false albacore, and a few other species from shore here. Fishing in the Nantucket Sound has proven to be a productive method for anglers looking to have a fish-filled day. Some popular tactics are to rig a live oily bait and let it sit near some current or structure and wait for a bite.

Best Fishing Spots in Nantucket

Surf/Shore Fishing

Nantucket offers excellent surf fishing, with a lot of beaches, jetties, and piers, you’ll be able to find the perfect spot for what you’re targeting.

Eel Point

Eel Point is on the northwest side of the island and looks like an upside-down fish hook. The point holds a ton of fish because of the protection the point gives. There is Esther island just south of the point, this creates a current that feeds right into the little bay made by the point.

That current pushes fish into some shallower areas by the point, making them within reach of shore anglers. You can find almost any Nantucket species here making it a great spot.

For a complete breakdown of the best times to fish Montauk, please check out this helpful article. For a complete breakdown of the best times to fish near Portsmouth, please check out this helpful article I wrote.

Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge

This spot is perfect for anglers looking to venture into the wilderness for a day. The refuge is over 1100 acres and ends at the Great Point Lighthouse. There are a ton of good fishing spots within the refuge, with Great Point being one of the best.

Anglers will line up on the beach and catch fish all day even if they’re 20 feet away from each other. This spot is where the sound meets the Atlantic Ocean, drawing in plenty of fish.

Cisco Beach and Hummock Pond

Cisco Beach is located on the south side of the island, right by Hummock pond which is a horseshoe shape that stretches all the way to the middle of the island, connects to another pond. In the pond, you can find striped bass, pickerel, and smallmouth bass.

The south part of the pond is the most popular as you can catch bass and take a 5-minute walk and catch a bluefish if you’d like. The best time to fish these spots would be early afternoon as the water starts to warm up. Some bigger fish can be caught on Cisco beach, there is no harbor or jetty blocking the current, allowing bigger fish to freely move between deeper water and water closer to the beach.

Hoicks Hollow

Hoicks Hollow is located on the east side of the island, looking straight out to the Atlantic. As with the other spots, you can find a wide variety of species here. The best times to fish this spot would be mid-day as the water warms up and brings fish closer to shore. Live bait works extremely well anywhere on the island, but with a spot where you’re not sure what you’re going to pull up, it’s even better.

In-shore

Fishing inshore all around the island can produce a number of fish, don’t limit yourself to these spots, there are a lot of factors that can affect different species and spots. With that being said, these spots are on average some of the best on Nantucket.

Nantucket Harbor and surrounding areas

Nantucket Harbor is a large area on the north side of the island with too many spots to count. Whether your inshore or surf fishing here, you can expect a solid day of fishing. The north part of the harbor offers great fishing, just south of the Great Point lighthouse. The southern area is great as well, with a little less room to work with.

Tuckernuck Island

Tuckernuck Island offers a great experience for anglers looking to venture off the main island. You can fish the northern flats for bluefish and stripers or you can head to the south side of the island and find a large number of bonito.

Off-shore

Nantucket Sound is a great area to go catch some big fish. The sound goes down to 85 feet, giving these bigger fish a great habitat to live in. Bottom fishing is a well-utilized technique used in Nantucket. Charters will get set up with a handful of rods, bait them up and drop them straight to the bottom and let them sit. Usually, you’ll catch fluke, grouper, and countless other species doing this.

Generally speaking, if you’re going offshore, you’re going to have a charter. Your captain will probably look for offshore wrecks, reefs, and other deep-water structures. All these spots will hold lots of fish, making offshore fishing a great option for a variety of fish. 

For a complete breakdown of the best time and season to fish Cape Cod, please check out this helpful article. For a complete breakdown of the best time and season to fish Boston, please check out this helpful article. For a complete breakdown of the best time and season to catch bluefish, please check out this helpful article. For a complete breakdown of the best times to fish near NYC, please check out this helpful article I wrote. For a complete breakdown of the best times to fish near Long Island, please check out this helpful article I wrote.