PROVINCETOWN – In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, “surf fishing was king here on Cape Cod,” said Paul Newmier, manager of Blackbeard’s Bait & Tackle in Eastham. “People came from all over the country to go surf fishing here.”
In something hard to imagine and yet true, the last bait & tackle store in the surfcasting mecca of water-surrounded Provincetown, Nelson’s Bait & Tackle, closed late this summer.
“Surf fishing has basically disappeared,” said Newmier. “My store is the last one on the Outer Cape.”
Rich Wood, owner of Nelson’s Bait & Tackle, which closed forever in 2015.
As yet another sign of the changes occurring on the Outer Cape, Blackbeard’s is now the only bait & tackle store in the 26-mile stretch of what was once prime surf fishing from Provincetown to Orleans.
“Surf fishing has basically disappeared”
Rich Wood, who owned Nelson’s for the last 11 years, said, “We make our money in July and August. You know halfway through July what’s going to happen, Well, halfway through July, I was double digits minus what was I was last year, which was worse than all previous years. It was trending even worse.”
So he (pardon the pun) cut bait.
“This is a retirement part-time type of gig,” said Wood of a bait & tackle shop. “This is not a year-round profession raise-a-family type-of-thing.” Wood also owns Beth Ann Charters, which is successful, he said.
Wood said, “When we started, there was a shop in every town from here to Orleans. There were two in Wellfleet that were seasonal shops.”
“Five or six years ago, I bought the guys out in Truro,” said Wood. “They called it quits.”
“I ran (the Truro store) for three years. The first year, we made a little money. The second year, we made a little money. The third year, we lost all the money we made the first two years,” said Wood.
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