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Capt. Tom Mleczko

capttom2Capt. Tom has always had a passion, his wife would say obsession, with fishing. It did not matter whether he was dunking worms for Sunfish in the ponds around Boston as a young boy, sneaking up on Brook Trout in small brushy streams in New Hampshire, reef fishing for snappers in Puerto Rico, or chasing Striped Bass and Bluefish along the beaches and jetties off the south shore of Long Island as a teenager. He was always happiest when he was wetting a line in pursuit of his favorite past time.

He graduated from college in 1970 and had the opportunity to spend some time on Nantucket. It was paradise. The fishing was and still is extraordinary. He decided to spend the fall and winter on the island. The fall run of Striped Bass was strong. He took many fish both on spinning rod and fly rod. His first flyrod bass was taken on a six weight, fiberglass trout rod fishing a Grey Ghost streamer. It was a great thrill. He decided that he had found the place where he wanted to settle.

Along with all of this fishing, Capt Tom had time and the good fortune of meeting his future bride, Bambi Gifford. They were married in the fall of 1971. Capt. Tom was working many odd jobs to make ends meet and fishing every spare minute, night and day. His wife suggested that he share his passion for fishing with others and start a charter fishing business. She hoped that fishing with clients during the day, would mean that her husband could spend more time at home at nights. Like any good husband, he took her advice the following summer. She is very understanding; now Capt. Tom fishes both day and night.

The water and fishing around Nantucket is spectacular, some of the best in the world. In the beginning of his career, Capt Tom set out to combine this unique beauty with his passion for fishing and share this with his clients. It was not only the Nantucket experience that is important to Capt. Tom but it is how his clients and friends go about this experience.

Capt. Tom is rigged and able to troll wire for some deep fish if you'd like. Yet Capt. Tom has always fished with either a spinning rod or a fly rod in hand, just like the majority of Nantucketers have done for years. So 99% of the time, one will find Capt Tom and his clients spin or fly casting the rips, bars and surf line.

In the late 80s, Capt. Tom discovered a new and very exciting fishery; sight fishing with flyrods on the flats for Striped Bass! At the time, no one would have believed you could use a bonefish type approach to Striped Bass. In the early 90s, he added a flats boat to his fleet and began to share this slice of Nantucket fishing with his clients. Roccus rides proudly as the oldest flats boat on Nantucket, and continues to put anglers on fish after fish.

It is important to Capt. Tom that his clients experience the best in what Nantucket has to offer. His schedule is dominated by return clientele that has made Capt Tom's Charters a part of their Nantucket experience. Many of our fish may also be return fighters, because the only fish killed on our boats are those you'd like to put on your grill.

Capt. Tom feels that a fish is too valuable a resource to catch only once. Most of the fish caught are released to fight another day. He is not against keeping an occasional fish for the dinner table, but gone are the days of the massive bluefish and bass slaughters. Thank goodness!