7.29.07

 Summer is herethat’s for sure. With inshore water temps in the low-to mid-70’s, we’ve had to change our approach this week.

Bonito are in town, and they’ve been the main targets for the past few days. The best bone fishing has been in the offshore rips south of the island, where some days it’s been hard to see a foot down into the water through the millions of sandeels stacked up out there. On days when the weather isn’t so cooperative, nice-sized bluefish are still stacking up in the near-shore rips in mind-blowing numbers, which has made for some pretty good sport this past week.

Bass fishing has slowed considerably—a combination of commercial pressure and warm water; but a nice push of bones and big bluefish makes for a good alternative. It is, after all, that time of year.

Bluefin tuna fishing has been pretty spotty to the south of the island as of late. The bait is there and the water is beginning to make up, so it shouldn’t be long before we get a fresh push of fish.

7.13.07
It's been a busy week of fishing on the Vineyard highlighted by the arrival of my favorite bass fishing conditionsdense, wet, blinding fog. Some mariners see it as a curse; I see it as the best thing that could happen to daytime bass fishing in July. Not only does the fog seem to embolden fish to feed on top, it also allows us to do what we do best on Martha's Vineyardthat is, sneak around and catch fish in relative solitude.

This past week saw conditions that were more reminiscent of mid-June than mid-July, and the fog certainly had a lot to do with it. Over the past week, I've had more 20+ pound bass come to the side of the boat than in any other week this year. The tides were great, the water remained relatively cool, and the squid were still kicking around as of yesterday morning.

The real bummer this week was the start of commercial bass season on Thursday. On Thursday morning I pulled out to a tiny mussel bar on the East Side that has been holding hundreds of large, fly rod-friendly fish for the last week to see it being literally cleaned out by a local commercial fleet. My clients went from catching at least 30 fish from 36-to 40+ inches on flies during the previous 2 days to a big fat "0" on that ledge the next. I won't get into rights and wrongs of the Massachusetts commercial bass regulations here just yet, but suffice to say that these boys are sticking it to a ton of beautiful, would-be resident fish.

On a lighter note, tuna season is shaping up nicely within range of the Rock. I took advantage of a slight break in foggy conditions last week to take a long, bumpy tuna mission. We ended up with 2 fish in the 60-pound range--one on fly and one on spin, so it was definitely worth the excercise. Hopefully, there will be more where that came from in the coming weeks...

7.5.07

 With water temps still hovering in the mid-to high-60’s in our oceanside spots, bass fishing continues impress us on a daily basis. Squid continue to be at the top of the menu, and some of the squid blitzes have been so intense that 5-to 10-inch squid are actually jumping right into the boat! The bass this week have been ranging anywhere from 26” to 30 pounds. The best days have been those with a lot of wind and large seas. As is often the case with stripers, wild weather leads to wild fishing. Add a whole bunch of squid to the mix and it can get downright crazy. It should be a great week of fishing ahead with a moderate SW breeze predicted for the next 4 or 5 days out.

Also, the first couple of bones have been caught in Island waters. Great to hear, but I wouldn’t expect any consistent greenie fishing for at least a couple of weeks.

On the shore scene, Lobsterville is still the word of the day. Fish up to 40” have been chewing flies and plugs consistently for the last week.

6.28.07

SW winds, light boat traffic, and tons of terrified squid added up to great bass fishing this past week on the Vineyard. Things are pretty good when way more keeper bass than bluefish come over the rail in the course of any given day. We’ve got quality and quantity right now with numerous flyrod fish between 20 and 30 pounds landed this week! 

To top it off, fresh fish seem to be arriving daily. This past Monday, we ran into a school of migrating fish in open water that must have numbered in the multiple thousands. Looking out to the horizon, you could barely see the end of this school of slurping, waking bass up to 30 pounds.

From the sand, Lobsterville has finally come alive this week along with many other lesser-known stretches of beach on the North Shore. Keep moving until you find what you’re looking for—that’s been the key for the past few nights.

Pick a point on the compass and go fishing. It’s tough to wrong these days!

6.21.07

The weather has finally cleared, and the fish were right back where we left them before the blow. This week has been June fishing at it's finest. From the boat, stripers from 10 to 30 pounds were a common sight for the fly rod and light tackle crew. Most days the action has been right on the surface, and if conditions are right, it can last all day. The most prevalent baits at the moment are squid as well as the thousands of immature (1”) sandeels that have recently invaded the east side of the Island.

Bluefish action remains strong island-wide. On a nice day, it’s tough to take a boat ride from any point to another without running into a few breaking bluefish.

From the beach, Lobsterville is starting to produce some consistent fishing. With dropping water starting to come around to the early evening in the coming week, up-island fly and plug fishing should be a good bet as long as the winds remain out of the West.

6.14.07

It feels more like October than June on the now windswept island of Martha’s Vineyard. Relentless winds from the Northeast have kept most anglers sidelined for the time being. Before the blow, we had fabulous topwater bass fishing in various shoals from East Beach all the way to the south shore of Nantucket. Fly-caught fish up to 25-pounds were becoming a pretty common sight before the wind got the best of us. It looks like we’re in for some drastic weather improvements this weekend, so get out there and catch some fish.

           The brave souls that slugged it out on the beach this week were also rewarded with some nice bass. Local hardcore surfcaster Morgan Taylor put a 52-pounder in the wash on Monday evening. That’s the first plug-caught “50” that’s been slid onto a Vineyard beach in at least a few years. My hat goes off to him…

6.12.07
Long story, short: Bass on squid all week long. This has been the best week of spring bass fishing I've seen in a couple of years. Fish are ranging from 27" to 30 pounds and are eating flies and plugs as fast as we can get them in the water (and that's pretty fast)...
6.1.07

Well, here it is, folks--my first official report of 2007. After 4 months of pushing after permit in Key West, it's nice to have a bit of cool spring breeze in my face--not to mention fish that actually want to bite! Things have been off to a running start on the island. For the past couple of weeks the fishing and weather have both been fairly consistent. At this point, bass have infiltrated every corner of the Island. The ponds are full of happy, hungry fish up to 36" or so, and in the past few days we've seen the first real nice squid blitzes in various rips in Vineyard Sound. In the bluefish department, it's pretty much an "all you want" affair for fish up to 10 pounds. Now that June is here, it won't be long until the oceanside rips load up with bass and we start measuring our fly-caught fish in pounds instead of inches. And speaking of pounds, a local charter captain fishing live bait in deep water weighed in a 60-pound bass on Wed., the 31st. I'd say the big girls are here. Stay tuned...


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