Topic: Fishing

Shore fishing has slowed down according to Janet Messineo of Martha's Vineyard Fishing Charters and Taxidermy. It has been a fantastic striper season and many new anglers have gotten hooked on surfcasting because the bluefish and bass have kept their interest. The FLUKE season closed on August 15th. Bonito are being landed at the Hooter off the south shore and splashing schools have been spotted from Norton Point Beach and State Beach in Oak Bluffs. By next week every jetty on the Vineyard will be lined with BONITO fanatics armed with light gear and small bait imitations. Eels late at night are probably the only chance for a striper for the next few weeks. The False Albacore will be hot on the trail of the Bonito. Once the albi's come in big numbers it becomes more difficult to hook a bonito. They compete of the same food and the albi's being larger and faster push the bones off into deeper water where only the boats have a chance.

Cooper Gilkes at Coop's Bait and Tackle says bonito are showing from Tashmoo to Cape Poge. The bass are spotty on the beaches but there are bluefish galore. Sea bass and scup still provide action for bottom fishermen. The offshore bite slowed to the South this week but is still strong in Chatham.

Check out the 147th Annual Aggie fair on the 21-24th. Look for the MV Surfcaster display on "How to Catch a Fish."

Check back every Thursday for a new report. –Tee Clarkson

Justin at Coop's Bait and Tackle reports that the bass fishing has been good on the South Shore and Squibnocket at night. Anglers using squid on the bottom are doing the best. Bluefishing is good as well. Some bonito are starting to show. Fluking continues to be good. The season goes out on Friday, so if you want a fluke for dinner, you better get out there immediately. Offshore, bigger dolphin and bigger yellowtail are being caught in Atlantis Canyon.

In between the thunder and lightning storms the fishing has still been quite good for August according to Janet Messineo of Martha's Vineyard Fishing Charters and Taxidermy. All the beaches on Chappy are now open. The Piping Plovers have hatched and fledged, and although you must always drive with caution, the fishing access is amazing. East beach is the place to wait for the Bonito and False Albacore. Light line with no hardware. Try the 3/4 oz Magnet made by Charlie Cinto. They can't resist it.

Don't forget to catch Dick Russell author of Striper Wars on the 27th at the Chilmark Library. It's free.

Check back every Thursday for a new report. –Tee Clarkson

Cooper Gilkes at Coop's Bait and Tackle says Bluefish are everywhere and feeding like crazy.

Bottom fishing for scup, seabass, and fluke continues to be good. Fluking is best toward the Middle Ground. The bonito continue to show up in greater numbers. Nothing heavy yet but hopefully the start of something good.

Off shore fishing is phenomenal. Cooper headed out last week and their boat caught 5 yellowfin, 2 bluefin, 50 dorado, and a blue marlin somewhere north of 600 lbs! The fish of a lifetime Cooper said.

Janet Messineo of Martha's Vineyard Fishing Charters and Taxidermy keeps expecting to hit the summer doldrums for stripers but that is NOT happening. The rips off of Chappiquidick continue to give up nice bass up to 30lbs for the boater and 20lb stripers are still being had along the south shore. Yummy little bluefish are still found under diving turns outside all the harbors and pond openings. You can target these fish on any of the jetties the last two hours of a falling tide. Edgartown Harbor is full of these cocktail blues and schoolie bass. It's difficult to catch them between the boat traffic so daybreak is the best time to try.

Don't miss author Dick Russell at the Chilmark Public Library on August 27. His book Striper Wars is a must read. There is no charge and his talk starts at 5:30pm.

Check back every Thursday for a new report. –Tee Clarkson

Picture by Ben Scott

The bluefish are everywhere according to Janet Messineo of Martha's Vineyard Fishing Charters and Taxidermy. These bluefish are bigger than snappers but smaller than what are known as Rat Blues. Janet calls them Cocktail Blues. They probably weigh about 1lb. to 1 1/2lbs. Excellent eating and a perfect fish for the young anglers first catch! Not as difficult as an adult Bluefish but still quite a challenge. Larger bluefish , 6 to 8 lbs, can still be found by the boaters in deeper water.

Capt. Ed Jerome of the Wayfarer reports that he is having a great time with his charters in the Wasque rip. The Stripers are on one day and off the next but big blues and an occasional Bonito are keeping all the charter captains busy.Boat and Shore anglers are still on the edge of their seats waiting for the arrival of the Atlantic Bonito.

Cooper Gilkes at Coop's Bait and Tackle reports that bass fishing is slow and scattered. Bottom fishing is still good for fluke, scup, and sea bass.

Check back every Thursday for a new report. ¬–Tee Clarkson

Hayden Israel from California caught this fish with Janet on his 7th birthday.

Cooper Gilkes at Coop's Bait and Tackle reports that bass fishing has slowed tremendously. A few bonito are starting to show up. There are tons of blues behind the island with some real bruisers mixed in. There are also some small bluefin around as well. Fluking continues to be pretty steady with tons of big scup in the mix.

Janet Messineo of Martha's Vineyard Fishing Charters and Taxidermy says the summer doldrums have set in. What a difference a week can make. Other than a few small bluefish driving bait to the surface and attracting the diving terns, all is too peaceful on the Vineyard this week. The commercial striped bass season has begun. You can now buy fresh island striped bass in the fish markets. Menemsha jetty is surrounded by small bluefish and rumor has it that an Atlantic Bonito was taken by a shore angler this week. Everyone, boat and shore are armed with light tackle waiting for these fish to show. There are usually 2 to 3 good weeks of bonito fishing before the False Albacore come charging in. Once this happens the bonito move off shore.

Any of jetties around the Vineyard are fun places to take the kids. Scup, cunners and dogfish keep the young ones busy with a small piece of squid resting on the bottom. An occasional Fluke can make the day.

Check back every Thursday for a new report. –Tee Clarkson

Photo by Captain Craig Cantelmo

Janet Messineo of Vineyard Surfcaster Charters and Taxidermy reports that the fishing has remained consistent. While conventional wisdom says surf fishing would die off after the 4th, anglers spent another good week landing 15 to 20lb striped bass until the sun came up.

Not even shark reports affected the fishing. On July 9th it was reported that a very large great white shark was spotted, and many of the Vineyard beaches were closed to swimmers. Fortunately one of the reports was found to be a malicious tale and others were never really confirmed.

The waters all around the Vineyard are keeping shore and boat anglers very happy. Janet spent a day aboard the Femme Fatale with Capt's Jen Clark and Hollis Smith last week. They had a great morning and came home with 6 beautiful Striped Bass, many bluefish, scup, fluke and black sea bass. Being a taxidermist, Janet, was thrilled to come home with a 6 1/2 lb Black Sea Bass and 2 17" Scup. What a day!
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By the end of the month fisherman will be looking for the elusive Atlantic Bonito. Armed with light tackle gear and lures that imitate peanut bunker, sandeels and silversides the beaches and jetties will become lined up just before day break with hopes of hooking up to a bonito.

Check back for a new report every Thursday. –Tee Clarkson