Martha's Vineyard fishing reports

2008-08-22T14:45:00.001-04:00

Fishing The Vineyard Report 8/22/08

Pretty good time for the Fishing the Vineyard kids out here on the rock this week. Bonito fishing is improved considerably, although not completely insane...yet. Fishing for blues is still pretty good, but not what it was in previous weeks. Haven't done much bass this week, but with all the bait that's around I'd imagine that the action I was experiencing last week is still going on. We still have some good slots available between Labor Day and the beginning of tournament; if you're in town give us a call!

Captain W. Brice Contessa
www.fishingthevineyard.com

2008-08-15T12:23:00.001-04:00

Fishing The Vineyard Report 8/14/08

The name of the game for team Fishing the Vineyard has been bass and blues over the past week. The bonito situation to this point in the season has been disappointing to say the least. They remain out over the shoal water in scant numbers mostly mixed with blues which can be a frustrating situation.

The bass fishing however has remained excellent, with some fast action for this time of year. These fish are not huge, but there are plenty of them with a solid number of keepers (they’re called keepers but we let them go, for posterity) in the mix. The bass are currently on a couple of different kinds of bait including tiny squid, sandeels and juvenile butterfish.

Captain W. Brice Contessa
www.fishingthevineyard.com

MORE PICS

2008-08-06T11:45:00.003-04:00

Here's a couple more from this week

2008-08-06T11:42:00.002-04:00

Fishing The Vineyard Report 8/6/08

The story from team Fishing the Vineyard right now is sight casting for striped bass and blind casting for green bonito.

Fishing on the flats has been strong with a great deal of bass in a wide range of sizes available to sight casters on the island flats in the past week. Hot flies on the flats have been almost exclusively crab imitations, with lighter colors excelling over the sandy bottoms that are holding fish at the moment.

The bonito scene is the same as it has been; blind casting on shoals and rips but no fish jumping inshore. The fishing has improved though, where as last week we were picking away at a few mixed in with a lot of blues this week we’ve seen stronger bonito fishing with some spots holding far more bones than blues at certain stages of the tide. Needless to say we’d rather be fishing for them busting along the beach, but for now the blind blitz will have to do.

2008-07-31T18:11:00.001-04:00

Fishing the Vineyard Report 7/31

Fishing on the Vineyard is strong at the current juncture. As it stands now, there are bass, bluefish and bonito available to fly and spin fishers alike. Bass fishing right now is subject to a great deal of pressure as a result of the commercial season. The constant presence of the local and out of town fleet employing every method under the sun for killing bass make it a wee bit difficult to target them via fly and light spin. The best bet for anglers that fish like we do at this point is on the flats, along certain stretches of shallow shoreline, and over rocky shallow reefs. All of these locations fish well for us at this time of year because they are away from the commercial fleet.

Blues are thick throughout both Vineyard and Nantucket sounds. They're are great numbers of them on the shoals and outside of the inlets and harbors under the birds. The ones inshore are smallish, typical of this time in the summer. The ones on the shoal water are larger with fish to 10 pounds a occurring regularly this season. No one should poo-poo bluefish, they save the day often at this time of year.

Bonito are now available in target able amounts. They are not jumping along the beach fronts too much at the moment but certain shoals and rips are holding good numbers of bones now and if you know how to get there you may or may not be rewarded with green gold. I don't think it will be long before they fill in to their usual inshore haunts and begin to leap gleefully.

There are some tuna south of the Vineyard. I haven't been myself, but I'm getting mixed reviews from those who have. Some are reporting bent rods and bloody decks, others hours on hours of endless searching with nothing to show for it. Robby talked to one dude who caught a cod and a mahi in the same spot. That's a pretty cool mixed bag if you ask me

7.22.08: Bones and Blues

2008-07-23T19:45:00.001-04:00

The water surrounding the Rock is smokin' hot these days. East side water temps up to 78 degrees have forced us to change gears in the last couple weeks. Topwater bluefishing has been a blast with tons of fish up to 10-pounds on both tides. 1-2" squid have begun flushing through various rips in Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds. If you find the right edge it's non-stop bent rods. My client this morning put the first 2 bonito of the year on the deck of my boat - a matching pair of fat 7-pounders. It was a great start to what will hopefully be an action-packed late summer season...

Capt. Tom Rapone
http://www.highlymigratoryfishing.com

Fishing the Vineyard Report 7/10/08

2008-07-10T10:14:00.001-04:00

Fishing on the island hasn’t changed much in the past week or so. There are still plenty of bass around, although the summer pattern is certainly beginning to emerge. The east side shoal water is still productive, but many of the bass populating these rips in past weeks have been replaced by hungry blues. Early missions and persistence have been the keys to scoring bass on fly and spin down island.

The west end continues to hold a lot of fish in the 28-34 inch range, with most of the usual spots holding. Bigger fish are in the mix up island as they always are. A few in the 20 – 30 pound range on fly have been put on the board by Fishing the Vineyard’s clients in the past week.

On the flats scene north and west end flats are filled in quite nicely with summer resident stripes. Limited visibility and novice/instructional trips kept me off the push pole for much of the week, but I did manage to get a decent busman’s holiday in with Tom Rapone on Tuesday. Despite 25 knot afternoon winds we managed to eek out a couple up in the skinny, all over light bottom which is nice. The biggest over the rail that day was in the mid 30 inch range, weighing in the mid teens; a nice flats fish no doubt. We threw at a few that were considerably bigger but couldn’t entice a bite. Hot fly was the purple lady crab.

Not much news on the tuna front. In the face of $5 fuel it seems that less and less people are taking a poke south to find out what’s happening. Reports continue to filter in from the east, but no one on team FTV has ventured out that way in recent weeks. Prime days are still available, so if you’re headed to the island in the coming weeks/months give us a call! Also, be sure to check out Boyle’s new website, www.boylermaker.com , he did an outstanding job on it!

Capt. W. Brice Contessa

www.fishingthevineyard.com

"Doc" gets his 30!

2008-07-07T19:42:00.004-04:00

I just wanted to congratulate Dick Weiss on his 32 pound fly rod striped bass.
Capt. Jaime Boyle
boylermaker.com

Another Pic

2008-07-03T18:41:00.002-04:00

Late June/Early July Report

2008-07-03T15:31:00.002-04:00

Summer's here on the Vineyard! This year it's brought tourists, families and mopeds as it always does. It has also brought sustained southwest winds, fog and consistent, strong bass fishing.

The east side shoals have been producing well since my last report; lots of bass from sub keeper all the way up to the mid 30 pound range have been posted by the Fishing The Vineyard squad on fly and light spin in recent days. Primary down-island forage is still squid, with sandeels in the mix as well.

Shoal water and open water on the north and west sides has remained productive as well. The fish up here seem to be much more spread out, with many spots fishing well where as on the east end much of the activity has been very, very concentrated. These fish are also somewhat smaller (mostly 24"-36") than what's been the norm down island, but they're are definitely a lot of them, and fish that size are a blessing to have around in such numbers this late into the season.

The sight fishing on the MV flats has been fantastic on the days that we've had adequate visibility to target them in a traditional sight fishing manor. Fortunately, even though the light has been less than desirable, the mid day negative low tides combined with the fact that lots of fish are over light colored bottom by this point in the season have allowed for some relatively impressive catches up in the skinny stuff. Hot flies on the flats have been green crab imitations and Dave's experimental sand shrimp.

On the beach, west and north side spots have been the ticket. The fish on the west end at the moment are on small herring, so fly selection has been a bit different than is traditional for this time of year. Try a sparse blue and white Deciver or a small gray or blue over pearl Mushmouth. Lots of the best action on the beach has been before dark, so plan to start earlier than you normally might.

Rumors of tuna south of the Vineyard are spreading like wildfire. I can't confirm or deny these reports, all I can say is they're out there, you'll get um. Prime dates still available, come see us if you're in town! Everyone have a nice holiday weekend, be safe, and god bless our troops.

EVEN MORE PICTURES

2008-06-25T18:22:00.001-04:00

MORE PICTURES

2008-06-25T18:20:00.002-04:00

June Synopsis

2008-06-25T18:15:00.002-04:00

First and foremost, I’d like to apologize to all our fans for the delayed report. Especially you Kevin. Having said that, as I compose this report the fishing on the Vineyard is fantastic. The striped bass fishing is red hot right now pretty much 360 degrees around the island. It’s nice when the biggest problem you encounter all day is figuring out which ramp to leave from.

This season has been marked by open water bass blitzes on a variety of local forage, including sandeels and squid. Hot flies during this type of feeding activity have been wig hair Clousers and Jiggys, Silhouette Sandeels, sparse Flat-wings and of course the trusty Red Can Squid and Humboldt Squid. Open water blitzes of this nature are most often marked by birds, especially gulls and shearwaters, and fishing guides. Fish size in these open water scenarios has ranged widely; the majority of the fish seem to be between the 24 and 36 inch range, but there are many larger specimens present with quite a few over the 30 pound mark and a couple over 40 pounds being landed on the fly by the Fishing the Vineyard team this spring.

The fishing in the shoal water has been excellent as well; with north shore rips as well as those on the east side giving up impressive catches to fly and spin-fisherman alike. The blues are filled in quite nicely to all of their summer haunts. Putting up serious numbers on teeth is a nice diversion from chasing bass on the days when they’re tough or when the weather prohibits a varsity striper effort. They’re also mixed in with the bass out there, so be sure to use a shock tippet to avoid losing all your nice squid flies.

If the open-water isn’t your fancy, there have been plenty of bass on the flats as well. East and west end flats are producing well at the current juncture, with the majority of the activity moving outside the ponds and estuaries and onto the cooler shore line flats for which the Vineyard are famous. Hot flies have been the Green Diablo, sparse Ray’s Flies, and standards like Skok’s Lady and Mole (Blind Crab) crab patterns.

Shore fishing has been better this season than many in recent memory. West end and north shore locales are giving up nice fish to those in vampire mode; Fishing the Vineyard’s friend Justin Pribantic registered one just over 30 pounds on the fly from the beach last week. He won’t tell me where he caught it, but they’re out there, you’ll get um. Hot flies on the shoreline have been sandeel and squid patterns. Surfcasting has begun to improve as well, with more squid available to those attempting to bottom fish with fresh bait.

Still slow on the tuna front out this way, we’ve all thrown at a couple behind the island at this point, but they were only really there in fishable numbers for a few days. Best bets for this action seem to be to the north and east; we’re all hoping to get up there soon with clients or on an off day, so stay tuned. Prime dates are still available, so if you’re coming to the island this summer give us a call.

Captain W. Brice Contessa
http://www.fishingthevineyard.com/

Spring 2008...WELCOME BACK!

2008-05-27T16:12:00.002-04:00

Hello all, and welcome back to the www.fishingthevineyard.com blog, 2008 edition! Thank you to all of our clients, families and friends, without you none of this would be possible. We hope everyone had a great winter and that this report find you all happy and healthy.

The spring fishing season is in full swing on the island with bass and bluefish at many of the Vineyard’s traditional early season hotspots. The action came out of the box a bit slow out here this year, with out a great deal of the schoolie action that we usually see along the south side in late April. There are probably a multitude of factors that contributed to this, but it seems that low water temps and a great deal of the northbound bass this year choosing to migrate through Vineyard Sound and Buzzard’s Bay as opposed to in the open Atlantic were the greatest contributers. Since then however the bass have arrived in force, filling into the Vineyard’s many estuaries and salt ponds; right where they belong in May. Fish at this time of year are generally found over dark bottom flats where the water is warmer and they can hunt the many critters that that are found in these types of marine environments in the spring. Sight fishing is the rule here, with the go-to flies being Jiggies, Diablos and Phlounders.

Bass have also begun to fill into the rips, with shoal water to the north and west being the most consistent thus far. The outer beaches and shoals on the east side are not quite on yet, but as we all know in the early season in this part of the world things can and do change overnight. It should be mere days before east end anglers are covered in squid ink and striper slime…sounds good to me. Bluefishing in the boats has had moments of blinding brilliance, but has yet to reach the level of consistency that we’d all like.

Beach fishing is on too, with multiple ponds and inlets fishing well for bass at this time. Those chasing striper on the beach at this time of year can find success using various tactics at various locations, but it seems that spin fishers do best with rubber shads and sluggos and fly rodders find the best success with Sliders, Deceivers and worm imitations. Bluefishing on the beach has yet to reach a fever pitch, but the best recipe for anglers searching out this type of action to date has been calm afternoons and surface plugs at traditional east end locales.

We’re all looking forward to a safe, fun and productive season of fly and light tackle fishing on the Vineyard. Stay tuned for up to date reports and info right here. Also, we all still have some prime dates available, so if you’re coming up to the island, don’t be a stranger!

Captain W. Brice Contessa
www.fishingthevineyard.com

8/31/07

2007-08-31T19:47:00.000-04:00

This past week has been some of the best albie and bonito fishing in years. As the water temp drops it should only get better. I have had many fly rod slams and almost had a 2# tippet womens fly rod bonito record. After a 30 minute fight with the fish almost in net range, a small piece of weed parted the the 2#.
Capt. Jaime Boyle

Fishing the Vineyard Report 8/22/07

2007-08-21T19:26:00.000-04:00

I really can’t stress how good the fishing on Martha’s Vineyard and surrounding coastal waters is right now. I have been extremely impressed with the condition of the fishery this year, and it just seems to keep getting better.

All four of our major local inshore species are in the mix as of now, with some areas sporting all of them feeding in close proximity to each other. Albies are the most recent addition to the scene; I landed my first one of the season yesterday after losing a handful of them in the previous days. The inshore bonito fishing is the best that any of us have seen in years, with double digit catch numbers on flies and plugs becoming common place. Huge schools of small to medium sized bluefish are available just a bit further off the beach than the green fish, and bass are still available early in the morning hours.

The bait fueling the current fishing fire is predominantly peanut bunker, with baby squid, silversides and sandeels on the menu as well. This wide variety of bait allows us to throw a wide variety of flies and plugs; personally I’ve caught more bonito on topwater stuff this year than ever before. The fishing fantastic right now and only seems to be picking up steam; it’s shaping up to be a truly special fall.

Captain W. Brice Contessa
www.fishingthevineyard.com

Fishing The Vineyard Report 08/09/07

2007-08-09T20:20:00.001-04:00

Fishing on the Vineyard has been great during the past week. The numbers of bluefish and krilling bass in local waters at this point is truly amazing. Bonito have been in the mix as well, with anglers willing to put their time in getting their share of shots. It's a great time to get out and go fishing.

Capt. Brice

http://www.fishingthevineyard.com/

Vineyard Report 7/26/07

2007-07-26T20:34:00.001-04:00

The summer pattern has emerged in Vineyard waters. Bluefishing is strong at the moment, with fish in the 5 to 1o pound range available in awsome numbers in the shoals off the East end of the island. The blues are also present inshore, with clouds of sandeels being the primary forage alond the Vineyard beaches.

Bonito are begining to show around the Vineyard, with peridoic catches occuring to the South and East of the island. The bones are not yet particulary targetable inshore, although they have been caught close to the beach on both sides of the island in the past week. It shouldn't be long before bonito fever sets in around these parts, hopefully everyone will be on their best behavior this year.

Bass fishing has slowed a bit in the past weeks, with the comercial fleet cleaning the fish out of many of the areas that were so consistant for us this spring. It's unfortunate, but it's the reality at the present time. There are still a great deal of bass feeding on krill on the North and West sides of the island. Krilling fish are tricky to catch, but persistance and presentation seem to pay dividends in the end. Flats fishing is also still an option for catching bass on fly and light tackle, with most of the islands shorline flats still holding. The fish are a bit more difficult at this point, as warmer temps and almost 2 months of looking at flies seem to cause them to get a bit of lockjaw. The best flies on the flats at this point are Jiggys and tan crab flies.

There aren't many tuna fish with in striking distance of the island at this point, but it shouldn't be long now; August generally seems to be the prime month for small boat tuna fishing out of the Vineyard anyway.

Vineyard

2007-07-26T20:34:00.000-04:00

tuna 7.9.07

2007-07-12T18:46:00.000-04:00

Busman’ Holiday

I’ve never really known the origin of the term ‘Busman’s Holiday’, but it’s a phrase that is commonly applied to a day when two guides have the day off and go fishing together. That’s what happened this Monday, when Jamie Boyle and I both found ourselves with a blank square in the calendar and the itch to get our first tuna of the 2007 season on the fly rod.

With tuna on the mind we met at the Vineyard Haven public boat ramp at 4:30 AM. Joining us on this mission was longtime friend and talented angler Patrick Courtney. After loading Jamie’s boat with the necessary tackle, ice and provisions we steamed north, up toward Cape Cod where we had reports of surface feeding bluefins from reliable sources that live in the area.

Once we arrived at the grounds it was not long before we began to see fish on top. Seeing your first leaping tuna fish of the year gets the adrenaline pumping, I don’t care who you are. After a couple of fly changes and tippet strength modifications we came up on a group of fish that was busting pretty hard and one throw in with a small olive over white Mushmouth yielded a hookup almost instantly. After a battle that lasted the better part of 30 minutes we had the fish boat side. Some fine work on the part of Jamie at the helm and Patrick on the gaff brought the fish over the rail, a nice fat 46 inch specimen that we estimated to weigh in the high fifties, a personal best on fly for me.

Next it was Patrick’s turn, and a couple of shots with the spin pole produced a fish in short order. Pat is an expert with the heavy spin stuff, having taken many tuna and marlin in this fashion. As a result of his experience he knows what the tackle he uses is capable of, and ten minutes after he went tight we released a nice tuna in the 45 to 50 inch range.

Now it was Jamie’s turn. I wasn’t accustom to driving shots in Jamie’s boat, which is significantly bigger than mine, but regardless of my needing a little time to work the bugs out it only took Jamie two casts to tighten up to a nice bluefin on the fly. Like Patrick, Jamie is quite accustom to landing big fish on relatively light tackle, and he was able to best another tuna in the same size range as the previous ones in less than 20 minutes.

The action began to slow around mid-day, but it did open up for us for a short time in the afternoon and we were able to hook two more fish, landing one. Four fish landed on five hookups, 3 on fly and one on spin, not a bad way to open up the 2007 tuna season. All the fish were in the 45 to 50 inch range and weighed between 50 and 60 pounds. Hot fly was the Mushmouth (big surprise), and the spin lure of choice was the Maria, although we did have some fantastic hits on top water stuff.

On the home front, the bass fishing on the Vineyard has remained very strong. The shoals off Chappy are still producing nice bass on spin and fly alike. The bass fishing this year has solidified it self as head and shoulders above the previous two years. The fish are bigger, more plentiful and more aggressive. They also seem to be hanging in their inshore haunts longer than they have in a great while. There are a host of factors that could be contributing to this, including water temperature, bait population and numbers of fish in general. It’s most likely a combination of these and others.

Not that many people have started looking for tuna south of the island as of this report, but they surely will be soon. A couple of bonito have been landed in Vineyard waters, and it shouldn’t be long before we’re dealing with them in fishable numbers inshore. The beach fishing has been predominantly a Lobsterville thing, with some nights stronger than others. The clouds and the fog have kept me off the flats for the most part, but with high pressure and clear skies predicted to return soon, I should have a far more detailed flats report next week. All in all the fishing on the Vineyard and in surrounding areas is very strong at this point. Usually we’re talking about a slow down at this point of the season as the summer doldrums set in, but right now is prime time.

Captain W. Brice Contessa
www.fishingthevineyard.com

report for 7.5.07

2007-07-05T20:12:00.000-04:00

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.
Capt. Tom Rapone

MV Flats Report 07/03/07

2007-07-03T23:17:00.000-04:00

Flats fishing has remained consistent on Martha’s Vineyard over the course of the past week. Clear, bright skies allowed for sightfishing opportunities most days, and the current number of fish in the shallows is far greater than it was at this time last year.

I fished predominantly on the East end of the island this week, as the numbers, size and willingness to eat flies of the fish on the shoreline flats in this area was impressive and hard to leave. I did make it up-island at the end of last week (6/29), and was not surprised to find strong numbers up there as well, however the combination of blustery Southwest winds and in and out clouds allowed us only to land three fish in 4 hours of pushing around.

Bass on the up in the skinny water on the Vineyard are still in the same size range we’ve been seeing most of the season, in the 24-36 inch range with some serious toads in the mix. Fly selection has also remained fairly consistent, with an added emphasis on the crabby stuff recently.

Captain W. Brice Contessa
http://www.fishingthevineyard.com/

Flats report 6.28.2007

2007-06-29T10:10:00.000-04:00

The sightfishing on the Vineyard flats has remained very strong through the past week. Sunny days combined with mid-day low tides provided excellent conditions for seeing and catching bass on many of the islands shoreline and inner-pond flats. We are at the point in the season where we're seeing big schools of fish, combined with plenty of shots at singles and doubles. The fish we're catching on the flats have mostly ranged from 24-36 inches. These are truly beautiful fish to catch in one to three feet of water. We've been seeing some 40 inch plus fish on East and West end flats, but as of yet we've failed to land one of this caliber on the fly in a traditional sightfishing scenario. Hot flies have been green and lady crab patterns, jiggys, blind crabs and small flounder imitations.

Captain W. Brice Contessa
www.fishingthevineyard.com
(508)962-7959

6.28.07 report

2007-06-29T07:39:00.000-04:00

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!
-www.fishingthevineyard.com