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Late June/Early July Report

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.

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June Synopsis

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!

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

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