Offshore

South of the Vineyard, there is a mix of white marlin and mahi, with Gordon’s Gully, the Star, the Claw, and the Dump out to the shipping lanes all producing mahi. Coop said the mahi have been on the small side, with only an occasional larger one caught, but there have been good numbers reported around the weather buoys.

Gordon’s Gully and the Claw were two areas mentioned by Peter Sliwkowski at Larry’s Bait and Tackle on the Vineyard as holding large numbers of mahi and white marlin as well. Apparently, there are a large number of weed patches, perfect for holding mahi; fishing around the high flyers is also one way to get into some fast mahi action.

Out east, guys are still jigging up their own bait, in this case mackerel, and livelining them to the giant bluefin in the area. Some impressive fish have been caught, but folks fishing the areas around the Regal Sword, Crab Ledge, the BB Buoy, and other waters known to hold big bluefin should be aware of the notice from NOAA announcing the closure of recreational giant bluefin tuna fishing for the remainder of 2018.

We’ll have to wait to see what the scene is like around the canyons as most boats have chosen to take some lay days rather than deal with six to eight-foot seas, with the occasional 10 to 12 mixed in.

Despite reports of bluefin at Coxes Ledge, including a few giants, most knowledgeable tuna folks said that running to the canyons is definitely the best way to increase your odds of catching up with Charlie.

There’s a good temperature break of 72 degrees between East Atlantis and Veatch Canyons and boats who have made the trip out there have been successful catching bigeye, yellowfin and white marlin.

The reality is that everyone is waiting for someone else to go south of the Vineyard and report back that they caught fish, but if you want to catch fish, you have to burn a little gas. Doug Asselin had group come in and they went south of the island, but after finding no bait and no sign of tuna or other fish, they elected to go sharking the next day.

There are no reports of fish from the waters south of the Vineyard yet, with folks getting a bit antsy about where the small bluefin and yellowfin are that typically provide both trolling and casting action at this point in the season.

Apparently, there are good numbers of bluefin to be had from the shipping lanes out to the Regal Sword and Crab Ledge, as well as up around the Golf Ball and Peaked Hill Bar.