Strong currents and deep water along the north shore of the island are known for producing big fluke. Fishing is OK, with mainly bluefish around Chappy and the occasional bass for shore anglers. There have been no other reports of bonito at the Hooter, but there is plenty of bait there along with schools of bluefish. A number of shore anglers are also targeting brown sharks on Chappy, with one night hot and the next not so much.
Marthas Vineyard
There are still fish to be caught; the problem, however, as it has been pretty much everywhere around these parts, has been the wind. Steve saw albies busting off the Steamship earlier this week and a bonito was caught inside Edgartown yesterday, and with the water still plenty warm and tons of peanut bunker and silversides around, the funny fish should stick around for a while.
There are plenty of fish around the island, but there is also an incredible amount of small bait, which has made for some difficult fishing. This year the funny fish have been all over the place, with no rhyme or reason for where they will show from day-to-day.
Random schools of albies between Vineyard Haven and Edgartown, as well as over to the Gut and Cape Poge, have kept people engaged, but for the most part, there have been far more boats on fewer concentrations. That said, there have been just as many boat albies weighed in as boat bass.
the weather this week has really stirred up the fishing, to the point where even the large schools of bait have been reduced. The albie fishing has been concentrated mainly from Vineyard Haven to Edgartown and Cape Poge, but keeping track of where they are going to be from day-to-day has been a real challenge.
The amount of bait around the island, specifically peanut bunker and silversides, is incredible, making for good albie action along State Beach and inside Vineyard Haven; things are a bit quieter around the north shore, but there are schools of surface feeding schoolies and small bluefish pretty much everywhere from Cape Poge to West Chop on down to Menemsha.
The north side of the island from West Chop to Menemsha has schools of surface feeding fish everywhere. You can be casting to albies, bonito, bass, or bluefish as you move along as there is so much bait that all four species are feeding heavily.
The Derby starts at 12:01 AM this Sunday, September 9, so the madness has already started to grip the island. Only a few albie catches have been confirmed as a few schools have showed up, but there are plenty of bonito around the island. The challenge, however, is getting through all of the two to four-pound bluefish that are typically mixed in with bones.
There are no real big reports on albies, although Taylor Trudel of Dick’s Bait & Tackle did see a photo of one that was caught somewhere on the island by someone he considers a reliable source.
When it comes to bonito around the island, there really is a dichotomy, with boaters having far greater success than shore folks. The inshore bite has already been better than last year, the one fish you can count on right now is bluefish, especially the smaller size. They are pretty much everywhere around the island, mainly because of the vast amounts of small bait, including sand eels, silversides, peanut bunker, and chubs.