Brandon
06-24-2009, 12:57 AM
Hi Gang
Wild Bill and I headed up to Martha's Vineyard last Sunday morning at o-dark-thirty. The weather was questionable with forecasts calling for an east wind which in general fishermen are generally apprehensive. Bill and I talked late Saturday and decided to give it a whirl, you never know unless you try. We got an early start Sunday morning so we could get in some fishing Sunday afternoon. We were in the water and fishing by around 4:30ish. The tide was cooking pretty good and it was not long before we hooked up with our first fish. For next few hours it was steady catching good stripers. It's amazing how hard even a 10lber will fight in that area of the coast. Water temperatures were around 59F degrees.
The next few days we were blessed with good weather and generally good fishing. It was not fast and furious all the time, but the fact that we were catching almost everything on some sort of top water plug, lure, fly or plastic bait made the fishing a blast. The stripers are not huge up there for light tackle or the fly, however they fight like mad which makes for great sport.
We did get some fly fishing in when we were able to find some breaking fish and one day worked some really fishy structure along the shoreline where we picked off a few stripers. It's amazing to fish the gin clear water and watch stripers zooming by under your boat.
Thursday the winds picked up and we decided to get in on the morning tide and then decide what we wanted to do in the afternoon. After a decent tide cycle and some good catching the forecasts called for 30knot gusts and given the good week of nice weather and steady catching we decided to call it a day and packed up and headed home. We towed through some torrential rains and ungodly traffic, but I finally put my head on the pillow at 3:45am Friday morning. Not sure I would do that again, which I am sure Bill agrees, but it was better then hanging around the hotel for another day.
Tackle Used
Light Tackle: To work the rips that are all over in and around Martha's Vineyard it is essential to have a 8ft rod. Bill warned me about having one, but all I had was two seven foot rods. They worked, but still fell short on some casts and after trying Bill's 8ft I'll be getting two 8's for that fishing. Line used was fireline for me, and for Bill fireline and power pro (although I think this was the last trip for Power Pro for Bill, I'll let him explain) I was used 20lb test and Bill 14lb. I would have used 14lb, but only had 20lb when I had spooled my reels a few months back. I would recommend 14lb, its lighter and allows for longer casts. We used 40lb Ande Fluorocarbon for leader. Bill uses the 10x10 knot to attach the braid to the mono leader, I on the other hard can not get that knot tight enough to trust it, so I used a uni to uni knot which works fine, but admittedly takes longer to tie. Lures were all over the map, from poppers (many different types, pencil, needle fish, zara spook style. You really need a different type for different stages of the tide), to soft plastics made by Got Striper (in 9, 11 and 13 inch. Bill used the 11 and 13 inch) to Hoogies in I think 9 inch and 11 inch. Bill can fill in the sizes, I really do not like fishing the topwater plasics too much. When I did fish them I used 9 inch Slug Os. It's all top-water fishing and amazing to see the fish crash the lure on the surface. Reels used were Penn Slammers in 2500 size for Bill and Shimano Sustains in 4000 size for myself.
Fly Fishing: When we were able to fly fish I used a 9wt Sage XP with a Rio Striper 350 line rigged on a Tibor Everglades and my Blanco Fly in chartreuse and Bill used mainly (I think) a 9wt Sage Xi2 with an intermediate line rigged on a Tibor Everglades with his sand eel fly.
All and all a great week at a spectacular fishery. Thanks Wild Bill for the great trip!
Some pictures below for your viewing pleasure.
Guide working the rips with a few breakers around
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7505.jpg
Gay Head
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7533.jpg
A sampling of all the lures you use when fishing up there
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7571.jpg
Some guys working the shore and underwater boulders at Gay Head
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7580.jpg
I felt like we were going back in time when we were fishing the rip over at Cuttyhunk and saw this old style Cuttyhunk fishing boat with the lady in a straw hat and well groomed man as clients.
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7607.jpg
Coming back from a working voyage in Vineyard Haven
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7609.jpg
Saying goodbyes after a voyage
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7666.jpg
Boatyard at Vineyard Haven
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7644.jpg
Some classics
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7650.jpg
Giant Tuna and Big Fish Bob were fishing the area last week as well and we would rondevu each day for lunch at the Black Dog. I give these guys a ton of credit to be out there at 70 years old doing this, but realize when you fish with older guys they do get tired....caught you on film Chuck.The power of zoom ;-)
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7751.jpg
The lunch crew
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7761.jpg
The desert crew
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7785.jpg
Boatyard
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7766.jpg
Vineyard Harbor ready for summer
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7795.jpg
Need I say anything
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7814.jpg
Local working the rip
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7935.jpg
Wild Bill with a nice striper
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7993.jpg
Beautiful striper with sea lice
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7997.jpg
The release
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_8045.jpg
Just hanging out
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_8110.jpg
It was like seeing kids at Christmas when we met Allen from Got Striper plastics and Wild Bill, Giant Tuna nd Big Fish Bob got their order of monster plastics
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_8116.jpg
Lighthouse
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_8147.jpg
You see all sorts of eclectic people and boats on Martha's Vineyard, this is Giant Tuna and Big Fish Bob's effort to mix in.
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_8156.jpg
Me with one on a plug
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/IMG_1175.jpg
Wild Bill and I headed up to Martha's Vineyard last Sunday morning at o-dark-thirty. The weather was questionable with forecasts calling for an east wind which in general fishermen are generally apprehensive. Bill and I talked late Saturday and decided to give it a whirl, you never know unless you try. We got an early start Sunday morning so we could get in some fishing Sunday afternoon. We were in the water and fishing by around 4:30ish. The tide was cooking pretty good and it was not long before we hooked up with our first fish. For next few hours it was steady catching good stripers. It's amazing how hard even a 10lber will fight in that area of the coast. Water temperatures were around 59F degrees.
The next few days we were blessed with good weather and generally good fishing. It was not fast and furious all the time, but the fact that we were catching almost everything on some sort of top water plug, lure, fly or plastic bait made the fishing a blast. The stripers are not huge up there for light tackle or the fly, however they fight like mad which makes for great sport.
We did get some fly fishing in when we were able to find some breaking fish and one day worked some really fishy structure along the shoreline where we picked off a few stripers. It's amazing to fish the gin clear water and watch stripers zooming by under your boat.
Thursday the winds picked up and we decided to get in on the morning tide and then decide what we wanted to do in the afternoon. After a decent tide cycle and some good catching the forecasts called for 30knot gusts and given the good week of nice weather and steady catching we decided to call it a day and packed up and headed home. We towed through some torrential rains and ungodly traffic, but I finally put my head on the pillow at 3:45am Friday morning. Not sure I would do that again, which I am sure Bill agrees, but it was better then hanging around the hotel for another day.
Tackle Used
Light Tackle: To work the rips that are all over in and around Martha's Vineyard it is essential to have a 8ft rod. Bill warned me about having one, but all I had was two seven foot rods. They worked, but still fell short on some casts and after trying Bill's 8ft I'll be getting two 8's for that fishing. Line used was fireline for me, and for Bill fireline and power pro (although I think this was the last trip for Power Pro for Bill, I'll let him explain) I was used 20lb test and Bill 14lb. I would have used 14lb, but only had 20lb when I had spooled my reels a few months back. I would recommend 14lb, its lighter and allows for longer casts. We used 40lb Ande Fluorocarbon for leader. Bill uses the 10x10 knot to attach the braid to the mono leader, I on the other hard can not get that knot tight enough to trust it, so I used a uni to uni knot which works fine, but admittedly takes longer to tie. Lures were all over the map, from poppers (many different types, pencil, needle fish, zara spook style. You really need a different type for different stages of the tide), to soft plastics made by Got Striper (in 9, 11 and 13 inch. Bill used the 11 and 13 inch) to Hoogies in I think 9 inch and 11 inch. Bill can fill in the sizes, I really do not like fishing the topwater plasics too much. When I did fish them I used 9 inch Slug Os. It's all top-water fishing and amazing to see the fish crash the lure on the surface. Reels used were Penn Slammers in 2500 size for Bill and Shimano Sustains in 4000 size for myself.
Fly Fishing: When we were able to fly fish I used a 9wt Sage XP with a Rio Striper 350 line rigged on a Tibor Everglades and my Blanco Fly in chartreuse and Bill used mainly (I think) a 9wt Sage Xi2 with an intermediate line rigged on a Tibor Everglades with his sand eel fly.
All and all a great week at a spectacular fishery. Thanks Wild Bill for the great trip!
Some pictures below for your viewing pleasure.
Guide working the rips with a few breakers around
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7505.jpg
Gay Head
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7533.jpg
A sampling of all the lures you use when fishing up there
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7571.jpg
Some guys working the shore and underwater boulders at Gay Head
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7580.jpg
I felt like we were going back in time when we were fishing the rip over at Cuttyhunk and saw this old style Cuttyhunk fishing boat with the lady in a straw hat and well groomed man as clients.
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7607.jpg
Coming back from a working voyage in Vineyard Haven
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7609.jpg
Saying goodbyes after a voyage
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7666.jpg
Boatyard at Vineyard Haven
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7644.jpg
Some classics
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7650.jpg
Giant Tuna and Big Fish Bob were fishing the area last week as well and we would rondevu each day for lunch at the Black Dog. I give these guys a ton of credit to be out there at 70 years old doing this, but realize when you fish with older guys they do get tired....caught you on film Chuck.The power of zoom ;-)
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7751.jpg
The lunch crew
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7761.jpg
The desert crew
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7785.jpg
Boatyard
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7766.jpg
Vineyard Harbor ready for summer
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7795.jpg
Need I say anything
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7814.jpg
Local working the rip
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7935.jpg
Wild Bill with a nice striper
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7993.jpg
Beautiful striper with sea lice
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_7997.jpg
The release
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_8045.jpg
Just hanging out
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_8110.jpg
It was like seeing kids at Christmas when we met Allen from Got Striper plastics and Wild Bill, Giant Tuna nd Big Fish Bob got their order of monster plastics
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_8116.jpg
Lighthouse
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_8147.jpg
You see all sorts of eclectic people and boats on Martha's Vineyard, this is Giant Tuna and Big Fish Bob's effort to mix in.
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/BCW_8156.jpg
Me with one on a plug
http://tidalfish.com/images/mv09/IMG_1175.jpg