I am going Sept 10th for 5 days. I am bringing everything I own for fishing equipment (good thing I have a full size truck). I would appreciate any advice or info about fishing there. Thanks in advance!

It's an island - drive until you find fish!

Albies at Wasque first light til 9:30 am or so, then they are at the Chappy ferry (Chappy side)

Bointo / Albs inside Menemsha... Walk Squibby bowl right for bass or the drop and any number of places

Bass & Blues all over the island (maybe)

What JohnR said.....:D ..Blues biltzing at dusk also

Take an 8', 9' and an 11'.

Use the one that gets you the range you need.

Wasque: blues during daytime, bass after dusk.

State beach for bass after dark.

Fish the Oak Bluffs lighthouse at dawn for bass.

Menemesha Inlet (outside) for bones.

Stop by Coops for local color and good advise.

Good Luck,

Mike

If I could make a suggestion....

MV can be overwhelming. If you find yourself chasing albies @ Menemsha or Wasque by day, and stripers everywhere else at night, you'll truly run yourself ragged!

MV literally has something for everybody, even NJ-style bridge fishing!

The island also has like seven different tides going on - check your tide charts! I think MV Times or Derby headquarters will have all this info.

Have a plan before you fish. And stick to it.

Fish one or two spots and take the time to learn them.

-If you like rocks, hit Squibnocket Point on the incoming. All you need is eels. Go with a friend in case you turn your ankle on a rock.

-If you're a jetty/breachway freak, check out Menemsha/Lobsterville on the outgoing. The back pond holds fish too. During the day you can see the huge bass hugging the rocks chasing baby herring and tinker macks, casually ignoring your offerings. The albies here will also drive you nuts. Did I mention there are some nice fluke here too?

-If you like to soak 8nbait, jig up some fresh squid at the docks in Edgartown at dusk and head straight to South Beach. Yo-Zuri jigs work okay, but *hint* *hint* locally made squid jigs work better.

-Another favorite of the sand fleas is Wasque Point on Chappy. Usually a reliable bluefish bite in the rips on Hopkins tins. If you have a sand sled and can spend $$$ on the Trustees permit, you can get 4WD access to Cape Pogue.

-Want to take a break and bottom fish for scup? Hit the Edgartown docks and tie some squid onto a dropper loop rig. You'll limit out in no time.

-Throw some eels or needlefish at Gay Head.

-Do the same thing at nearby Philbin Beach.

-Drift some eels in the current at the Little (Anthiers) Bridge between Edgartown and Oak Bluffs. It's a hoot.

-Albies @ Tashmoo.

-Flyrod the salt ponds when you see the inevitable tail grubbing of fish.

-Sick of surfcasting? The island has some great boat charter captains - I've fished with nearly all of them. You can't go wrong when the weather is cooperative.

I don't care what people say - MV is the real striped bass Mecca. Choose your pilgrimmage sites carefully to maximize your fun!

-WW

p.s. Make sure to stop by #^&#^&#^&#^&'s B&T and say hello to Steve Morris, he's more than helpful. The man is a saint. And pick up a few eelse and Habs needles while you're at it.

Weewee have you fished Cape Pogue? From a boat that place looks religious. I gotta fish that beach sometime.

Haven't fished Cape Pogue that much, I spend more of my time down at Wasque b/c the permit is a bit pricey for the time that I would spend there.

The nice fella at the gate will sometimes let you in w/o a permit if the weather is crappy and no one else is out there and you're only out there for one night.

I did go last fall via 4WD and saw a lot of structure there (particularly the Gut) that would attract bass at night.

During the day, saw a few sharpies fishing through the mung (actually eelgrass) on the outer rim and hooking up with albies on plastic Boone needles (chartreuse/white).

-WW

Fishweewee,


great detailed info, except :)
the 3 mile death walk info to squiby :)

And yes you can park and walk to cape poge :)
lol

VB

VB-

Can't detail ALL the little surprises. :laughs:

Sandman would prob. reply if he weren't fishing.....

Ice

WATCH ME WIN THE DERBY :)

I LOVE THAT PLACE , BEEN FISHING IT FOR 17 YEARS NOW

VB



PS. HOPE TO JUST ENTER A FISH ...LOL

Bait dunking south side.2hrs before high. lots of big bass.

wood and eels squibby to gay head.

North shore big blues (w.Chop)

Edgartown harbor Bonito Hammers and #1 deadly #^&#^&#^&#^&s.

leelands point and wasque for albies same lures

Larrys has a new owner free tide charts and hot spots. talk to steve

Pfft. I'm only good enough to enter the Kids Derby.

I swear I'm gonna win the "Biggest Sea Robin" prize. You just watch me. :p

:smokin: we re waiting, ben...

2003 Derby Dates:
September 14 - October 18

2003 Kids Derby:
Sept 20


fishweewee,
looks like I will miss the kid's derby,
good luck , and remember have fun :)

ps. walk out to the light house in Edgartown and fish towards the ferry ,,,, ton's of scup on clams :)

VB

pps. loma

I'll be printing this thread off before I depart. I've been fishing the vineyard for 5/6 years and there's lots of info. on here I can still use. I don't fork out the cash for the Wasque permit so I drive down South Beach til I see a good spot. Lazy but's that's where I do most of my surf casting now. I've made the walk down to Gay Head and I'm sure it's well worth it some nights, but fishing with the truck 10 feet away is just too darn easy.

Don't forget to buy your ferry ticket early or you will be a standby with a vehicle and may have quite a wait.

Tight lines!

Is there anyone who ever checks the Katama/Norton Point 4WD permits? I wonder if half the people out there even have them.

After labor day they dont really care.(dukes county beach) They got me two years ago on labor day, made me pay for a sticker.After dark is no problems.

thanks guys for the info. I am really looking forward to it. I will be driving a white GMC Z71 with a white fiberglass cap on back. Porbably the guy who has a "were not in Kansas anymore" look on his face. 6'2" 200lbs, red hair, well grey on the sides. Hope I get a chance to meet a few of you. :happy:

I'm in the garnet red chevy blazer ZR2. Don't drive by without saying "Hi"!

Originally posted by The Iceman 6
Sandman would prob. reply if he weren't fishing.....

Ice

LOL! (true statement!!)

WeeWee , John et al pretty much summed it up.

At this moment, the surf scene is pretty slow. This WILL change quickly, don't worry. (sun is setting much earlier already!) The boat scene has pretty steady.

The bonito are here with some Spanish and a couple king mackerel (yes that right I said king) but the bonito fishing is not that great compared to past seasons. The bonito blast weekend at Edgartown Outfitters only weighed in 28 fish. Many went fishless. The best spot IMO for bonito is the hooter. (Hedge fence is a 15 minute early morning event at the moment), tashmoo I hear is good in the morning via boat. (Just out of range from shore) Have not heard much about albies yet. Sharking has been good all summer (but I have not gone this year ) Small blues and occasional chopper are everywhere (surf/boat). Bass fishing is slow from the beach right now. Quite good up island from the boats all summer. Tuna really have not been that great this year. Some days guys got them, most days it was a slow pick and long runs. Lots of small Mahi around offshore...cast around anything floating and you can expect a hit. Fluke and seabass have been nothing short of outstanding this year...and it seems to be actually getting better!

There are more then just a few guys out here who are really dedicated to fishing. Many are really obsessed with fishing like us. Surfishing and boat fishing. If you plan on visiting the place to surf fish, it is a big island and it is difficult to work the entire place in a short period. I would focus on a few spots at one end of the island and keep your ears to the ground. If you hear it’s hot at the other end pack up and give it a go then next day/night. If you try to fish the entire island (like I do at Block) you will get exhausted and it will not be that productive. Some walks/drives here are lengthy and you just can't shoot up to gay head from cape poge for a few casts...you have to stay somewhat regional on each outing.

All the BT shops here are very good (IMO) and each seems to have a slightly different array of fishing goods. I frequent #^&#^&#^&#^&s (in OB) the most but visit Larry's and Coops on a pretty regular basis as well. If you are a big fly fisherman...Larry's and Coops (in Edgartown) should be your place of choice.


This is a great island to surf fish from. It is big enough to accommodate thousands of anglers and you could still find a quiet spot by yourself. There *are* going to be derby days when it is shoulder to shoulder at the easy to access "hot-spots". For example wasque or Edgartown light at dusk/dawn can get busy on a Fri/Sat but it is much less busy late weeknights. I generally fish alone and do what I have to avoid seeing other fisherman. I try to keep a "low profile" and enjoy the outdoors. This generally means late nights and long walks at difficult access spots. Last year during the derby I rarely saw many fisherman where I fished. You always run into a few guys at squibnocket at 2:00am no matter what...I think they live amongst the rocks out there.

If you are going to MV for your first time. Visit Larry’s tackle shop website... he has several pages of well known spots discussed...be sure to click on the "more spots" link at the bottom of the page. http://www.larrystackle.com/spots.html

I like living here because just about everyone talks fishing....I mean nearly everyone seems to have a fishing connection of some kind out here. The derby will bring big groups of guys out here for a month of fun doing what they like to do best. Please show respect to your fellow fisherman. It’s a big place with a lot of fishable water, keep that in mind.

I hope to meet up with some of you guys while you are out here. Probably at the weigh in station or the bar

Sandman is right on the money.South shore temps have dropped 5-6 degrees. mid to low (60's bottom temp). So the big bass will be rolling in soon,It has already beeen better than in early august. If you want to check out a cool site http://mvcodata.whoi-edu/cgi-bin/mvco/mvco.cgi
I check out this site before i leave my house to go boat fishin.
Fog, wave high, temps Or to determine how much bottom weight to use!! goin fishin

Basskid, I'm having a problem with your link. Can you check the URL for me.

Thx

great post Sandman... alot of good info passed on from those in the know

good luck to ya all

Hay hooked! you might have to hand type it,it's a long one.
http://mvcodata.whoi.edu/cgi-bin/mvco/mvco.cgi
The bonito fishing off Menemsha broke open yesterday a good amount of fish cought of the jetty.Both menemsha harbor and tashmoo lots of bass.Menemsha has tons of bait making it harder to catch.

I have been reading what a few of the guys have said about beach permits for the county beach in Edgartown and the word is on the money as far as night and day are concerned. One can generally motor anywhere after 5 p.m., because the sherriffs department cannot afford to put a guy out there after 5 p.m. The last couple of years the deputy tried to keep people from traversing the beach just to travel to Wasque a couple of times. I just drove right by him and pointed to the back road as if I had no intention of stopping anywhere, but I do know that he stopped a friend of mine from doing that one morning. That type of enforcement didn't last long though, just a couple of days. At night you can drive and stop anywhere, just not my spot.
As far as driving around the Trustees property, if anyone thinks they are going to go anywhere anytime without a sticker you are seriously mistaken. Big Paul and his subordinates are an actioive bunch of people and nice people to boot. If you drive on there property you will have to have a sticker. If you join the Trustees the sticker is only $80.00. Thats a good deal considering how many propeties the Trustees oversee, which joining would allow you into all of them. Otherwise the sticker is $160.00 big ones. And I have to tell you the first year I went out there without a sticker an old fart saw that I didn't have one and ran right over to Big Paul and dimed me out. Little did the rat know I was driving in Pauls direction on the beach to buy the sticker. But where there is one rat there are many so beware. There is nothing like tooling down the ebach in your 4 x 4 drinking your favorite beverage scoping out the shoreline. You know I think the derby should last eight or twelve weeks, not four or five.

The last few years I went over, Bob Greaves was usually the last guy on duty out on the Wasque Reservation and he left at midnight. So you could probably fish midnight to daybreak and boogie off without getting nailed for a sticker, unless they have someone on the overnight now.

If you go out there on a wicked cold night (38 degrees with a 30 kt NW Montreal Express) and Bob doesn't feel like getting out of the truck, you might get a one-night pass, too ;)

He gave me a "one night pass" last September when we had all that wind and rain. No one else was out. We didn't have the stickers, and he was about to give us the applications and let us through, and he very graciously let us out w/o the sticker, since we were only going to be out there for the night. It was a slow night fishing-wise.

-WW