Martha's Vineyard Fishing Locations
Page 2
Finding your way to the island fishing holes can take a little work for folks who haven't been to the spots before, but don't despair. Step one is to stop by the shop and pick up the map that we have available. We can offer you directions to any of these fabled Vineyard fishing spots.
Menemsha
"Menemsha Jetty at Derby Time!"
Menemsha is the last working fishing village on the island of Martha's Vineyard, and this is a great place to watch the boats come and go. The inlet to Menemsha Pond, the pond itself, the jetties, and the beaches outside the jetties all provide excellent opportunities for a variety of gamefish and angling techniques. Spring action can be great with plenty of small stripers, and sometimes good schools of bluefish right around the jetties. Folks fish here in the summer for scup and fluke as well. Menemsha is one of the best places to find bonito and false albacore in the late summer and fall. For bonito try a live mackerel, small white bucktail jig (1 oz or less), Swedish Pimple, Yo-Zuri Metallic Sardine, or other small metal lures. For false albacore try the same lures. The fly rod can be especially effective here when the fish are close. Be sure all your equipment is in good working order - rods and reels must be in tip top shape to land these speedsters from shore. Incoming water brings bonito and 'albacore right between the jetties, especially at first light. Outgoing water puts fish on the outside, but feeding well on the bait that gets swept out of the inlet. The boat ramp on the Lobsterville side is a good place to launch a boat out of Menemsha to go fishing at any time. Night fishermen should take a look around the docks in the harbor late in the evenings. Squid, mackerel, sand eels, silversides, feeding stripers, cunners, crabs, and a whole host of other critters make this harbor a virtual saltwater stew. Just watching the action is great fun, and clever flyrodders can pick up stripers by dead-drifting small clousers to feeding fish. Don't miss the show under the lights here if you're in the area on some late spring night.
Lobsterville Beach / Dogfish Bar
"Flyrodders at Lobsterville Beach"
Photo: "Night Fishing at Lobsterville"
Lobsterville is perhaps the most famous beach on the island for the fly and light tackle angler. Plentiful baitfish, favorable water temps, a gentle tide, and accessibility make this beach a favorite for many anglers, especially in the spring. Stripers and Bluefish work these waters beginning in late May, and continuing on through the summer. June is the best month for consistent action, and any fisherman trying saltwater fly fishing for the first time should give this spot a try. Dawn, dusk, and night fishing produce the best catches here, but fish can be here at any time. Baitfish can often be found in profusion in the spring, especially sand eels and herring, so be sure to have some of these fly patterns at the ready. When bait concentrations are thick, fish feed selectively, and anglers may need to try a variety of fly patterns to be successful. You may be treated to the sight of a small whale or two feeding in the sound here, and sharks sometimes cruise the beaches at dusk and dawn. False albacore run the beach starting in mid-to-late September, and this is a gorgeous spot to chase them. Concentrate your efforts for albies around the Lobsterville Jetty at the east end of the beach, and in the middle of the bowl formed by the curve of Lobsterville Beach. Southwest to West winds are the most favorable winds for the average right-handed caster here, Northwest to Northeast can make this spot sloppy and difficult to fish as the wind blows in your face and piles weed up in the water along the shoreline.
Dogfish Bar is a special spot for light tackle anglers, too. Park at the west end of Lobsterville Beach, then get ready for a hike. Walk west along the beach for approximately 25 minutes. Dogfish Bar is a series of sand flats that extend out into Vineyard Sound, and these flats are home to millions of sand eels. Low light conditions produce the best action, so look for foggy and rainy days as well as dusk, dawn, and night fishing to provide you with the right conditions for Dogfish Bar. Coming to low tide in the early morning hours during June can give you access to fish feeding in very shallow water. Casting to tailing stripers in twelve inches of water in the middle of the night is a real blast. When you hook up, be ready for the run! Dogfish Bar is a real nice place for the light tackle angler to look for some good fishing after dark when conditions are favorable.
Edgartown Light / Edgartown Harbor (Memorial Wharf)
"An Afternoon at Memorial Wharf"
Edgartown Harbor has a public fishing pier that is a great place to take the kids. People of all ages come here to catch squid after dark in the spring, scup and snapper bluefish, and mackerel and butterfish in the late summer and fall. When the bonito and false albacore arrive, this pier will get busy with many island fisherman trying to catch a fish to enter in the annual fall fishing derby. This is a good place for a beginner to watch and learn about bait fishing techniques for bonito! Keep your eyes open and see how the derby winners catch these speedsters by capturing mackerel or butterfish before first light, then live-lining these tasty morsels to the bonito and albacore that make their appearance in the early to mid-morning hours. This can be a frustrating place to land fish because of the many anglers, boat traffic, docks and piers, and other obstructions. Tempers can flare here at derby time, so be considerate of other anglers, but if you can endure the crowd, you'll have as good a time watching the fishermen as you will catching fish.
Cape Poge
"Cape Poge Lighthouse"
Cape Poge is legendary among striper fishermen on Martha's Vineyard. Fish of 50 pounds or more have been taken here in years past, and this is a great place to catch fish of any size. Extensive mid-depth flats over sand, grass, and rock bottom create ideal habitat for a variety of fish. A strong current sweeps past Cape Poge making for ideal feeding conditions as well. Access to Cape Poge is by boat or four-wheel drive vehicle. Please secure the required Trustees of Reservations oversand vehicle permit if you wish to drive on the beach here, and be sure to bring all required safety equipment as the sand can be soft on the approach to Cape Poge. Both spring and fall will bring large numbers of stripers to the waters around Cape Poge, and late summer into fall will find plenty of false albacore prowling these waters - a great bet for anglers with a boat rigged for light tackle.
Notes on driving to the fishing spots on Martha's Vineyard: The rule is - go slow...you're on island time now. Roads are narrower here, and what's the hurry, anyway? Taking your time will get you to the fishing holes in one piece, and allow you to enjoy the beauty of the island along the way. Plan to leave plenty of time to reach your evening's fishing destination, and you'll arrive to find available parking spots, leaving plenty of time to rig up and prepare to fish. Hurrying will only cause you to forget some critical piece of equipment (like a flashlight, camera, lure bag, or fly box) in the car, and all of your friends will laugh at you. No kidding.