Capawock Charters

I can’t procrastinate any longer! Hurricane Irene is keeping all of us off the water and I’ve got plenty of time to kill. My apologies for not writing more frequent reports but if you want more current updates you should really "friend" me on Face Book or become a "fan" of Capawock Charters FB Page. The links to both are shown above.

August has been an excellent month for a very diverse fishery. What normally is considered a slow period and called "the doldrums" by many has turned out to be a great time. That is, until hurricane Irene made her appearance. Let’s start with our rather infrequent in-shore visitors…

I’m not accustomed to chasing a Tuna bite but who can resist when there are tasty football size bluefin tuna within easy reach of island shores. We’ve been fishing this unique opportunity with ultra light tackle and anglers who are fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time are bringing home the meat. The tuna were still holding before the storm and we’re hoping they are there afterwards.

The bonito bite has been slow inshore but travel a few miles out and the green speedsters have been consistently caught. Although they have been located in a fairly small area with lots of boats pursuing them, there have been plenty to go around. I’ll be glad when they locate closer to the island and start feasting on the abundance of bait that is here.

When the weather or tides are not conducive to travelling out to the bonito grounds, we’ve been croc hunting. Fishing for bluefish can be a blast for both young and seasoned anglers. These hard pulling, aggressive predators have remained active and on top even in the warm waters of August.

Even the bass fishing didn’t fall apart altogether during August. We haven’t been targeting bass but every now and then we seize upon an opportunity to tangle with some schoolies and release them to fight another day.

August is also a time when shark fishing can be fun and exciting. A short distance south of the island are plenty of spots to chum-up some king sized blue sharks or fast and tasty mako sharks.

August is also a time to help young anglers hone their fishing skills. Several kids received Capawock Charters trophies and I hope these will be a lasting memory of their adventure fishing Vineyard waters.

Tight Lines and Singing Drags,

Capawock Charters of Martha’s Vineyard

Captain Phil Cronin

The month of July can be an "iffy" one when it comes to Vineyard fishing. Similar to the old saying about the month of March, "in like a lion out like a lamb"; July can be intense fishing at its start and slowing down considerably as it goes along. Thus far this month we have had decent and consistent fishing as we head to its end. Although the fly and light tackle bass are getting smaller and smaller, they are around in good numbers. July is the month that the juvenile herring make their way out of the ponds and as they move into more open water, a great opportunity for bass and bluefish blitzes takes shape. At the start of the month we were in pursuit of open water bass feasting on sand eels, squid and butterfish.

For the last couple of weeks we have been seizing upon the opportunity to target herring munching bass along the shorelines and near the estuaries. The shoals and rips around the island have slowed when it comes to top water bass fishing but areas where you can find herring filtering out of a pond is certainly a good place to hang out.

July is also a good time to bottom fish for those tasty fluke, scup and black sea bass. Often times on the way back from the bass or bluefish grounds we make a detour to the fluke grounds to do a little "meat fishing".

July is also the month that we go "croc hunting" looking for those 9 plus pound bluefish. They are tackle busters. These crocs can take your finger tip off but they are some fun to catch and fight to the boat on either a flyrod or light spinning gear. For those who would downplay the power and excitement of catching these fish I suggest you give it a try.

Another thing that I really like about July is taking families out. So far this month we have had some great junior anglers onboard. Each gets a trophy at the end of the trip and a memory that will last a lifetime.

Oh, and one last thing. You know what’s best about July? Towards the end of the month the bonito come in and then it’s game on. This year, the first bonito caught onboard Capawock was by my 3 year old grandson. He handled it like a pro bringing it alongside the boat all by himself. Congratulations Cameron on our first bonito of the year!

Tight Lines and Singing Drags,

Today’s a "maintenance day". It’s a day off the water when I can perform routine maintenance on my engine and mental maintenance on my brain. After 14 straight days on the water I definitely need some down time. Since the last report the fishing has been running hot and cold. Some days we find fish at all our spots and some days it’s as if they all flew the coop. Fortunately, there are always some bluefish to play with but mostly the pursuit during the month of June is striped bass.

Over the past few weeks I have taken out a lot of interesting anglers of all skill levels. On one particular trip I had the good fortune of taking out Paul Lombardi and his daughter Kate. Paul is a special effects producer who has worked on just about every major action movie you can think of. His daughter is a flight attendant for Jet Blue. My mission was to get them on some bass and Paul stressed that he would really like his daughter to catch some. Katie is a pretty decent angler and when she’s not fly fishing she can toss the spinning rod quite well. We were concentrating on a small rip line over on the Elizabeth Islands when Kate signaled that she had a fish on. I looked at the light rod she had used to throw out a 6" slugo and thought at first she had snagged bottom. After a long fight she finally brought the fish to the boat and we hefted it over the side. Kate asked me with some exhaustion evident in her voice, "is that a big one?" I answered with a laugh, "yah Katie, that’s a pretty decent fish".

The month of June is also the time for doubles and triples on the boat. We’ve had quite a few over these past weeks. It’s always exciting to have all anglers hooked up at once. Normally this happens when we fish the bluefish but it can also happen if the bass are schooled up and on top.

As the month of June starts to wind down I would rate this year’s as mediocre. Fishing is all about the going and not always about the catching. Fortunately we’ve had a pretty good month with just about everyone satisfied with their trips. Now as we go into July we switch a bit and will not pass up a school of crashing blues. We’ll also start to break out the fluking gear and search out that 12 pound doormat that has eluded us for the past few years.

Smiling anglers is what it is all about and the following photos tell it all…

Tight Lines and Singing Drags,

If you want the thrill of catching striped bass on light tackle then June is by far the best month of the year to target them. This year has been no exception. Well maybe one exception; the heavy fog that lingered in the sound 2 weeks ago made it difficult finding and staying on the fish. This last week has been blessed with great weather and excellent bass fishing. The linesiders have been keyed into deep water sand eels so the flyfishing can be picky at times but spin fishing throwing sand eel imitation plastics has been incredible. We’ve had some fantastic trips the last ten days.

When it comes to shear power and pull, there are few fish that can match the striped bass. Built by mother nature to hold steady in almost any current, these predators can put an umbelievable amount of pressure on any rod. They don’t make the long runs of albies or the erratic fights of bonitos and bluefish, but they do offer an unmatched tug on your tackle. If you want to know just how these kings of the surf are able to pull so hard, take a gander at the following photo. This fish could have pulled our boat back to the dock if we knew how to train it. It wasn’t a huge fish but it did measure around 36 inches. What is noteworthy is the tail of the fish. That guy had game, and the game was all in its tail.

Now is the time to be on the water trying to locate these wonderful fish. The best way to find them is to watch the birds, especially the gulls. Often times the smaller birds (terns) will be over bluefish and the larger ones (gulls) will be on the bass. As is typical this time of year, the fish move around quite a bit so what happened yesterday is not always going to hold true today. If you want to be successful, you have to hunt down the current location of June bass out on the water. It’s certainly not like shore fishing.

One last thing. Get your kids, nephews or nieces involved with fishing. It’s a wonderful way to teach them how to respect their natural surroundings and understand the cycle of life. Over this past week we saw a pilot whale, a pod of porpoises, a pair of surface cruising blue sharks, acres of fining spiny dogfish, turtles, a basking shark, gannets, gulls, terns, petrels, shearwaters, and on and on. We were never more than a few miles off the coast of the Vineyard. Share these experiences with younger kids whenever you get a chance and pass on the fishing heritage that has brought so much joy to you.

Tight Lines and Singing Drags,

2011 is shaping up to be a good year on the fishing front. I made my first recon on May 20 and the bass fishing was excellent with loads of migrating schools of chunky bass gorging themselves on herring and anchovies in Buzzards Bay. Up Island around Gay Head we’ve found heavier bass on large sand eels. During this last week I’ve been busy with anglers intent on hooking into bragging size fly rod bass with some trips better than others. Prior to a five day stretch of white-out fog the fishing was exceptional. When the fog settled in to our cooler than normal water temperature the exceptional fishing ground to a halt. It’s hard to find the birds over bass when you can’t see fifty yards in front of the boat. When we did find the birds we had a hard time following them and soon lost track of the moving schools of fish. It’s been difficult to say the least. Even the pods of bluefish that are prevalent now in Vineyard Sound have been hard to stay on top off. The fog situation should change as the water temps catch up to the air temps and when that happens, my guess is that all hell is going to break loose. I hope this comes true in the coming days.

On the beach front I’m told that fishing on Chappy has been very good for blues and a mixed bag for bass. The guys who are fishing the North Shore are scoring well on bass in the 10 to 20 pound class but I haven’t heard of any 30+ being taken yet. Things will improve further as we get into the banner month of June.

A lot of anglers ask me how the season looks and I hesitate to give exaggerated reports. One thing I will say is all the pieces are now in place with tons of bait ready for the taking. There seems no question about the health of the bluefish fishery with huge schools available everywhere I go. Whether or not the bass will settle in and hold around the Island is another matter. Thus far the "squidhounds" have yet to populate the shoals but reports of more and more squid are circulating the Vineyard fishing community. Once those squid make their way to the various rips and shoals the game is on! On a very positive note; for the first time in over three years we found some "twinkie" sized bass. What’s good about these cute little rascals? It is a good sign as to the health of the striped bass fishery and for that I am very grateful.

Stay in touch with me on either Facebook or YouTube as we plot another season. Facebook will give you small tidbits of info and photos and my Youtube Channel will give you short videos of trips through the season. Check my websire at www.capawock.com/fishing_reports.htm for links to both. I’ll try to get out weekly reports but when you are up at 4:30AM, on the water by 6AM and finally cleaning the boat and prepping for the next day by 5PM, the couch and a mindless TV program are strong temptations.

Tight Lines and Singing Drags,