Martha's Vineyard Fly Fishing Company |
Early June 2007 After a six week trout fly fishing expedition to Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, I arrived on the Vineyard at the end of May. After launching the boat, the first order of business was to locate some fish before my first charter on June 3rd. I found fish in the usual locations but was unable to locate any of the large fish that were being reported. All of the biggies were being taken in deep water using scup as bait. I have tried using a large scup fly and a heavy sinking line but have never been able to get it down where the fish are. I can fish in water that is about twenty feet deep but not any deeper. The biggest fish we have caught have been on the sinking line in fifteen feet of water. June 11, 2007 I have a group of clients from the trout fishing state of Colorado. I am rotating two fishermen through the boat each day. Yesterday we had a great day numbers wise but did poorly on the size. We did hook and land one keeper on the middle ground early in the am before the wind kicked up. We then moved into the sheltered waters of the south side of the Elizabeth Islands. My half a chicken fly was the clear winner. It is a big chartreuse and white deceiver with saddle hackle feathers instead of schlappen. Our charter ended in Tarpaulin Cove with a double at the last point before returning to Lake Tashmoo. The ride across the sound was lumpy and a little wet but otherwise uneventful. June 12, 2007 Leaving Lake Tashmoo in a butt calm slick and returning with a 20 knot north-east. Not what I call fun. The morning started gang busters at the middle ground. The bass were busting squid when we arrived at the beginning of the flood. We lost three fish in a row to inexperience but the lesson was learned and we managed to land one nice blue but were unable to keep the bigger bass on the hook. There is a fine line between setting the hook and breaking off 15 pound tippet. Hopefully we will get some more chances before the week is out. The forecast looks terrible for the next couple of days. NE winds and increasing swells and nowhere to hide. June 15,2007 After the blow Great fishing at the middle ground rip on the incoming even though the wind was still breezing at 15. One fly fisherman in the stern and the other fly fisherman turned into the teaser. The teaser was the old standby jumping minnow and it really got them going. Eventually it got too rough so we headed to sheltered water in the Elizabeths. The sight fishing was OK but blind casting to the rocks produced a lot of smaller bass in the 20 inch range. Clousers and big deceivers were the ticket. June 18 and 19 Cuttyhunk I found small fish at Robinson's and a few larger fish on the flats in the Farm Pond cove. Not a lot of action but enough to keep everyone happy. Very nice settled weather and relatively light winds. June 20 and 21 Having a great caster and fisherman onboard makes a huge difference. So many fish landed that a count of them is not possible unless you had a counter. Seven keepers on the fly from the middle ground rips. Great sight fishing in Tarpaulin Cove and along the south side of Naushon. Rising fish just about everywhere we went. If you are planning a charter trip try to get your casting arm in shape and work on your cast. Great distance is not necessary but accuracy to 45-50 feet is a must. Keep practicing but get an instructor for one lesson to try to eliminate any bad habits you may have picked up. June 25, 2007 Keepers in the rips in the early am before the wind kicked up and great fishing in the shallows on the south side of Naushon. Big chartreuse and white deceivers worked very well as did smaller white deceivers. July 1, 2007 My wife and I did a little sight casting in the coves of Lackey's Bay, after I finished my charter for the morning. The sight casting was good when the sun was out but it kept sneaking behind the cumulus buildups and we ended up doing a lot of blind casting. There were a lot of 24-26 inch fish around but we were unable to catch a keeper for the grill. The wind shifted about three and we ended up a Cedar Tree Neck on the Vineyard where there were keepers to be seen but not caught. I switched to a sinking line and a clouser and got a lot of fish off the bottom but none of any size. I have a trip in the morning but the wind is supposed to kick up tonight. So we will see how the fly rodding goes tomorrow. I will keep you posted. July 2, 2009 Sorry for no new posts for the past year. I have been busy with charters and all the stuff that makes up life but I apologize for not keeping up with the posts to mvflyfishing.com. One great excuse is that I have two new knees after total knee replacement surgery on December 15, 2008. Had a great spring trout fishing expedition to the Big Hole, Missouri, Yellowstone and the Big Horn. I has a great trip this morning with Tim Polishook from San Francisco. We started at the middle ground rip on the last of the incoming tide and had great fishing for mostly bass. There were a few pesky blues around that kept stealing flies and that ate up a lot of time re-rigging. White poppers were one of the favorite flies. At slack water we ran to Woods Hole and waited for the ebb in the Coffee Obsession espresso bar. Back on the water for the ebb and a lot of 20-26 bass eating small squid flies. The NE wind picked up and we followed the 9:30 ferry back to the rip for the ebb. It was really worked up with the wind and the fish were pretty aggressive. A big pink and white squid fly landed three fish before a big thunder-bumper had us running for shelter. We made it home minutes before the hail, lightning and rain. July 5, 2009 Went out very early this and observed some unusual fish behavior. At slack water on middle ground a lot of bass came up to the surface and would make big boils taking something just under the surface. I could not see any bait in the water but the terns were taking something small off the surface also. I tried a lot of different patterns from a small baby squid to a floating sand eel but could get no takers. I am not sure what is going on but will try to get out tomorrow at the same tide stage and try to figure it out. There were a lot of bass and by the size of some of the boils there were some big ones mixed in. The boat is now in the shop until Tuesday afternoon . Hopefully, MV Shipyard can take care of the problem in a timely manner as I have a trip on Wednesday morning. My boat is out of the shipyard and running fine. The past couple of days the Martha's Vineyard Fly Fishing Company crew has been fishing around Naushon. Both Woods Hole and Robinson hole have been holding bass in the fast water. Chartreuse and white clousers and silver sided poppers on the surface have been taking schoolies to 26 inches. Last Wednesday we took a 19 pound striper in Robinsons. We used a full sink line and a heavy clouser , letting it sink into the rips. This mornings trip on Tuesday the 21st was a gift from the weather people. It was supposed to rain and pour all morning but we got the entire trip in before we got a few sprinkles coming back into Lake Tashmoo. No big fish today but lots of school bass along the north shore of Naushon and in Robinsons Hole. One large, lone bluefish ate our fly just west of Tarpaulin Cove. We fought it for a couple of minutes but it eventually ate through the 15 pound tippet. Off to see Bob Dylan in concert with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp. They are playing at McCoy stadium in Pawtucket this afternoon and evening. If the sun comes out tomorrow I have a sight fishing charter from ten to three. August 18.2009 Lots of charters this past three weeks. Also lots of fish in the moving water at all the holes between the Elizabeth Islands. Woods Hole has been especially productive, the baby squid are moving from Vineyard Sound into Buzzards Bay, and the bass are there to intercept and eat them. At the maximum ebb flow there are bass on the surface and they are very willing to take small squid imitations. At the slack water periods between tides the bass and blue are on the surface eating the small green crab larvae. And when they are doing the crab thing they seem almost impossible to catch. They sip the larvae like trout in a river during a mayfly hatch. And I have not been able to tie a fly to imitate the larvae. Today I took Rick Allen and his friend Chad, a beginner saltwater flyrodder, out to see what we could catch. Tried for bonito at hedge fence but there were only bluefish there. Made the run to the Weepeckets where we ran into blues and a few bass. Chad wanted to try the long rod and I suggested we try Woods Hole to finish the trip and it was there, at the end of the trip, that Chad was able to catch and release two smallish striped bass. It was Chad's first saltwater fly rod fish and when he caught the second, it was not just luck but there was skill involved. He put the fly where the fish were and one came right up and ate the fly. Great way to end the trip. They said they would send some photos and if they do I will post them. Check out Rick's blog about the above trip Click below East Coast Fish Porn Late August Pete Kelso and I fished on Sunday the 23rd. A hot, hazy August dog day but the fish did not know that. Bass and blues busting the jumping minnow teaser and Pete casting into the breaks. See the following pictures for some of the results. Bass and Blues August 30th John Middleton and I fished all day today in the rain and fog and drizzle. The fish were there but not real cooperative. We did manage to land quite as few good bass that were up on the surface eating krill. John boated two large bluefish, one of them a nine pounder. Pictures to follow when he forwards them to Martha's Vineyard Fly Fishing. John Middleton That's all folks. Thanks for reading Bucky Burrows |