Manchester By The Sea - September 27, 2010

A friend and I and our two kids went out w/ a guide yesterday. We went out of Beverly harbor, going north to Manchester, up to Kettle Island.

The goal for the day was to put the kids on a big fish, which we accomplished (a 33" striper!).

We ended up only landing two fish. I caught a schoolie-sized striper.

The guide had us working top-water plugs. I had two other stripers take a swipe at the plug, to no avail. The 33" was taken on a live mackerel.

My goal was to learn something new about the area, which is that I have given up on Graves Island too quickly (Graves Island is to the right of black and white beaches, closer to Singing Beach). There was some bird activity and that's where I picked up the schoolie-sized striper. The place to focus on is between the island and the beach. It's shallow w/ rocks, giving a lot of cover. The guide suggested a black and purple puglisi fly, on a shooting head line. Since I landed one and had another swat at a top-water plug, my suggestion is a gurgler fly, on a floating or intermediate (recommended by Orvis in recent article) line. Also, I recommend working the beach, too.

Martha's Vineyard - September 12, 2010

I decided to sign up for my first Martha's Vineyard Striper and Bluefish Derby, which started this morning at 12:01am and runs for six weeks. We went the weigh station yesterday to look at the grand prizes, an Eastern boat for the shore and a pickup for the boat winners. Someone was touching the boat and I told them, "feel free to touch my boat, but don't scratch it!".

I got up at 3:30am and went straight to Lobsterville Beach. Nothing doing there and I noticed a lot of vehicles coming from the Lobsterville side of Menemsha. I hadn't fished the West Basin in several years, but figured it was worth a shot, especially given the long drive.

The channel was overflowing w/ bait and bass were slamming the surface. After putting in my time there, w/ no luck competing against so much natural bait, I went to the Basin, on the outside of the jetty. I ended up hooking up one, a smallish one, but at least I broke the ice.

By the time I left at ~6:30am, the fisherman were lining up along the beach. My guess is in hopes of the albies (false albacore) showing up. There were several kayaks cruising the outside of the jetties and beach, too.

I visited Coop's Bait and Tackle yesterday to sign up. Someone had just come in to deliver his 'special' flies for the derby. I got a good look at them (all the same) before he scurried them away and fortunately I have some flies that are very similar, in color, size and profile (the same fly I broke the ice w/).

Unfortunately, I have to go back to work tomorrow, but I'll be here next Friday to give it try #2! The boat will be mine.

The Big One, by David Kinney

I'm halfway through a fun book describing Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby that takes place annually on the Island. Kinney participates in and befriends several regulars, who take him out fishing w/ them. It's a fast and fun read, so far. I highly recommend picking it up, if you're into reading fishing stories.

Manchester By The Sea - September 6, 2010

Headed out around 5am today to Black and White beaches. There was no surface activity, but managed to pull in two trolling a Slug Go. One was of decent size, around 25".

I'm expecting the fish activity to increase significantly in the upcoming weeks, given the temperature drop we've been having.