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Vineyard Fishing Report: Bonito Blitz, Striper Frenzy, and Fluke Opportunities
Published 8 months, 2 weeks ago
Description
Good morning from the Vineyard! This is Artificial Lure with your Martha’s Vineyard fishing report for August 15, 2025.
Sunrise splashed the horizon at 5:45 AM and we’ll see sunset at 7:49 PM tonight. A real summer stunner, flat-calm at first light and highs pushing 85°—so pack your sunscreen and keep hydrated while you’re chasing those fish. Oaks Bluffs tides today: first low at 5:54 AM, high at 12:23 PM, then low again around dinner at 5:46 PM. (Tide predictions courtesy of Tide-Forecast.com.)
Now let’s get to the bite. According to Kismet Outfitters in Edgartown, the bonito have absolutely stolen the show off Vineyard Sound. Good-sized bones are balled up in tight schools, blitzing peanut bunker and silversides along the current seams. The magic windows have been 6:30 to 11:00 AM and again from 3:00 PM until sunset—so line it up with that strong late-morning tide for your best shot.
North side of the Island: stripers are pushing under schools of bait, especially where terns are working. Stripers are snatching up sand eels and peanut bunker—classic late-summer fare. The action is heating up tight to the beach, especially early and late. Mixed bluefish and stripers have been gorging on everything from Menemsha to East Chop, according to reports from On The Water magazine, with blues and stripers blasting through balls of silversides and peanut bunker. Sea bass and the occasional surface smash from a fluke or blackfish will keep bottom fishermen busy—some folks have been picking up keeper-sized sea bass right in the mix with the blitzing schools.
Nantucket Sound on the east side has been a prime zone for bonito and bluefish, with the most ferocious action coming just as the incoming tide gets humming. Bonito have been finicky at times, so run a long 20-pound fluorocarbon leader—those fish are sharp-eyed.
Top lures and baits: you really can’t beat **chartreuse and pink Surf Candies**, **Bonito Bunnies**, **Albie Escorts**, and **Bonito Bullets** for flies. For the spin crowd, **epoxy jigs, tins, and slender minnow plugs** have been the ticket. Early in the blitz, pencil poppers and bucktails have drawn aggressive strikes from both blues and bass. If you’re heading out for fluke or sea bass, classic squid strips or Gulp! baits tipped on a fluke rig keep producing.
If you want more consistent action, hit up these two hotspots:
- **East Chop**: Early morning and dusk have produced solid action for stripers and bluefish right in casting range. Look for birds or swirls breaking the glassy water, and get your epoxy jigs in there fast.
- **Wasque Point**: The east side rips are holding both bonito and the occasional Spanish mackerel, and if you’re set up on the right tide, you might even score a trifecta with bluefish milling in the whitewater.
Bottom line, the Vineyard is on fire—bonito, bass, blues, and sea bass all in the mix, and there’s a real shot at some slab fluke on the south shore for those dropping down deep rigs.
That’s what I’ve got for you this Friday—tight lines and don’t forget to keep your line wet but your feet dry. Thanks for tuning in, and remember to subscribe for your daily dose of local fishing. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
This episode includes AI-generated content.
Sunrise splashed the horizon at 5:45 AM and we’ll see sunset at 7:49 PM tonight. A real summer stunner, flat-calm at first light and highs pushing 85°—so pack your sunscreen and keep hydrated while you’re chasing those fish. Oaks Bluffs tides today: first low at 5:54 AM, high at 12:23 PM, then low again around dinner at 5:46 PM. (Tide predictions courtesy of Tide-Forecast.com.)
Now let’s get to the bite. According to Kismet Outfitters in Edgartown, the bonito have absolutely stolen the show off Vineyard Sound. Good-sized bones are balled up in tight schools, blitzing peanut bunker and silversides along the current seams. The magic windows have been 6:30 to 11:00 AM and again from 3:00 PM until sunset—so line it up with that strong late-morning tide for your best shot.
North side of the Island: stripers are pushing under schools of bait, especially where terns are working. Stripers are snatching up sand eels and peanut bunker—classic late-summer fare. The action is heating up tight to the beach, especially early and late. Mixed bluefish and stripers have been gorging on everything from Menemsha to East Chop, according to reports from On The Water magazine, with blues and stripers blasting through balls of silversides and peanut bunker. Sea bass and the occasional surface smash from a fluke or blackfish will keep bottom fishermen busy—some folks have been picking up keeper-sized sea bass right in the mix with the blitzing schools.
Nantucket Sound on the east side has been a prime zone for bonito and bluefish, with the most ferocious action coming just as the incoming tide gets humming. Bonito have been finicky at times, so run a long 20-pound fluorocarbon leader—those fish are sharp-eyed.
Top lures and baits: you really can’t beat **chartreuse and pink Surf Candies**, **Bonito Bunnies**, **Albie Escorts**, and **Bonito Bullets** for flies. For the spin crowd, **epoxy jigs, tins, and slender minnow plugs** have been the ticket. Early in the blitz, pencil poppers and bucktails have drawn aggressive strikes from both blues and bass. If you’re heading out for fluke or sea bass, classic squid strips or Gulp! baits tipped on a fluke rig keep producing.
If you want more consistent action, hit up these two hotspots:
- **East Chop**: Early morning and dusk have produced solid action for stripers and bluefish right in casting range. Look for birds or swirls breaking the glassy water, and get your epoxy jigs in there fast.
- **Wasque Point**: The east side rips are holding both bonito and the occasional Spanish mackerel, and if you’re set up on the right tide, you might even score a trifecta with bluefish milling in the whitewater.
Bottom line, the Vineyard is on fire—bonito, bass, blues, and sea bass all in the mix, and there’s a real shot at some slab fluke on the south shore for those dropping down deep rigs.
That’s what I’ve got for you this Friday—tight lines and don’t forget to keep your line wet but your feet dry. Thanks for tuning in, and remember to subscribe for your daily dose of local fishing. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
This episode includes AI-generated content.