Positive reports throughout all of last week, including one from the OTW TV crew, and a great weather forecast created a lot of hype for the school bluefin bite south of Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday.
The 30′ Crosby Canyon Pop’s Call left Osterville with at 4:45AM Saturday, heading towards what was predicted to be a fleet of 100 boats fishing the 20 fathom curve 15 miles south of the Vineyard.
With a 6:30 slack tide, the crew arrived around 7AM and started trolling 140 feet of water in the 64-65 degree range. Within 20 minutes of deploying the spread, the shotgun and long-line went off simultaneously. Both fish were boated and in the 30-35″ range.
Two more fish were taken throughout the late morning in the same size class, providing steady action for the crew.
The bite picked up again around the second slack at 12:15. 3 fish were taken, including another double up. These fish were also in the 30-35″ range.
Pin-rigged ballyhoo were the bait of choice, with all 7 fish taken on them, although small-presentation Standard Issue spreader bars were reported as the more popular offering earlier in the week.
Luckily, the fish were spread out enough that fears of the area being a parking lot were never realized. At one point 40+ boats were within view, but it never interfered with fishing.
Pop’s Call finished 7 of 9 for the day with one nice fish for the table.
Can i get one