Martha's Vineyard Fishing Report: Prime Striper Bite with Evening Rip Action

This is Artificial Lure with your Martha’s Vineyard fishing report. We’ve got a nice, fishy pattern setting up around the Island. Early morning started cool with light southwest breeze, building to 10–15 knots this afternoon with a bit more chop on the south side. Skies are partly cloudy, air in the 60s pushing into the low 70s, and just enough breeze to keep the mosquitoes honest. According to the National Weather Service marine outlook, seas in Vineyard Sound are running 1–3 feet, a touch higher along Squibnocket and the South Shore. That makes boat and kayak work comfortable close to home, but you’ll want to watch the rips. Sunrise was right around 5:10 a.m., with sunset about 8:20 p.m., so you’ve got a good, long light window. The prime feeding bites have been the pre‑dawn gray light and the last hour before dark, especially on moving water. NOAA’s tide tables show a mid‑morning high and an evening low in Vineyard Haven today, so you’ll see strong current pushing through the normal chokepoints: Middle Ground, the edges of Menemsha and Quicks Hole, and the boulder fields off Squibby and Philbin. The outgoing tide tonight should really light up the rips. Local reports from island tackle shops say the **striped bass** bite has been solid, with a mix of schoolies and plenty of legal fish, plus the occasional 30‑inch‑plus taken after dark. Shore anglers have been picking them along State Beach, the jetties at Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven, and the Menemsha shoreline. Boat crews drifting the rips around Middle Ground and Lucas Shoal are seeing steady action. **Bluefish** have been in and out, but the last few days saw more consistent catches in Vineyard Sound and along the South Shore. Gators are still scattered, but 4–8 pound blues are chewing when the bait shows. A few short **fluke** and keeper **sea bass** have been hitting the coolers from drift boats working the sand and rubble east of the Island and off Cape Poge. According to recent weigh‑ins reported by island shops, anglers are bringing in multiple stripers per tide, sometimes a dozen or more schoolies per angler with a couple of keepers in the mix, plus enough blues to keep things interesting. Best lure choices right now: - For bass at first and last light: small metal lips, SP Minnows, and 5–7 inch soft plastics in bone or olive on ½–1 oz jigheads. - For daytime blues: 1–2 oz Kastmasters, Hopkins, or simple tin with a single hook; swap to wire or heavy fluoro leaders if you’re getting bit off. - In the rips: bucktail jigs tipped with soft plastics or pork rind, bounced just off the bottom. Best baits: - Fresh squid strips and live eels after dark for bigger stripers along the rocks. - Sand eels, if you can get them, fished on a fish‑finder rig in the troughs. - Clam or squid on high‑low rigs for sea bass and fluke on the drifts. A couple of hot spots to circle for today: - **Middle Ground and Vineyard Sound rips**: Hit them on the ebb with bucktails and soft plastics for bass, with blues mixed in when the bait stacks. - **Menemsha and the North Shore rock fields**: Waders and rock‑hoppers throwing swimmers and soft plastics at dusk have a real shot at a better‑class striper. Fish smart: watch the birds, mind the bathers as the day warms up, and be respectful around the jetties and crowded access points. The fish are here; it’s all about timing that moving water and leaning into the low‑light windows. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe for more local fishing updates. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn