Martha's Vineyard Fishing Report: Summer Stripers and Blues in a Perfect Weather Window

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Martha’s Vineyard fishing report. We’re sitting on a gentle weather window around the Island right now: light southwest breeze building through the day, seas modest, and air temps cruising in the 60s early, pushing toward the 70s along the south side by afternoon. Skies are mixed clouds and sun with just enough chop to keep things looking fishy. Sunrise hit just after 5 o’clock this morning on Island time, with sunset coming just before 8:30 this evening. That gives you long low‑light windows on both ends of the day, which is exactly when you want to be working the beaches for stripers and blues. Tides around Vineyard and Nantucket Sound are running a typical early‑summer set today. Figure a predawn high tide on the south side, with water dumping out through mid‑morning, then a mid‑afternoon low, and another push of incoming into and through dusk. If you can, plan to fish the last two hours of the incoming and the first of the drop at your chosen spot; that’s when the bait stacks and the gamefish get competitive. Recent reports from local sharpies and tackle shops around Oak Bluffs, Edgartown, and Menemsha all tell a similar story: **schoolie to slot stripers** still plentiful, with a few bigger fish mixing in after dark, plus **small to mid‑size bluefish** showing more consistently on the south shore rips and along State Beach. There’ve been decent **scup** and **sea bass** bites for the bottom folks in Vineyard Sound and off the reefs and rockpiles, with keepers coming on both bait and jigs. Best producers for stripers off the beach right now are **soft plastics** on light jigs in natural sand‑eel and silvery baitfish colors, 3–5 inches, worked just off the bottom with a slow, steady retrieve. Old‑faithful **bucktail jigs** tipped with a strip of pork rind or soft plastic are still putting fish on the sand. At first light and last light, **small surface plugs** and spooks will draw explosive hits, especially around any nervous water or bird activity. If you’re fishing bait, **fresh squid strips**, **mackerel chunks**, and **sea worms** are all solid producers. Fish them on simple fish‑finder rigs or high‑low setups in the deeper slots and troughs. For scup and sea bass, bits of clam, squid, or gulp‑style scented plastics on small hooks will keep rods bending. Couple of hot spots to keep on your short list: - **State Beach / Joseph Sylvia State Beach** from the Little Bridge to the Big Bridge: classic early‑summer stretch for schoolie and slot stripers with a shot at blues, especially around the bridges when the current is moving. - **Wasque and the south‑facing beaches of Chappy**: when the current lines up, this is prime water for stripers and blues with a chance at something bigger pushing bait along the bars and cuts. Boat folks working the edges of **Middle Ground** and other Vineyard Sound rips with small swimming plugs, sand‑eel jigs, and flutter spoons are finding mixed bass and blues, plus some sea bass hanging tight to structure. That’s the word from around the Island. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn