Bonito Are In
Jul 28 2010
For fans of the so-called “funny fish” Atlantic bonito began pouring into local waters during the last week of July. Bonito have been appearing regularly off Oak Bluffs, Edgartown Harbor and the Hedge Fence Shoal. With a little luck the speedsters will move across the Sound to the south facing beaches of Mashpee and Falmouth.
And if history holds, False Albecore should arrive during the next several weeks. They’ll crowd out the bonito a bit but there’s plenty of small bait — mostly sand eels — that may keep both species around for August and into September.
Striped bass fishing continues to be night or early morning endeavor. Anglers pitching eels along the Elizabeth Islands are regularly finding large bass all the way down to Cuttyhunk.
Bluefish, which don’t mind the July-August water temperatures, are roaming everywhere. For some light tackle fun, try using small lures with barbless hooks on a 7-8 foot spin outfit. A 5-lb blue will put up quite the fight and can be easily and safely released.
Bottom fishing is good for fluke, sea bass and scup. As the case has been the last several years, most fluke are short of the 18-1/2-inch legal size. Sea bass continue to hold over most rocks and wrecks and scup are just about everywhere.