A rare weakfish was caught last Saturday night by a local angler. Donald Lynch, 43, of Vineyard Haven, said he was entirely surprised by the catch. The fish was caught from the beach at the Lagoon Pond drawbridge. “On the very first cast I hooked up a fish and when I landed it, I discovered it was a 24-and-a-half-inch, three-plus pound weakfish,” Mr. Lynch said.
He said the last time he caught a weakfish was 25 years ago.
Freshwater and saltwater fishing is free this weekend for those who have not yet registered for a Massachusetts fishing license. It is a chance for all adult anglers to get their lines wet without having to buy a fishing license. But on Monday, most adults are required to have a state license.
Bass and Blues for Boys and Girls is a new fishing contest to benefit Island children. Fishing starts early tomorrow morning and continues until 3 p.m. when there will be an awards ceremony and cookout. The striped bass and bluefish contest benefits the Martha’s Vineyard Boys’ and Girls’ Club.
The John Havlicek Celebrity Fishing Tournament, a people-spotting fishing and golf tournament that raises money for the Genesis Fund, celebrates its 30th anniversary this week.
The contest has raised $2 million for the nonprofit organization committed to helping children with birth defects, genetic disorders and intellectual disabilities and their families.
The event was started by Boston Celtic legend John Havlicek and his wife, Beth.
Longfin inshore squid ( loligo pealeii ) may not be on the menu, but it is an important local seafood that has grown scarce.
Recreational and commercial fishermen are perplexed, wondering how a once profitable and abundant bait seems to have disappeared. Tackle shop owners can’t find enough of it. The draggers working in Nantucket Sound have had slim pickings.
Herring are back and the numbers are stronger compared with a year ago. Also known as alewives, herring are one of the true coastal signs of spring and considered essential bait fish in the food chain.
While the reports of numbers this spring are improved over last year, they are at best cautiously optimistic. A state moratorium prohibiting the catching of herring has been in place since 2005. The ban was a response to a dramatic drop in the numbers of fish returning in the spring of 2004 and before. Recovery has been slow, if at all, until this spring.
In an incident that has reverberated among fishermen up the East Coast, more than 10 tons of illegally caught striped bass were confiscated by environmental police in Maryland over the last two weeks.
Which island is better? In the interest of unbiased reporting, we’ll let the fish do the talking.
This weekend the Martha’s Vineyard Surfcasters soundly defeated the Nantucket Anglers’ Club in the fifth annual Island Cup fishing contest, held June 22 through 24 on Martha’s Vineyard. The catch and release surf casting contest is designed to build friendships and foster friendly competition between the islands. (And what’s better than friendly competition when you win?)
The local seafood economy is about to get a big boost: The commercial striped bass season opens on Thursday, July 12.
While the recreational angler has been out enjoying the benefits of catching striped bass since before spring, restaurant-goers get their chance next week.
Commercial fishermen are permitted to land and sell their striped bass on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Except for Sunday, when the bag limit is five fish, the daily landing limit is 30 fish. The minimum size is 34 inches.
The thousands of baby flounder being raised at the Wampanoag Tribe’s Aquinnah hatchery will be released late this summer at Clam Point in Nashaquitsa Pond, part of the Menemsha Pond system, according to the lead scientist of the two-year project to raise winter flounder in captivity and release them into safe waters.
Elizabeth A. Fairchild, of the University of New Hampshire, told a gathering last week at Chilmark Public Library that the Aquinnah project, overlooking Menemsha Pond, has been a great success thusfar in raising the tiny fish.
