Dick’s Bait and Tackle

We spoke Deadly Doug at Dick’s Bait and Tackle who seems to work all day and fish all night. The fishing has ticked up considerably over the past week with bones and blues of about four pounds being taken from the Menemsha jetty and up towards the Gay Head rockpiles. The night bass bite just got a bit more contentious with the competition from the brown sharks which have surrounded the island and are inhaling all species of fish from scup to stripers. Looking into the waters around the fishing pier reveals some big toothy forms swimming around waiting to make an easy meal of a hooked fish. There were more blues off the south side and Wasque and some of them were mixed in with bonito of the four pound class. Doug watched a brown shark that almost beached itself to catch a short fluke a nearby fisherman was releasing. I wouldn’t walk much over my ankles in those situations.

We spoke with Doug from Dick’s Bait and Tackle who said they are still anxiously awaiting a big push of bluefish anytime this month. The only blues caught this past week were from the Menemsha jetty and trolling off the Gay Head rips where a few bonito in the 4-pound class were caught. There is still a lot of bait on the east side of the island in all the harbors and beaches but now they have been joined by the annoying sand sharks and the people fishing the bottom for stripers have to put up with their death spiral tangles once hooked. That presents a mess to contend with in the darkness. The offshore bite is heating up but Steve had to pass on a weekend trip because the shop has been so busy.