It was early Friday morning and Martha's Vineyard wanted to make sure everyone knew it was Flag Day. How did it do that? It got Mother Nature to continue to rev up the jet engines so every flag on the island was just about horizontal. Today's wind was earlier then it usually blows which has been about 11 o'clock.
I was up at 5 am and ready to make the drive west. I was hopeful and ready to give it a good shot on my last day. It has been a good, but frustrating week, having seen a ton of fish but in tough weather conditions. My body count could have been higher if I just relented and blind casted or dredged the channels but I stuck with trying to sight fish only.
I grabbed a coffee at the Cumberland Farms and as I walked past "The Guys" one asked me how the fishing has been. I passed these guys each of the last six mornings and today was my day to sit and join
them. I never judge, but the guys who coffee clutch appear like they've had a better run during another part of their lives. I wondered what people thought when they drove past and saw them. Now, looking at the photo, I fit right right in. A little disheveled, could use a shower, and probably some new kicks, although Tom (left) was sporting a new pair. When Gerry heard I was fishing he opened up his encyclopedia of everything MV and striped bass. No matter how many times I told him I was sight fishing using the fly he would go back to being in a boat and using squid over in Wasque. I heard that
name a lot over the week. Wasque is a large bluff over on the southeastern shores on Chappaquiddick Island and there's a rip close to shore that is a very popular place that usually holds fish. I also heard about fish blowing up in the marinas and inlet around OB every night. "You should try Middle Ground", he said after a half an hour. I knew it was time to go. "Gerry I'm sight fishing with a fly rod" "You can see them from a boat." And with that I said goodbye and made my way west.
When I got to the turn off for Lambert's Cove I said, "Why am I gonna drive all the way out there into stronger wind?". So I spun around and hit Lake Tashmoo. It was closer and surely would be protected from the wind, right? Other side of the island with a SSW wind to 20- 25? Yeah that's
funny. I made the bumpy drive back and like every other placed I fish this week had the whole place to myself. Outgoing tide with a side of wind of course. Even though it was early I thought maybe I could
spot some fish around the edges of the pond or sniffing around the inlet. Maybe some of those Middle Ground fish came out of the slop to patrol the shoreline. I made a bunch of there and backs to the tip of the jetty but didn't see anything moving. Then I figured why walk and just stood in a spot where I had
some sandy bottom visibility going on but that didn't work either. There were some high points along the shore which gave me a better angle looking down into the water but that was for naught as well.
I made my way inside and even with the headwind and grass and stuff pushing into the shallows I did have good visibility. I did see one fish that blew out when he saw me. With him moving away quickly I had no shot. Earlier in the week I had stopped at Kismet and saw that Joe Calcevechia from Saltwater Custom Flies was well represented in the shop. I bought a few flies including a simple white
bunny strip fly that is a killer fly up here, white for the days and black for the nights. Coop sold me a bunch my first year here along with those red floating sand eel/squid/slider looking flies, which I have a bunch of and never caught a fish on, not that I don't believe they would be productive.
And in a moment of "Who cares about fishing" if you know Joe Calcevechia you know how much of a lovely man he is. He's having a tough time as his son Joe was seriously injured in a car accident just a month ago. While his condition has improved he has a long road ahead of him. A Go Fund Me account has been started by his sister HERE if you can.
As I walked around the point my truck became closer and closer and I knew I was just about done. No, I was done. With weather moving in today I decided to call it quits. Now I just had to see if I could get off this dam island. I hurried back to the Vineyard Haven ferry ticket office to see if I can move up my Saturday 630 ferry reservation to Friday ASAP.
"You know there's no stand-bys on the weekends right? And how long is that truck with that thing sticking up off the back?". But somehow he found me a spot on the 1230 out of OB and suggested I go there now, 9am, to see if they can get me on the 1030. I met Joe, the gate keeper at OB, and he got me in line just in case something opened up. I would be the first lucky one to go.
One thing that has been consistent, besides the wind, was peoples interest in the SS Archer. I watched a lady sit on a bench looking before she finally had to come over. "What is that, a boat, a go-cart, a combination of the two?" I had many, many people stop and ask about it. Maybe I should have unloaded
it while I was out there. I has some time to kill so I walked around the docks just looking for any fish.
Luckily I didn't see any which would have been a bummer. As I walked someone passing by said, "I love your shirt", referring to Abe's "Smoking Gull" that adorned my chiseled chest.
Joe signaled me to pull down the ramp to the ferry, "Number 1, Lane 1" I was confident I was in. Then a line of cars came from out of no where and starting to file on board. You know it's getting to the
end of the line as the cars stop on the ramp as they get jammed into the sides of the ferry. Then an older man came over to me, "If that ambulance doesn't fit after you I'm pulling you and that thing off". That would have meant a two hour wait till the 1230. Luckily the ambulance fit and it was all good. I wouldn't
say it was smooth sailing as the ferry was rocking and the boats that were out on Middle Ground were getting tossed a bit in the slop. As I said good-bye to Martha's Vineyard, and the wind, I reached into the cooler and grabbed a Guinness and went up on deck. It was about 1045 but it was 5 o'clock somewhere.
As I sat there I thought how lucky I was to have had the opportunity to spend a week up here. And then the wind came, and the hat went flying, but I caught it just in time. It was the island was saying "Go back to Jersey'. But I'll be back next year hopefully, and hopefully without the wind.