Fish

Bluefish are just referred to as Blues. They are a very powerful and tenacious fish for their size. Maxing out around 25 pounds of tender oily meat and razor sharp teeth, blues are an excellent game fish. They travel in large schools from Cuba to the Gulf of Maine. Blues will feed on anything, including their own kind. They are referred to as the pirahanas of the Atlantic, so keep all toes and fingers away from their gaping jaws.

 

Striped Bass, usually called simply Stripers, are a very popular food and game fish in our Cape Cod and Islands waters. They are fond of rocky and sandy shores, travel in schools, and eat mostly other fish and invertebrates such as squid. Like the rest of the bass family, they also eat crustaceans, and it’s fairly common to find a whole crab in a striper belly. Their scarcity in recent years means there is a strict size limit to stripers you may keep. As the fish increase in numbers, the size limit is going down.

 

Bonito are a small and speedy member of the Tuna family. They are a much prized local catch. Related to tuna and mackerel, bonito have stream-lined, silvery bluish bodies with tiny scales and two dorsal fins. Bonito can travel up to fifty miles an hour. Because they are also very finicky eaters, they make a difficult catch.

 

Yellowfin Tuna is in the same family as Bonito with very similar characteristics. They venture into the water around Martha’s Vineyard late in the summer and stay until early fall. We usually fish for them by trolling various types of surface lures and sometimes live bait. Yellowfin Tuna is, by far, the tastiest catch of the summer, and they bring a great price at the local fish markets.