During June through early August, my favorite location for offshore fishing is south of the Vineyard. It holds baitfish, dolphins, and whales, which bring in the game fish.
It is home to albacore, bluefin tuna, white marlin, mahi mahi, and yellowfin tuna. In my opinion, South of the Vineyard is the best area to get "mid-offshore" action.
Best Methods and General Overview
I feel that the best method for South of the Vineyard is trolling, but you can also find success jigging and casting.
South of the Vineyard consists of many different areas ranging from around 20 miles off the coast to 50 miles and more. The closer areas are accessible for smaller boats with single engines. It is still important to keep a close eye on the weather and feel confident in your vessel.
Our DC 295 Pursuit always ensured a nice, smooth ride to South of the Vineyard.
The Closer Spots: The Claw and Coxes Ledge
Starting with the closer spots, we have The Claw and Coxes Ledge, about 22 miles off the coast of the Vineyard. It is about a 40-mile run if you are leaving from Falmouth Harbor and will take a little over an hour to get there, depending on sea conditions.
These areas are great early in the season for trolling bluefin tuna. It is best to get here early and close to sunrise. This is when the tuna are feeding the most and when I have had the most success. It also gives you more time to search around if you don't catch anything.
Two nice bluefin tuna we caught at the Claw a couple summers ago.
For lures, I have found most of my success using Green Machine and Rainbow colored bars. Using rigged ballyhoo also works great here, but it is important to know the bait in this area is small, so I like to use small lures.
Always keep one or two casting rods ready to go because you can find tuna breaking on the surface or a white marlin cruising along.
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Awesome write up!! Thanks for going into the detailed information.
Great write up Matt. Appreciate the info. I am on same exact boat as you and you are right – great boat. I can get to all those areas so thx. I have some experience there and always looking for more. I also see we fish very similiar in bait – trolling choices. Hope to see you out there . We are the Hot Pursuit out of West Harwich. Tight Lines and be safe.
Great write-up … now I’m gonna have to get a boat …