Ryan Collins
At 1:30pm yesterday afternoon, my friend Zach Lesinski of 2020 Sky Sight gave me a pair of headphones and closed the door of his 1963 Piper airplane.
Just minutes later and we were 1,000 feet high in the sky, cruising over Cape Cod Bay spotting pods of Right Whales.
This was perhaps the most unique start ever to a striped bass surfcasting trip!
Eventually Zach brought the plane around to the south, en route to Martha's Vineyard, where we hoped to catch the first migratory striper of the season.
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Is This The First Martha's Vineyard Striper of the Year?
I will share plenty of aerial video and photos in the full version of this report which can be accessed by MFCC members.
For now lets focus on the fishing.
Around 3:00PM yesterday afternoon I hooked what I thought may be the first migratory striped bass of the Martha's Vineyard fishing season.
I was shocked!
I would later find out that Abe Pieciak caught the first MV striper about three hours earlier, around 12 noon. Abe is an artist on the Vineyard, and I actually have one of his watercolors hanging in my office.
After releasing that fish we experienced a lull in the action, until MFCC member and MV resident Brian McCarty showed up around 4:30pm.
Before sunset the bite "heated up" with schoolies feeding in tight to shore.
Cool stuff Ryan…As a private pilot myself.there is nothing better than exploring the cape from the air.Done it dozens of times.My dad has a shot I took of the vineyard at sunset at 3000 ft in his office.If you bump in to him ask him about the day I buzzed him at a 150 feet on Sagamore beach…Blew him away.he was standing on the jetty waving a towel….lol
I will definitely ask him about that David! I see your dad pretty often at the gym!
Nice can’t wait to get out there.
nice. chappy? there are teen sized blues on long island already.
We were not on Chappy during this trip, but I did fish Chappy last October for the first time. Awesome area.
Good to hear about those bluefish. We probably won’t get many blues until mid-May at the earlier, but last year there was a lone bluefish caught here on Cape in the Osterville area on April 28th.
exciting news to say the least, loved the video, especially the awesome footage from your flight to MV, very cool. talk about a badass way to get to your fishing spot.
Zach is the man and I can’t thank him enough for flying me over there.
Having a plane at your disposal it pretty epic!
Abe is a fly fisher, so technically you caught the first 2017 migrating bass from the Vineyard on spinning gear. Small victories! Congratulations!
I have to say, there was a bit of an uproar over who caught the first fish. After parting ways, I spoke with friend and told him about Ryans’ fish and the time estimate of when it was caught. He reported it to the tackle shop, who had put up a prize to the person who posted the first picture of a migratory on their page. Shortly after, they responded by saying that Abe had caught a bass around noon, but no one witnessed it, and he hadn’t taken a photo (so there was no proof).
The consensus of local fishermen agreed if there’s no proof it didn’t happen, thus making Ryan’s fish the first. The tackle shop ruled with the Abe based on the honesty, not proof. Obviously Ryan wasn’t concerned in the least; as he just came to fish.
The reason everyone else had so much concern is because we have an abundance of island contests (and the Derby), to which integrity is the most important factor. As things like this happen, our contests lose integrity. It’s wasn’t about bragging rights, but a concern for “whats fair is fair”. No one says “tell me about the money”; the saying is “show me the money”.
That is soo Awsome Ryan, what an adventure, a plane to MV, whale watching from 1000ft. and Fishing!! does it get Any better.
This is what MFCC is all about, what we can do together , and you caught a fish on my Sand Eel !! I’m grinning from ear to ear.
That sand eel jig is AWESOME.
Great work Steve and thanks again for the lure!
Great video. Thanks Zach.
Ryan, it was a pleasure fishing with you, as always. Very nice to meet Zach as well. That’s the ultimate fish-scouting machine!
Same to you Brian, and yes, having a plane at our disposal opens up an entirely new world of fishing potential!