The bonito madness seems to go on all day till about an hour before sunset. However the boat madness seems to peak at about 10-12AM, decline slightly as everyone takes a lunch break, then picks up again at about 2.
My experience is that you can see bonito all day long; your odds of catching them however are best from an hour past dawn till about 10 when boat madness scatters the pods.
If you get out late a couple words of advice:
* avoid crowds - pick a corner where bonito seem to show and try and
hide away from the masses- VH is a huge place - there are plenty of
areas where you can have a small pod of bonito to yourself.
* do not give in to the run and gun mentality - if 3 boats go chasin g a pod;
don't bother - they will get there first and the fish will be down anyways.
* don't barge into a mass of boats congregated around a juicy pod. You
can'tget a good ca s t in without being a jerk; and anyways,itsrare anyone
hooks up in a melee anyways.
* if the crowds join you and your private pod; leave and find another
corner.
* ugly water seperates the men from the boys. The 13 foot whalers and jon
boats don't go into the choppy stuff at East or West Chop. Nor does
the out for a good time crew. Also - bonito love to run the choppy area
of the rips around V.H.
* psych out boats around you who are being jerks - spot a pod a mile off;
jump up and down and point at it. Watch them fly off. Then cast in their
wake :-)!
But yes - you can get some good shots at bonito after 9:30....