Today is bluefish Saturday. Participating fishermen have an opportunity to win $500 if they catch the biggest fish today in a boat, and there is another $500 for the angler who catches
the biggest bluefish from the shore.
This morning, you could have seen the smallest wavelet left by a fish at the Oak Bluffs Steamship Authority wharf. The water was a flat calm, and mirrored the overhead deep blue sky. The sun cast long shadows across the wharf and more than 200 youngsters stood along the rails trying to catch fish.
Steve Amaral came in this morning to weigh in his own 18.15-pound striper as well as Michael Alwardt’s striper, a 17-pound fish. The two men have fished together for 17 years.
Mr. Amaral, of Oak Bluffs, 72, has fished 62 of the 63 derbies. One of the most respected shore striped bass fishermen around, he was named to the derby hall of fame last year. He said he caught his fish Sunday night sometime between 6 and 9 p.m. at the South Shore. The air was calm, the seas were the same. The men were fishing with eels.
More than 200 children showed up at the Oak Bluffs Steamship Authority wharf on Sunday morning and not one of them left the Island. The gathering was for the annual Kids’ Day derby, an early morning fishing contest which recognizes that fishing starts with the young and can last a lifetime. For two hours the children ruled the wharf; the ferry boats arrived later.
Larger striped bass moved closer to shore in the past weekend, as the 63rd annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby entered its second week. The month-long fishing contest continues through Saturday, Oct. 18.
Enthusiasm for fishing runs rampant at the derby weigh station. Anglers will tell their stories. Occasionally someone sneaks in and posts a note or a drawing on the old building.
This morning a poem was posted on the wall, written by R. Gross:
I’m a fisherman can’t you see.
That’s all I really wanted to be.
Women or man the fire is lit.
In the boats and beaches we all have to hit.
The thrill of it all as we searched the ocean shallow and deep
There is an official derby seal. Or, it could be more than one.
Derby enthusiasts who go and weigh in their fish from 8 to 10 p.m. at the foot of Main street in Edgartown have noticed a smart big seal swimming nearby.
Derby president Ed Jerome thinks the seal may be the same one that has come to swim off the weigh station for years.
Mr. Jerome said the “big guy” swims up when local anglers slap the water with a fish carcass. “He is there every night,” Mr. Jerome said. Even youngsters have fed the animal.
It was a full house at derby headquarters Wednesday night. There were anglers bringing fish from all over the Island, there was a movie playing in Edgartown, but a seal managed to steal the early show at the water’s edge.
The best of the fin fishing season is far from over, but already attention shifts to the start of the bay scallop season. Oct. 1 was traditionally the start for the recreational season. Not so anymore, except in Edgartown.
Foul weather predicted for this weekend may hinder but it won’t slow down the enthusiasts participating in the 63rd annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. Fishing is at a fever pitch.
Sloppy seas and a prevailing east-northeast breeze made the fishing tough this week. Nevertheless, at the Wednesday night derby weigh-in, the derby got a new leader in the striped bass boat category.