derby
Mark Alan Lovewell
More than $300,000 in prizes are stashed and ready for the 64th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, which begins at 12:01 Sunday morning and runs until 10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17. And this year if you catch a big one, watch for the tweets. Derby chairman Greg Skomal confirmed yesterday that updates will be sent out on Twitter this year. Yesterday’s tweet? “Windy, windy windy . . . but reports of albies in THICK. Boats hooking dozens/day. Final weigh station setup Sat. Derby starts @ 12:01 AM Sun!!”
Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby
Lining up
Mark Alan Lovewell
More fishermen are coming: the Vineyard community, sportsmen and local businesses are pooling their resources to greet the Monday arrival of five men and two women who were recently seriously injured during military service. The veterans are coming to fish the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, now entering its second week. What better opportunity to bring out the best of the Vineyard than to share a local passion with those who have served their country?
American Heroes Saltwater Challenge
Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby
Mark Alan Lovewell
By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL The largest false albacore caught from the shore was landed last Saturday. Keith A. McArt of Somerville, a well-respected derby fisherman, caught a 16.55-pound false albacore while fishing off Lobsterville Beach. Quite a few fishermen saw him land the fish. The 64th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby is now entering its third week with still two weeks to go.
Derby records
Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby
Mark Alan Lovewell
By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL The largest false albacore caught from the shore was landed last Saturday. Keith A. McArt of Somerville, a well-respected derby fisherman, caught a 16.55-pound false albacore while fishing off Lobsterville Beach. Quite a few fishermen saw him land the fish. The 64th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby is now entering its third week with still two weeks to go.
False albacore
Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby
angler
Mark Alan Lovewell
The 64th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby is winding down and it could be practically over with today and tomorrow’s bad weather. Though the weather already has shut down the shore division, there has been a new development every day this week in the boat division. On Sunday, the derby committee announced that a fish weighed on Oct. 5 was removed from the contest because it had ice in it.
Weather
Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby
winners.
Mark Alan Lovewell
He won again. William A. Pate of West Tisbury, who spends his summers working at Cutler Bike Shop in Edgartown and his winters working as a carpenter, won the grand prize in the 64th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. Three years ago, Mr. Pate won the boat in the derby. The story gets better. Mr. Pate caught his winning fish this year, a 12.66-pound false albacore, from the boat he won in the 2006 derby.
Derby winners
Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby
Ruth
Mark Alan Lovewell
Over the years she has sold a lot of eels and given out a lot of advice about how and where to catch fish. And last month Ruth Meyer, former longtime owner of Larry’s Tackle Shop and a quiet unsung hero in the fishing community, was inducted into the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby hall of fame. On a rain-streaked morning last week, Ms. Meyer sat at her home in Edgartown and recounted a few memories. “I didn’t choose to run a fishing tackle shop because sales was my profession. I inherited it,” she said.
Larry’s Tackle Shop
Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby
Derby Number 65 The sea and coastline around the Island have been roughed up by hurricanes and tropical storms this September, beginning last weekend when Earl blew through and again midweek when more tropical disturbances cropped up. The weather has been unstable: thunderstorms crashed down on Edgartown on Wednesday while West Tisbury stayed dry and sunny. But the forecast calls for weather patterns to settle down by Sunday, just in time for the opening of the sixty-fifth Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.
Hurricanes
Weather
Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby
pins
Mark Alan Lovewell
The 65th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby opens Sunday morning at a minute past midnight. The fishermen are waiting. George Moran of Oak Bluffs will be out there. At 64, he is almost as old as the derby. “For me it is wonderful being outdoors, being on the beaches, out at night with the stars and moon,” Mr. Moran said.
Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby
fish
Mark Alan Lovewell
Autumn is in the air and there is no better evidence than the sight of pickup trucks loaded with fishing rods and gear. The 65th Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby opened on Sunday; so far there are 1,400 fishermen registered. The biggest striped bass weighed in at the Edgartown headquarters is a 32-pounder brought in Wednesday morning by Evan D. Metropoulous, a boat angler with a reputation for loving to be on the water and a persistence in catching big fish.
Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby
Fishing
Mark Alan Lovewell
More than three tons of fish have been weighed in so far in the month-long 65th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. At least 460 bluefish have been weighed in, three times more than the number of striped bass. False albacore is again the scarce fish in the derby; only 35 have been weighed in so far. A total number of 96 bonito have touched the scales. That translates to 4,172.37 pounds of bluefish; 2,398.12 pounds of striped bass; 586.27 pounds of bonito; and 332.41 pounds of false albacore, as of yesterday.
Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby
Sport Casting The Martha’s Vineyard Surfcasters are accepting nominations for their Sportsmanship Award. This annual award honors those who display the true meaning of good sportsmanship during the course of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.
Martha's Vineyard Surfcasters Association
Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby

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