I had never been to Martha’s Vineyard in the fall. I was a bit worried since we would be fishing on the island during the famous 59th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. Would it be crowded? Would the other fishermen be rude? My fishing friend, Donna, convinced that entering the Derby would be the kiss of death as far as catching fish was concerned, wasn’t sure if she wanted to enter. She had a point, but our friend and owner of one of the local fishing shops, Coop, told her she might as well go home if she didn’t fish the Derby. All it takes, he said, is one lucky cast. The derby experience definitely exceeded my expectations. My fears were unfounded. Now I am addicted and can’t wait to return. And I didn’t even weigh in a fish. As Coop said, the magic of the Derby comes down to the thought that serendipity can strike at any moment…and it did, but not to me. 

After flailing with fly rods and discovering that our spinning reels were seriously underlined, causing both lost fish and lost lures, our first day was one of trial and error. Betsy Miraglia, Donna Trexler and I needed to get our tackle sorted out for Tuesday, when we would go out with Coop (Cooper Gilkes III our mentor, friend and guide). The advantage of fishing with Coop, besides his expertise at finding fish, his personality, and legendary status, was that he had a four wheel drive vehicle that allowed us to access some great spots. At one such spot we took our fly rods in search of False Albacore. I was stunned to hear Coop say “oh!” as he saw a large striper swirl to my fly…a 20 pound fish that “could have, would have” put me on top in the fly rod shore striper category. I was still astounded that a striper would be feeding in broad daylight because they are usually night feeders. But it didn’t take the fly; it only showed some curiosity. I did catch my first Albacore later that day on a spinning rod when we targeted blitzes from shore. Hooking onto an Albie is like hooking onto a fighter jet.

Blue fish and more Albacore were caught from shore the next day on spinning gear. Winds were often too stiff or in the wrong direction to use fly rods. One Albie nearly spooled me but I cranked like crazy to avoid having to return to the shop for more line. Then we experienced the day from hell…and heaven. 

It all started as we fished, as we had all week, on the shores of Chappaquiddick (“Chappy”). To get to Chappy, you must take a 5 minute ferry ride across Edgartown Harbor, unless you have 4 wheel drive and can take the land route. As we were spin fishing, Donna’s reel fell apart. She fixed the screw holding the bail on, but the roller was lost. She even managed to land an Albie on the reel without breaking her line on the sharp edges of the rollerless reel guide. We still needed to go back to the tackle shop to get the reel fixed. Then we would have lunch at the house. Donna was unable to get the reel fixed so Coop gave her a loaner. We had lunch at our rental house, and afterwards found ourselves locked out of the house. Luckily, I left the bedroom window open. After much consternation, I was able to climb into the house through the window. We finally got back to Chappy and, after some discussion, decided to fish Wasque Point (mainly because that is where we ended up and I wanted to get out and fish!). 

Betsy and I proceeded to the beach. The wind was howling. Betsy suggested that the wind might be less brutal around the point of sand down the beach, but I figured it wouldn’t be much better, so we fished near the beach access. A few minutes later, after having only caught one bluefish the entire week, Betsy had a fish on…I figured an Albacore. But it didn’t have the same markings as an Albie when it came out of the wash. It was about the same size and shape as the Albies I had caught earlier. Voices nearby were exclaiming “what a beautiful Bonito!” I wasn’t all that excited until I measured it at 28 inches, 7 inches larger than the minimum. At that moment, I knew Betsy had a weigh-in fish. Donna and Betsy weighed it on the boga grip. It read 9 pounds…a possible derby winner, not just a derby qualifier. The closest Bonito to Betsy’s, caught from shore, was only a bit over 6 pounds and she was also beating the boat Bonito by a little less than a quarter of a pound.

We didn’t have a cooler for the fish…what would we do with it? Bury it on the beach as some do? Our fellow anglers explained the importance of getting the fish iced right away so it would not lose any precious weight. Since we didn’t have a cooler with us, Betsy had to scramble with the fish back to the car, drive to the Chappy ferry, and back into Edgartown to borrow a cooler and ice from Coop. We were really getting excited as the locals and other more experienced derby anglers explained what a rare catch this was. And in about 3 minutes, we found the beach filling up with more anglers…news travels fast! This was one moment when I detested cell phones as anglers cozied up to my shoulder to make their casts. You have to understand that the Derby is “the” fall happening in Martha’s Vineyard. To get on the leader board, especially with a rare big bonito from shore, is big news. There is a lot on the line: cash, tackle, women’s specific awards, weekly awards, and one in four chance at a $30,000 Boston Whaler if the fish is the largest Bonito caught from shore during the entire Derby, which would not end until October 16th, another 3 weeks. 

As Betsy rushed to ice her fish, theories were discussed with our angling brethren regarding how to best preserve the full weight of the fish, because they lose weight quickly after being caught. Some folks swear by saltwater and ice, others freshwater and ice, others just ice. We were using just ice…we still don’t know what the right answer is. However, Donna was a nurse and I was a biology major so we figured if fresh ice water is used, the water would be drawn into the fish to equalize the salt content of the surrounding solution. Sounded good anyway.

Betsy got her fish to Coop (after having to ask directions because she was so excited) and left it in a plastic bag in the car. Coop was busy with a customer, so she whispered to Bobby that she had a pretty nice Bonito and it was in the car. Bobby apparently didn’t fully believe her; after all, we were new at this and he figured it was really an Albie but we didn’t know the difference. He was half right. 

We didn’t know immediately how good a Bonito it was. When Betsy unveiled the fish, Bobby’s jaw dropped. Coop gave her a hug and told her she was now a “Derby girl”.

The fish was put on ice at around noon, but the suspense would have to last until 8 pm at the evening weigh in at derby headquarters. The weigh in is quite a happening. We wanted to make sure to get there early so that we would get all of the fish weight we could on the scales. We arrived at 7:30 pm at Derby headquarters and met Jim Creedon, a local builder, and the first person in line, sitting on a large cooler. He had a monster bass in his cooler. We didn’t want to let on as to what we had in our cooler, but when a guy showed up with a nice bonito, we had to ask him if he caught it from a boat…he did. Whew! We slid our cooler into position and sat and jawed with fishermen as they took their place in line. Coop drove up and said, “I thought I told you not to take the cooler into the line!” He had instructed us to just carry the fish in by the tail (the macho technique) but others told us we would be smart to leave it in the cooler to preserve the fish’s precious weight. Betsy’s fish weighed in at 8.75 pounds…we were dismayed that the fish lost so much weight, or the Boga was wrong, but Betsy was the new leader! We snapped pictures of Betsy with her fish and of the leader board with her name on it. Betsy was now quite famous. She was even interviewed by a derby official, since she had the leading fish. He asked her about how and where she caught her fish and who witnessed the catch. We got just slightly nervous as he asked her if any laws were broken in pursuit of the fish. Thankfully, breaking into your rental house isn’t a concern to them.

Betsy had to leave the next day to attend a wedding so we picked up her daily cash prize and pin. As I write this, we know she won the weekly shore Bonito prize and women’s weekly prize. Now we wait and hope that no one else can match her catch for the rest of the Derby. 

Donna and I fished the next day on a nice calm morning and caught some fish. None were weighed in. I did have a possible blue fish to weigh in the same day Betsy caught her Bonito, but I was far down the beach and it took forever for me to remove the three treble hooks from the Bluefish. I had to ask for assistance from a guy who had pliers, and he asked me if I was going to do anything with the fish. Feeling like I owed him a favor, I gave it to him. Coop later told me I was nuts…the guy I gave the fish to could have been a derby entrant, but I figured he was there with his family and just wanted something good for dinner. Besides, it wasn’t a huge fish. Later I discovered that none of the shore caught blues were huge…plus anyone who weighs in a fish is eligible for the mystery prize and they have special prizes for women. Live and learn.