Some of the winners in the 57th annual Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby aren't even fishing. Thanks to the generosity of fishermen and derby organizers, senior citizens across the Island are eating the freshest-caught fish every night.

Many excellent fish fillets are collected each day by contest officials.

"It's a lot of work," said Steve Morris, a member of the derby committee. "A lot of effort goes into putting the fillets in the refrigerator, cleaning and filling buckets and distributing them.

"But it's worth it," he added. "A lot of people depend on this. I can't imagine what they would do without it - look what fish costs in the fish market."

More than 2,000 fishermen will participate in this year's derby, and many of them will donate their fish to the fillet program. Volunteers work morning and night to sort, fillet and refrigerate the donated striped bass, bluefish and bonito so that seniors get free meals.

Each weekday morning, a representative from the Island's councils on aging picks up the donated fish from the night before for distribution. More bluefish is donated than striped bass. Last year, the derby processed and delivered more than 5,000 pounds of fish to Island seniors; there's no reason to think that they won't match or exceed that amount this year.

Laurie Eagan, director of the Edgartown Council on Aging, arrived Wednesday morning at 8:30 to pick up fillets from the night before. She collected several five-gallon buckets of fresh fish, most of them full.

"This will feed at least 50 people tonight," she said.

The derby has adopted a schedule to donate to each of the senior centers: Monday, Oak Bluffs; Tuesday, Tisbury; Wednesday, Edgartown; Thursday, up-Island; Friday, Oak Bluffs, and Saturday, Woodside Village.

In Edgartown, Mrs. Eagan said, a team of volunteers meets Wednesday mornings at the council on aging to individually wrap the fish fillets for distribution.

Mike Harrold of Oak Bluffs was the fillet volunteer on Sept. 25. "I enjoy volunteering," he said. "It's a beautiful morning. You can't beat the location. I enjoy seeing the fishermen show up with smiles on their faces.

"For anyone thinking about learning how to fillet, I'd suggest you come down at night and see," he added. "The best filleters I have ever seen volunteer at night. Someone said to me that if you want to learn how to be a fisherman, find an old guy with his rod bent and do exactly what he says.

"I feel the same way about learning how to fillet. Find a guy that is doing it right and do exactly what he does."

Another volunteer filleter is Hank Unczur, 76, of Vineyard Haven. "I enjoy doing the fillet work," he said. "I'm retired; for me this is community service. I think it's a great program - a lot of people look forward to getting the fish.

"You've heard of meals on wheels," he added. "Well, this is fish on wheels."

Martha Smith, who runs derby headquarters, said that very little fresh fish goes to waste: "Lobstermen come and pick up the donated false albacore. They use it as bait in their lobster pots."

"This is a great program," said derby chairman David Pothier. "I know, talking to people on the dock, how much they look forward to the fillets. The derby does two important things. It donates money for scholarships to seniors at the high school and donates fish to the senior citizens. That's what the derby is all about."

Anglers are urged to keep their fish on ice before donating it to the program. A good part of running the fillet program is making sure that fish bound for Island seniors is well taken care of.

The following are the results for the derby so far:

Tuesday, Sept. 24

All tackle boat bonito: 1, Michael C. Johnson, 5.19; 2, Lincoln N. Hugo, 5.09; 3, Paul Logue, 5.01; 4, Carl Johnson, 4.71. Shore bonito: 1, Phil P. Hennig, 4.13. Boat bluefish: 1, Kevin Hatt, 13.65; 2, David R. Yaworski, 11.14; 3, Nils Leaf, 9.79; 4, Carl Leaf, 9.65. Shore bluefish: 1, Leland Perry, 5.76; 2, Leo A. Willoughby, 4.84; 3, Keith A. McArt, 4.22; 4, Ashley Figueroa, 4.09.

Boat striped bass: 1, Jonathan P. Klaren, 29.76; 2, Patrick T. Jenkinson, 26.22; 4, Brian Watson, 21.37. Shore striped bass: 1, Dan Keniston, 23.90; 2, Jim Fraser, 25.38; 3, Pete J. Pate, 21.56; 4, Phil P. Hennig, 17.73.

Flyrod boat bonito: 1, David C. Kadison, 4.26. Flyrod shore bonito: 1, David A. Nash, 5.33. Flyrod boat bluefish: 1, David C. Kadison. Flyrod boat striped bass: 1, Bob Hayman, 12.65.

Junior boat bluefish: 1, Dylan Jones, 8.43. Junior boat striped bass: 1, Rick A. Lasinski, 19.05.

Mystery prize: bluefish Leo A. Willoughby, bonito Phil P. Hennig, striped bass Phil P. Hennig, flyrod David A. Nash, junior Dylan Jones.

Wednesday, Sept. 25

All tackle boat bonito: 1, Walter S. Wlodyka, 8.42; 2, Lev C. Wlodyka, 7.47; 3, Joseph F. Parris, 7.03; 4, John F. Schillinger, 6.96. Boat bluefish: 1, Michael Benjamin, 9.38; 2, Thomas Langman, 12.54; 3, Cliff B. Meehan, 9.18; 4, Mark J. Campos, 8.65. Shore bluefish: 1, John Hoy, 6.96; 2, Doug C. Davies, 6.79; 3, James I. Hendrickson, 6.60; 4, Walter C. Lison, 6.55. Boat striped bass: 1, Judd W. Fuller, 39.42; 2, Cliff B. Meehan, 23.93; 3, John F. Schillinger, 23.91; 4, Lee F. Welch, 20.03. Shore striped bass: 1, Cooper A. Gilkes, 29.40; 2, Phil P. Hennig, 20.97; 3, Tony B. Jackson, 18.79; 4, Jason M. Dyer, 16.51. Flyrod boat bonito: 2, Chris Jones, 5.50. Flyrod boat bluefish: 1, Ken Scott, 4.81. Flyrod shore bluefish: 1, Michael J. Tuck, 4.56. Flyrod shore striped bass: 1, Ralph Defelice, 11.78. Junior boat striped bass: 1, Annie C. Finnerty, 19.53. Mystery prize winners: bluefish Michael Benjamin, bonito Lev C. Wlodyka, striped bass Roy C. Hope, flyrod Chris Jones, junior Annie C. Finnerty.

Monday, Sept. 26

All tackle boat bonito: 1, Lev C. Wlodyka, 10.89; 2, Lou Tumold, 4.98; 3, Walter S. Wlodyka, 8.62; 4, Peter B. Herrmann, 4.60. Shore bonito: 1, Bob W. Dunn, 6.24; 2, John E. Karr, 5.95; 3, Phil P. Hennig, 5.35; 4, Abram N. Williams Jr., 5.15. Boat bluefish: 1, Arthur N. Vose, 11.01; 2, Edward J. Jerome, 10.68; 3, Dillard Morrison, 10.43; 4, Patrick T. Jenkinson, 10.18. Shore bluefish: 1, Brad Upp, 6.76.

Boat striped bass: 1, David Tubby Medeiros, 37.84; 2, Dillard Morrison, 28.14; 3, Jonathan P. Klaren, 27.89; 4, Richard T. Sylva, 27.77. Shore striped bass: 1, George J. Tuccelli, 25.90; 2, Ron Domurat, 21.45; 3, Keith A. Maciel, 18.52; 4, Dan Keniston, 16.25.

Flyrod shore striped bass: 1, Michael J. Tuck, 23.25. Flyrod boat bonito: 1, Cameron Maciel, 5.46; 2, Cameron Maciel, 5.46. Flyrod boat bluefish: 1, Tony P. Canha, 3.47.

Junior shore bluefish: 2, Asa P. Bernard, 10.56. Junior boat striped bass: 1, Dylan Jones, 15.74; 2, Tony P. Canha, 10.10. Junior shore striped bass: 1, Tiana M. Souza, 16.04; 2, Cameron Maciel, 12.26.

Mystery prize: bluefish, Ed Willoughby; bonito, Dave Desmarais; striped bass, Roy Cutrer Sr.; junior, Asa P. Bernard.

Derby Leaders to Date

All tackle boat striped bass: 1, Patrick T. Jenkinson, 39.64; 2, Judd W. Fuller, 39.42; 3, David Tubby Medeiros, 37.84. Shore striped bass: 1, Randy F. Ben David, 30.94; 2, Cooper A. Gilkes, 29.40; 3, Jim Fraser, 26.07. Boat bonito: 1, Lev C. Wlodyka, 10.89; 2, Sascha Wlodyka, 8.72; 3, Walter S. Wlodyka, 8.62. Shore bonito: 1, Roy C. Hope, 6.70; 2, Bob W. Dunn, 6.24; 3, John E. Karr, 5.95.

Boat bluefish: 1, William E. Welch, 14.70; 2, Thomas Langman, 14.63; 3, Frank T. Dougherty, 13.89. Shore bluefish: 1, Pete J. Pate, 15.07; 2, Ronald J. Searle, 11.32; 3, Thomas Kieras, 9.32. Boat false albacore: 1, Walter S. Wlodyka, 11.63; 2, Gary G. Carter, 9.33; 3, Mike D. Ludwig, 9.13. Shore false albacore: 1, Abe Williams, 9.19; 2, Philip Cronin, 8.98; 3, Don J. McLeod, 8.60.

Flyrod boat striped bass: 1, Art E. Crago, 19.77; 2, Thomas J. Rapone, 16.95; 3, Bob Hayman, 12.65. Flyrod shore striped bass: 1, Michael J. Tuck, 23.25; 2, Thomas J. Spina, 18.19; 3, Ralph Defelice, 11.78. Flyrod boat bonito: 1, Thomas J. Rapone, 7.07; 2, Thor Farrish, 6.17; 3, Andrew G. Moore, 5.79. Flyrod shore bonito: 1, Rick Lindgren, 6.57; 2, Theresa Henriksen, 6.19; 3, David A. Nash, 5.33. Flyrod boat bluefish: 1, Ken Barracchinni, 13.61; 2, Bob Page, 12.93; 3, Thor Farrish, 12.70. Flyrod shore bluefish: 1, Tim P. Sheran, 5.36; 2, Michael J. Tuck, 4.56; 3, Christopher Windram, 3.69. Flyrod boat false albacore: 1, Gary A. Mirando, 8.73; 2, Jim A. Moineau, 8.50; 3, David C. Kadison, 8.10. Flyrod shore false albacore: 1, Norris E. Johns, 7.99; 2, Ken J. VanDerlaske, 7.99; 3, Wilson L. Kerr, 7.92.

Junior boat striped bass: 1, Win C. Grimm, 22.86; 2, Annie C. Finnerty, 19.53; 3, Rick A. Lasinski, 19.05. Junior shore striped bass: 1, Cameron Maciel, 26.59; 2, Keira R. Mercier, 18.33; 3, Thomas K. Neadow, 16.20. Junior boat bonito: 1, Sarah L. Kadison, 5.86; 2, Cameron Maciel, 5.46; 3, Nolan C. Ehntholt, 5.19. Junior boat bluefish: 1, Maxwell S. Nunes, 13.61; 2, Rebecca L. Webb, 12.93; 3, Mitchell Klingensmith, 10.74. Junior shore bluefish: 1, Asa P. Bernard, 10.56; 2, Eamon D. MacKenzie, 8.55; 3, Christopher W. Riedel, 3.15. Junior boat false albacore: 1, Josef C. Ehntholt, 7.98; 2, William C. Kadison, 7.38; 3, Sarah L. Kadison, 7.14.

Mini Juniors: Shore striped bass: 1, Cameron Maciel, 26.59; 2, Keira R. Mercier, 18.33; 3, Tiana M. Souza, 16.04. Boat bonito: 1, Cameron Maciel, 5.46; 2, Nolan C. Ehntholt, 5.19; 3, William C. Kadison, 4.75. Boat bluefish: 1, Nicholas Nelson, 8.84; 2, Tony P. Canha, 6.15; 3, Christopher A. Morris, 5.77. Shore bluefish: 1, Asa P. Bernard, 10.56; 2, Eamon D. MacKenzie, 8.55. Boat false albacore: 1, William C. Kadison, 7.38.

Grand Slam Leaders

All-tackle: 1, Patrick T. Jenkinson, 65.07; 2, John F. Schillinger, 49.56; 3, Joseph F. Parris, 45.35. Boat flyrod: 1, Thomas J. Rapone, 39.97; 2, Bob Hayman, 27.95.