The fourth week of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby saw both fishing and the weather turn brisk.
There was a fair amount of grumbling last week as fishermen battled riled up seas and lots of seaweed left over from Hurricane Jose, but on Monday morning a steady stream of derby competitors were weighing fish at the headquarters in Edgartown.
“Things have picked up,” said derby president Ed Jerome. “Bass picked up. Albies picked up. Bluefish are still slow. It looks good. It will be interesting.”
Patrick O’Donnell of Falmouth landed a 7.75-pound false albacore on a flyrod that was worthy of the scales Monday. He caught it at the Edgartown Light.
“The lighthouse is on fire right now,” Mr. O’Donnell said. “The storm quieted everything down, but there seems to be fish around this morning.”
Joe Holey of Lynn weighed in a false albacore that tipped the derby scales at nearly nine pounds. He didn’t miss a beat when storms passing south of Martha’s Vineyard kept some anglers from landing fish last week.
“We fished during Hurricane Jose in Menemsha,” said Mr. Holey. “Not a lot of guys there, but the fish were there.”
With less than two weeks left to fish, the following anglers are sitting atop the grand leader board: boat bluefish, William Kadison, 18.49 pounds; shore bluefish, Mitchell Chaves, 14.98 pounds; boat bass, Michael Capen, 35.24 pounds; shore bass, John Stasiuk, 29.61 pounds; boat bonito, Steve Bacelli, 10.80 pounds; shore bonito, Timothy Scott, 7.03 pounds; boat albacore, Tegan Fenner, 12.00 pounds; and shore albacore, Casey Elliston, 12.56 pounds.
Derby participants have weighed in 283 false albacore, 210 striped bass, 461 bluefish, and 175 bonito so far in the 2017 tournament.
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