Hundreds of participants in the 79th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby waited anxiously at Sunday’s award ceremony at Farm Neck Golf Club to see which of the six eligible anglers’ keys would fit the lock and win them a brand new boat.
Over the course of a five-week long competition, roughly 3,000 fishermen brought in 1,590 bonito, bluefish and false albacore to derby headquarters, 62 of which were weighed on the last day after a few slow weeks of fishing.
The leaders in the six derby categories each get a key and in turn each try to open a lock. This year, first-time derby fisherman Carmelo Torres was the last grand leader winner to test his key.
When it turned seamlessly, a larger-than-life smile took over his face and derby president John Custer told him he would be taking home the coveted 22-foot Sisu Hardtop boat donated by Eastern Boat Works.
“This is the stuff of a movie,” Mr. Torres said, crying. “I’m just a kid from Allentown, Pennsylvania. Coming from where I come from, this means a lot.”
Mr. Torres moved to Oak Bluffs in June to take care of his best friends’ mother, Meredith Brown, whose husband passed away from cancer a few years ago. He had been fishing for scup when he thought he’d try casting his line for something bigger. On a cold rainy day, he brought in an eight-pound bonito from the shore.
When he won, his new fishing friends leapt out of their seats with excitement, hooting and hollering for the winning rookie.
“I feel like I have a son,” Ms. Brown said through tears while hugging friends.
Mike Cassidy, who has been on the derby committee for the past 30 years, said his favorite memory from this year’s derby was when Mr. Torres walked in with the winning bonito.
“In comes this fella with his rain jacket and his hood tied down under his chin. He’s shivering and he has this 8.13-pound bonito,” Mr. Cassidy recalled Sunday. “I said ‘That fish may put you on stage.’”
And it did. The two men embraced as soon as Mr. Torres got off the stage after winning the boat.
Sisters Paige and Jocie Smith were two of the grand leaders on stage with Mr. Torres. Paige, a 16 year-old and sophomore at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, caught a 17-pound false albacore from a boat on Oct. 4. A few days later, Jocie, a 14 year-old in eighth grade at the Edgartown School, reeled in a 19-pound bluefish from the same boat.
“I went out with my dad early morning, and it was a pretty long boat ride, and there was a ton of fish breaking,” Paige said about the day she caught her winning false albacore. “We didn’t really see anything at first, and then everything started blowing up around us. We started casting into them. We caught probably, like 10 each.”
“[My Dad and I] went out to go trolling for bluefish, and it was slow at first,” Jocie said about her winning fish. “It was probably like 45 minutes, and then we got the hit, and it was this big fish, and we were reeling it in. That’s the only fish we caught all day.”
They learned to fish from their dad, Eddie Smith, who they said has been fishing in the derby since he was a little kid. Even though the Smith family competes against each other, the sisters said there’s no rivalry, and they all celebrate each other’s success.
Curtis J. Fournier, a grand leader for his 11-pound boat-caught bonito, stood with his friends in the back wearing a derby sweatshirt. Jacob Cardoza stood nearby, his hat decorated with pins, as his friends patted his back to celebrate his grand leading 14-pound false albacore caught from shore.
Brad Holley was atop the shore bluefish category for his 15-pound fish. Last year’s boat winner and longtime derby competitor David Kadison, won the first place boat triple crown award.
Committee members remarked during the junior award ceremony earlier on Sunday that the future of the derby looks bright. Parents cheered on their mini and grand junior award winners as they walked to the stage to claim their prizes, including fishing rods double the size of some of the kids.
Brooke Stedmen, an eight-year old who is in second grade at the West Tisbury School, won first place for boat bluefish, shore false albacore and triple crown. Even though she said she wants to be a diamond miner when she grows up, she said she’ll be fishing for years to come.
“I like reeling in the fish the most,” Brooke said. “It’s hard and easy at the same time, and then after, my mom usually gives us a marshmallow.”
She said to check in next year where she hopes to win “first place for everything.”
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