The 67th Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby came to an end Sunday afternoon when Adam Cummings and Robert Boyhan walked away with the monthlong event’s two largest prizes. Mr. Cummings, the grand leader in the boat-caught bluefish category (16.06 pounds), won the 2012 Chevy donated by Clay Motors. Mr. Boyhan, the grand leader for shore-caught bluefish (15.39 pounds), won the center-console boat donated by Eastern Boats.

The 67th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby ended tonight at 10 p.m. with the ringing of bells. Bailen Darack, 4, and her older brother Mateo, 8, of Vineyard Haven stood up on the derby headquarters weigh table and rang the bell, bringing the five-week-old contest to an end. They were escorted by Charlie Smith, weigh master.

More than 3,000 fishermen participated in the contest. Tomorrow the grand winners in eight categories will be entered into a drawing at the final awards ceremony for a brand new Eastern powerboat and a Chevrolet truck.

This holiday weekend is the last full weekend for those competing in the 67th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. Anglers will see the sunsets and note the sunrises, and quite a few will fish through the full three-day weekend, hoping to catch the largest striped bass, bluefish, bonito and false albacore.

Nearly 2,800 fishermen are registered in the contest. Of those, 300 are junior anglers.

Total catch and catch by species during the 2007 annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby recorded large increases over last year’s derby.

The catch was the best since 2004 and among the best in the past eight years for all of the four species.

The total catch of 3,099 fish was 35 per cent higher than in 2006. Compared with 2006, striped bass were up eight per cent, false albacore were up almost 376 per cent, bonito were 204 per cent higher and bluefish nearly four per cent higher.

An eye-popping derby to be sure but no eyes popped wider than junior angler Chris Morris’s when his key sprung open the padlock that awarded him the 19-foot Boston Whaler complete with a 115-horsepower Mercury motor and a trailer last Sunday at the 2007 62nd annual striped bass and bluefish derby awards ceremony at Outerland.

Chris, with the top shore bluefish, was one of eight division winners lined up on stage with a key and a chance to win either a 2008 Chevy Silverado four by four truck or the fishing boat.

This morning, you could have seen the smallest wavelet left by a fish at the Oak Bluffs Steamship Authority wharf. The water was a flat calm, and mirrored the overhead deep blue sky. The sun cast long shadows across the wharf and more than 200 youngsters stood along the rails trying to catch fish.

An architect from Connecticut and a mailman from Westport were the top winners in this year’s 63rd annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.

On Sunday, Paul C. Harris of Oak Bluffs and Weston, Conn., won a new black Chevrolet 4x4 pickup truck for a 10.75-pound bonito he caught while fishing with friends earlier this month.

Scott D. Tompkins of Westport won a 20-foot center console Eastern powerboat for a 40.12-pound striped bass he caught fishing alone on an Up-Island shore in the early evening of Oct. 1.

At the derby station this morning Ed Jerome, president of the 63rd annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, was not happy about the weekend forecast.

“It could blow up to 35 knots,” Mr. Jerome said.

Last weekend the anglers were discouraged by heavy rain. This weekend, there is a serious concern about high wind.

For boat fishermen that is not only tough it could be dangerous. Shore fishermen will flock to the lee side of the Island to get out of the wind.

Fishing slowed to a trickle this past weekend for the participants in the 63rd annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. And the rainy, windy weather didn’t help.

Some of the 2,000 anglers may have been out there, but few came home with dinner. Weighmaster Roy Langley said he weighed in half a dozen fish a day through the weekend. Mr. Langley shares weighmaster duties with Charlie Smith, who works the scales at night.

Foul weather predicted for this weekend may hinder but it won’t slow down the enthusiasts participating in the 63rd annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. Fishing is at a fever pitch.

Sloppy seas and a prevailing east-northeast breeze made the fishing tough this week. Nevertheless, at the Wednesday night derby weigh-in, the derby got a new leader in the striped bass boat category.