The best of the fin fishing season is far from over, but already attention shifts to the start of the bay scallop season. Oct. 1 was traditionally the start for the recreational season. Not so anymore, except in Edgartown.
There are two things fishermen like to complain about: the lack of fish and the weather. There has certainly been plenty of complaining going on inside and outside the derby weigh station at the foot of Main street in Edgartown.
The fish are out there but they are not available to all anglers.
Students at the Tisbury School this week had the opportunity to hear the poetry of a fisherman.
Dave Densmore, of Kodiak, Alas., and Astoria, Ore., was a featured speaker for fifth and sixth graders. He came as a guest in the middle of a whirlwind tour on the East Coast.
On Wednesday evening Mr. Densmore was a featured speaker at a forum on fishing at the Chilmark Public Library.
The state reopened coastal ponds to shellfishing on Saturday, following a closure due to heavy rains which ended early last week. The state Division of Marine Fisheries had issued the closure to more than 30 Massachusetts towns on Sept. 29, based on the expectation that water quality in coastal ponds would diminish after three days of heavy rains.
Shellfish managers were typically concerned that road runoff would fill the ponds with excessive bacteria.
Recreational fishing doesn’t end with the derby. Although tomorrow night brings closure to the 63rd annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, don’t put the fishing rod away. The word is out, there is still plenty of fishing left in this season. The water is still warm and fall migration of big schools of stripers have yet to appear.
Striped bass, the Vineyard’s most valued fish, is struggling.
A new report shows the number of striped bass spawned in the Chesapeake Bay this year was the lowest seen in well over a decade — and fishermen along the Eastern seaboard, alarmed that striped bass may be overfished, are raising concerns about the future of the fishery.
The striped bass is fun to catch and good to eat. It’s also enigmatic, historically prone to wild fluctuations in numbers and to inexplicable disappearances from area waters. And with the annual Island fishing derby opening Sunday, the old question is being asked again: where are all the fish?
Cooper Gilkes 3rd, an Island fisherman for more than 50 years and the owner of Coop’s Bait and Tackle in Edgartown, is concerned, for catch numbers seem to be in sharp decline.
A painting of a well-known Menemsha-based trawler by Heather Neill has been given to the Martha’s Vineyard Museum by an anonymous donor. The eight by four-foot painting, titled Strider’s Surrender, evokes the decline the local fishing industry.
The Quitsa Strider II is owned by respected Island fishermen Jonathan Mayhew. In a move symbolic of the dire state of the local fishing industry, Mr. Mayhew sold his federal permits last year, giving up his license and putting up the vessel itself for sale.
A fly-fishing class for beginning and experienced fishermen will be held Saturday, June 21, from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Martha’s Vineyard Rod and Gun Club in Edgartown.
Sandra Demel and John Kollett will provide individualized casting instruction. Participants also will learn about basic knots, flies, building a leader, and putting gear together. Equipment will be provided or participants may bring their own.
Freshwater fishermen on the Vineyard who are interested in learning the mercury content of their catch are asked to call Alanna Purdy at 914-400-9241 to arrange for pickup and free analysis. The project is being sponsored by the Natural Resources Department of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).
