If you ask Thomas Ronan, he'll tell you it was a great week of
fishing around the Island during the second week of the Martha's
Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.
But that is to be expected from someone who lands a 39.48-pound
striped bass that puts him atop the leader board and into the running
for a new truck.
For a weekend anticipated to be a washout for fishermen, it was an
active three days at Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish
Derby headquarters in Edgartown.
Six stripers over 30 pounds each were weighed in in the first 36 hours of the Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, and if the early catch is any indication it is going to be an exciting 35 days of fishing.
Striped Bass Derby at Mid-Term: Fish Scarce, Competition Light
By MAX HART
As the 61st annual Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish
Derby rounds the corner into the second half of the tournament, the big
story this week has been - well, that there is no big story.
"There's been a whole lot of standing around,
waiting," derby headquarters volunteer Martha Smith said yesterday
morning. "We're all waiting for the conditions to change,
waiting for the big ones to arrive."
How have the wind and choppy seas affected the fishing during the first week of the 61st Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby? That depends on whom you ask.
Island Fall Fishing Classic Begins with Thirteen-Pound Striped Bass
By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL
Vying to be the first to weigh in a fish in the 61st annual
Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, a sleepy Jim
Cornwell arrived at the downtown Edgartown weigh station at 4 a.m.
Sunday. Armed with a striped bass caught on East Beach on
Chappaquiddick, Mr. Cornwell - a 69-year-old retired chemist from
Edgartown - proceeded to wait for the opening at 8 o'clock.
The water is swirling in the narrow channel connecting Cape Pogue Pond to the Edgartown outer harbor. Minutes before the tide hit bottom, the pond was as low as gets, and now the waters of the ocean are running back in.
Two leading Island recreational fishing organizations have called on the state Division of Marine Fisheries to end the controversial practice known as yo-yoing, which laces bait fish with lead that ends up in the bellies of striped bass.
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.
