Fish and more fish! That was the burden of the report from derby headquarters on Saturday noon.

Ray Cabot weighed in an 11.75-pound bonito on Sunday night, the second largest bonito to hit the scale in the history of the tournament.

Striped bass are plentiful this year and yet the big breeding females, the ones that star in the old pictures of derby fishermen straining to hold up 60-pound bass, have yet to return.

Derby fishermen, friends and family members mourned the loss of Ed Jerome, longtime president of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.

Aubrey Warburton, a fourth-grader at the Oak Bluffs school, has been fishing since she was five. When talking with the Gazette this week, she wore a “Girls Kick Bass” sweatshirt.

Fishermen were hauling in plenty of stripers from shore, a total of 45 weighed in by Thursday morning. Weighmaster Mike Cassidy said it may be a sign of a healthier fish stock.

The annual Kids Derby Day is Sunday, Sept. 16 from 6 to 8 a.m.

Caitlyn Parkhurst of West Tisbury walked in with the first fish of the derby just five minutes afterweighmaster Roy Langley rang the opening bell.

Lines go in the water at 12:01 Sunday morning as the 73rd derby begins.