I lost two of my uncles within the last year. Both had a huge influence on me and my love of fishing in the saltwater.

On Sunday, Sept. 15, at 12:01 a.m. the 79th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby begins.

This Saturday, the Martha’s Vineyard Surfcasters Association hosts its annual used tackle sale. All proceeds support scholarships for Island students.

At the 79th annual iteration of the derby, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 19, false albacore will be eligible for daily awards and daily prize money is going up.  

Island recreational fishermen gathered to celebrate the end of the 78th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. Over the course of the five week-long competition, 2,999 contestants submitted more than 17,000 pounds of bluefish, bonito and false albacore to derby headquarters.

The 78th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby draws to a close with the final bell ringing on Saturday evening. The awards presentation takes place Sunday at Farm Neck Golf Club, beginning at 11 a.m.

On the sandy point of Lighthouse Beach which guards the harbor entrance, derby fishermen lined up in even intervals on a recent afternoon, casting into the deep channel where tides bring Atlantic waters in and out of Edgartown harbor each day.

Bill Potter’s false albacore fell a fraction short of breaking the 19.39-pound state record set by Island angler Donald MacGillivray during the 1990 derby.

Gray-orange light struggled to glow through a thick overcast evening skies in Edgartown as fishermen lined up on a dour night to weigh in their derby catches for the day.

Recognized by his brown, leather hat, worn smooth by decades of fishing in salt air on Island shores, Mike Cassidy is an anchor of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.