For the casual fisherman, fishing the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby is like going from sandlot baseball to the major leagues.

He realizes that a welter of customs, laws of natures, tips and superstitions have developed over centuries of Island fishing and more than six decades of derby competition to create a mind-boggling fishing culture.

This casual fisherman felt that it would take an act of God to prepare him to compete with the best.

Oh boy, what a derby this is.

The second week produced at least two records as eager anglers produced leader changes on a daily basis in most categories.

Discussion of the sheer number of grand slams, including flyrod grand slams and a grand slam on opening day, almost tore the attention of Chris Scott away from a school of false albacore breaking 150 yards away from the weigh-in shed on Monday morning.

Opening day at the 2007 Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby was a smash, including the recording of a first day grand slam by Capt. Tom Langman of Menemsha, likely a first day record. Derby president Ed Jerome said of the slam: “We don’t keep records for that but I don’t ever remember it happening on the first day. Certainly we’ve had one-day grand slams before but they are rare.”

Roy Langley, weigh master for the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, will ring a cowbell at 8 a.m. sharp Sunday morning.

Once that cowbell rings, at the entrance to the official derby headquarters at the foot of Main street in Edgartown, the Vineyard will become an entirely different place.

From that moment on, derby participants can bring in their fish to be weighed in the month-long contest that galvanizes the Island every year.

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.

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.

Want some plot lines from a typical Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby fish tale?

How about the salty old fisherman who landed the winning fish on a dark beach in Edgartown in the waning hours of the tournament?

With six days left to catch the winning fish, a new name was
scrawled in chalk atop the leaderboard, capturing the hearts and minds
of all in the waning moments of the 60th annual Martha's Vineyard
Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.