Gone Fishin'

Derby fishermen work hard to prepare gear

By Nelson Sigelman - September 14, 2006

Winning the Derby is about luck and preparation. I am not sure what the right formula is, but I do know that successful Derby fishermen leave very little to chance.

It is a good strategy to prepare fishing tackle as though catching the winning fish depended on the quality of your fishing line or the integrity of a knot. Successful fishermen pay equal attention to the quality of their bait.

Dick Hathaway of Edgartown may be a controversial Derby figure, but few would dispute his fishing skills. He once told me he wrapped the squid he caught individually to preserve the quality of his bait.

Derby weigh master Roy Langley rings in the 61st Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. Photo by Ralph Stewart

I admit I have not prepared my tackle for the Derby. But then I have not painted the room I have been promising to paint for two years, or organized the assortment of tools and fishing gear littering my basement workbench.

I am a procrastinator. I admit it. So I do what every procrastinator does, I hope that I will get lucky.

Two years ago Bob Thomas, who you will read more about later, got lucky and caught a big false albacore on the first day of the derby. The fish held up to the very end of the tournament.

Richard Hall of Tisbury is one of those fishermen who prepares for the Derby well in advance. On Sunday afternoon I ran into him at Coop's. He was respooling his fishing reel after battling a 14.63-pound albie to shore, the current shore leading fish.

Richard Hall holds his first-place false albacore. Photo by Tyson Schmitt.

Richard told me that in anticipation of this year's Derby, he bought a seven-foot custom rod made by Stevie Morris at Dick's and a new Penn reel that he placed in a plastic bag. He did not use the new reel until Sunday. If he lost a fish it was not going to be because of his rod, reel, or line, he told me.

Richard was expecting good fishing when the forecast called for northeast winds and clouds. "That lousy wind is what I was hoping for," he told me. "Albies seem to rear their heads during bad weather."

He'd been fishing for about two hours, casting a Deadly Dick, when he got a blind hit. No fish in view, just a tap at the end of the line; then another; he stopped reeling because the lure was almost at shore and he let it drop like a jig. The fish hit a third time, and he was on.

Hooking a big albie for the first time is an unnerving experience. No other species caught in Vineyard waters runs off so much line so quickly.

Jim Cornwall of Edgartown carried a 13.36-pound striped bass through the door, the first fish weighed in when the 61st Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby weigh station opened at 8 am Sunday morning. Photo by Ralph Stewart

The fish took about 150 yards of line straight out. Richard was worried it would spool him, but he resisted the temptation to tighten his drag, a dangerous move when a fish is already dragging the weight of so much line through the water.

One of the risks when hooking an albie is that because the fish take so much line, nearby boats are a real hazard. Particularly when the person operating the boat is an albie numbskull and pays no attention to other fishermen.

Like most Derby fishermen, Richard was cautious when it came to providing any details of his battle that might give away his location. He did say one sailboat went by but luckily the fish was deep when the keel passed over his line.

When Richard retuned home from the weigh station a case of Derby nerves set in. He has a long way to go.

Derby luck rubs off

In a photo taken at the Derby awards ceremony on Oct. 17, 2004, Derby president Ed Jerome congratulates Bob Thomas of Edgartown, the winner of a new Boston Whaler boat, with motor and trailer, in the 59th annual Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.

Two years ago I wrote that the 59th annual Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby "ended with an uproarious cheer for a house painter, a self-proclaimed wharf rat who weighed in his winning false albacore in the first hours of the first morning of the Derby and then watched it hold up for 35 days."

I searched my brain for the right words to describe Bob and the scene at the Derby awards ceremony. I wrote, "Bob, a man unfettered by a car. Bob, the painter with the green knapsack, a man known for living an uncomplicated life, and now the owner of a new boat he had no idea how he would move from its parking place out front, stepped to the microphone, his eyes welling with tears as the wharf rats, the Derby denizens of Memorial Wharf, shouted their hearts out for one of their own."

Sometimes one event can mark a change of tide in our fortunes. If Bob thought winning the boat was going to be his high water mark he was wrong. Two weeks ago, on Aug. 31, Bob walked into Jim's Package store in Oak Bluffs and bought a scratch ticket. It turned out to be as lucky as the albie he caught two years ago.

In the photo above provided by the Mass Lottery folks (you would think that with all the money they make, the state lottery folks would be able to provide a better digital photo) Bob Thomas holds a $1 million winning Hold 'Em Poker ticket with his friend Jim Gordon, who gave him a ride to the Lottery's Braintree office where Bob collected the first of 20 annual payments of $50,000 (minus tax).

According to the Lottery, he bought the winning ticket at Jim's Package Store. The store will receive a $10,000 commission on the sale.

According to the lottery press release, when asked what his plans were for his windfall, Bob replied, "I'm going fishing!"

According to the lottery press release, when asked what his plans were for his windfall, Bob replied, "I'm going fishing!"

Kids Day is Sunday

For many kids and adults the Kids Mini Derby is an eagerly awaited event. Essentially it is a contest within a tournament designed strictly for kids old enough to hold and reel a fishing rod through age 14.

Once a year the Oak Bluffs Steamship pier is turned into a fishing pier from 6 am to 9 am only for the kids. In years past, the event was held on a Saturday morning, but bowing to the realities of busy school sporting schedules, the kid's derby will take place on Sunday, September 17.

Parents and guardians are reminded that this is event is for the kids, not adults. That means no stage moms or dads. The pier is for the kids.

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