I love the Derby. Only during the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby will you hear people cheering at weigh-in for a 16-plus-pound albie and a three-inch black sea bass. Yes, you read that correctly: Three inches.
In the past week we saw some adorable children catching many species of fish, and quite a few adults weighing in some rather large albies, with two new grand leaders in the boat and shore division.
If you’re in need of a shot of joy, make your way over to the Kid’s Derby. You’ll find more smiles and hear more shouts of glee than you do at the Ag Fair in August. On Sunday, about 200 children with parents and grandparents in tow surged onto the Oak Bluffs Steamship Authority dock at 6 am.
Derby President John Custer welcomed everyone, explained the rules and boundaries, and then we all watched as little feet ran to get a spot along the rail. Bait, supplied by Coop’s Tackle Shop, was put onto hooks, lowered into the rolling waves, and jigged until the precious moment when a fish chomped.
“I got one!” “Mom!” Dad!” “Grandpa!” “It’s so big!” “Ewwww, I’m not touching it!” were just a few of the exclamations.
Once a fish was landed, children lined up to register their catches, entered by length, not weight, and then they released their fish back into the ocean. Some children weighed in one fish, others weighed in multiple — even up to eight. Each of the three age categories saw tiny fish, and fish over 17 inches.
I was blessed this year to measure fish for 9- to 11-year-olds, which meant that I saw Henry Jackson bring in multiple fish before he walked over holding out a large black sea bass. I placed the fish on the measuring stick.
“Nineteen inches,” I said, knowing Henry’s fish was the longest we’d seen at our table. When Lela Gilkes, organizer supreme and official tabulator, calculated the winners, Henry had won the Kid’s Derby for the second year in a row.
“I’m really excited,” the 11-year-old said. “I weighed in a couple of small ones, and was getting nervous.”
Henry wasn’t the only one grinning from ear to ear. All the winners were smiling, and so were parents and grandparents. Jim Cornwall, volunteer at the Kid’s Derby, was cheering on one special competitor, his grandson Jack. The 9-year-old took second place in his division with a 15-inch black sea bass, and his grandpa was as happy and as proud as anyone on the pier. “That made my Derby,” said Jim.
“What a turnout! I think this was one of our best turnouts ever,” exclaimed Lela Gilkes, beaming. “Did you see all those families fishing together? That’s the best part.”
“Walking around seeing the youngsters doing this for the first time is exciting,” said Coop Gilkes. “We’re starting a youngster on a voyage that will go for the rest of their lives. It’s incredible. And their parents are pretty excited too.”
If you missed the Kid’s Derby this year, be sure to put it on your calendar for next year. Come solo, or bring a child. Coop supplies the bait, and he even brings some extra rods for children who don’t have fishing gear. The event is free, but the memories are priceless.
Kid’s Derby results
Overall Grand Leader: Henry Jackson, 11, 19-in. black sea bass
Ages 8 and under
- John Roriz, 6, 17½-in. black sea bass
- Brooks Shattuck, 4, 16½-in. dogfish
- Clare Rodenbaugh, 5, 16-in. fluke
Ages 9 – 11
- Cooper Braillard, 9, 15¾-in. black sea bass
- Jack Cornwall, 9, 15-in. black sea bass
- John Harrington, 10, 15-in. black sea bass
Ages 12-14
- Manny Furtado, 13, 18½-in. black sea bass
- Wyatt Butson, 14, 17½-in. black sea bass
- Jacob O’Donnell, 12, 17-in. sand shark
Other Derby news
I was fortunate to be volunteering at a weigh-in on the morning of False Albacore Super Saturday.
The door opened at 8 am, and all was fairly quiet until Tom Neadow walked up the ramp with the first shore albie of the day, and a bonito. Two weeks earlier, Tom had weighed in the first fish of the Derby, a 5.98-pound bluefish. On Saturday, Tom weighed in a 9.01-pound albie and a 5.2-pound bonito. The double weigh-in completed Tom’s Triple Crown, and put him into fourth place currently.
Tom was all smiles: “I feel really fortunate. I have been working really hard on me and my family and work. It feels well -deserved,” he said. His albie would get bumped out of the top four, but he took a daily third for his bonito.
How would it feel to weigh in your first Derby fish ever, and have that fish slide into a Grand Leader position? Personally, I’ll never know. But Jacob Cardoza does.
I’ve seen Jacob on the beach a few times, but I wasn’t there on Tuesday when he landed a huge albie. Jacob walked into weigh-in on Tuesday night, and watched as the scales tipped to a whopping 14.84 pounds.
“I’ve caught a lot of fish, but I never had a chance to weigh one in before,” said Jacob, who instantly became the current Shore Grand Leader False Albacore. He was also handed his First Fish pin.
Jacob has competed in the Derby four previous years, from the boat. “I committed to shore fishing this year,” said Jacob, who graduated from MVRHS in 2017, and owns Doza Landscaping.
With more than two weeks left of competition, I asked Jacob what his goals are. “I’m going to try to bump myself. I keep telling myself that I’m going to catch a 15.2-pound albie,” said Jacob.
Time will tell if Jacob holds the lead, or bumps himself. Lucas Brewer, who was already in second place (13.29) to Jacob for shore albies, won the Shore Super Saturday with a 12.95-pound albie.
No one had a better albie Super Saturday than Andy Van Rooyen. Andy went out on his boat with Sam Bell, and they found a bunch of albies. “They were so thick. They were on microbait. We couldn’t even match the hatch. We were casting our smallest jigs and they weren’t eating. We decided to go bigger, and it worked,” said Andy.
Andy motored back to weigh in with a 16.51-pound albie that took first place ($500) on Super Saturday, and became the current Boat Grand Leader False Albacore.
“It wasn’t an easy day, but it was a lot of fun,” said Andy.
His fishing buddy, Sam Bell, caught his current Boat Bluefish Grand Leader from Andy’s boat on the second day of the Derby.
Andy first moved to M.V. in 2000. He lived on the Island for a few years, then moved to California, where he met his wife. When they decided to have kids, they moved back to the Island. “It’s a great place to have kids,” said Andy, who is fishing his 10th Derby, and about to register his oldest son, Van, for his first Derby. “I’m going to take him out when the blues hit East Beach,” he said. How cute would it be if Van was onstage for the mini junior division, and Andy was onstage as a Grand Leader?
As for me, I’m still chasing that Triple Crown, and dreaming of a Grand Leader. I need to hit send on my column, so I can get a line in the water.
I hope to see you on the beach, with tight lines and big smiles.
Congratulations John Roriz!