Suspense was building inside the 79th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby awards ceremony on Sunday at Farm Neck Golf Club.
It is one of the Island’s great moments of excitement every October, when the six winners in each category are brought onstage to see if the key they pick from a hat will be the lucky one that unlocks the grand prize of a new, 22-foot center console from Eastern Boat Works.
One key after another failed until it came to Carmelo Torres, a first-time entrant in the Derby, who went to the podium and with a turn of his key clicked the lock open to a burst of thunderous applause. Torres, the winner of the boat, and all the bragging rights that come with it, was a humble winner who generously thanked Derby officials, close friends, and a group of anglers who taught him to fish, encouraged him to enter the Derby, and then watched him land his winning, 8.13-pound shore bonito, which he caught in the middle of a nor’easter.
“I feel so grateful for the people I’ve met here on the Island; all my friends and the people at Dick’s Bait and Tackle Shop, and Mrs. Brown,” said an emotional Torres on Sunday.
In a brief acceptance speech from the podium, Torres told the crowd that he moved to the Vineyard in the past few years to help a friend’s mom who had recently lost her husband.
“I came down here,” he said, “and I started fishing, and the rest was history.”
Aside from Torres on the main stage on Sunday, there were also Brad Holley, the guy who forgot his winning fish, a 15.85-pound shore bluefish; Jocie Smith with a 19.60-pound boat bluefish; Paige Smith with a 17.12-pound false albacore caught from a boat; Jacob Cardoza with a 14.84-pound false albacore from shore, and Curtis Fournier with an 11.22-pound bonito caught from a boat.
But it was Torres who took the top prize, and it took some help. Peter Bergeron and Randy Cameron are two friends who met Torres on a pier fishing during the Derby. Both were happy to share their expertise and knowledge.
“We saw him out on the pier, and he was hungry, humble, and a great student,” said Cameron.
“He stood out there all day in the rain — 25-mile-an-hour nor’easter,” said Bergeron about the day Torres reeled in the winning bonito. “He deserved it. He was soaking wet.”
It wasn’t just the winners in a celebratory mood on Sunday. Derby officials were also in good spirits.
“Today is just glorious. The weather is a bonus, but it’s just an awesome day,” said Derby President John Custer. “It’s always a celebratory day. We love the awards ceremony, where we get to acknowledge and recognize all the folks who caught awesome fish over the past 35 days. And even people who didn’t catch fish — just the experience of it is an awesome day.”
Custer noted that the Derby saw an increase in registration, with more than 3,500 anglers this year.
“We are up in registration from last year, so we were grateful for the support from all the anglers and sponsors who support us,” Custer said. “They are responsible for the amazing prizes we are going to give away today. I never take for granted the support we get from the community. It’s just awesome and a privilege to be a part of it.”
For the younger fishermen, 10-year-old Tegan Pepper was among the winners for landing a 5.98-pound bonito he caught from the shore.
The Pepper family, who live in Hawaii most of the year, came back to the Island in the fall with their eyes set on participating in the Derby.
“We went to this secret spot and caught live squid at night — you jig ’em up,” said Tegan. “Then in the day, you cast the squid out on a line and let it sit in the water, and then a big fish came up and grabbed it, and the battle felt like it was way longer than it was. It felt pretty crazy. The first thing we did was run around.”
“We will see what happens next year; every bite is different,” said Tegan’s father, Micah Pepper.
Another significant catch in the Junior division was Cameron LaVigne’s 8.57-pound false albacore she landed from shore, the only shore albacore successfully reeled in within the junior division.
“The albies are pretty strong and pretty challenging for junior anglers,” said Cameron’s father, Curtis LaVigne.
LaVigne said that his daughter has had some experience catching albies before the Derby. But he said that it was her doggedness that led her to the leaderboard: “My kids go with me every day they can, and they don’t give up. We have lots of days with no fish, and they still go whenever they can, and they cast for hours without fish.”
“I am so happy for them when they succeed,” he added. “It makes my whole Derby. If I don’t catch a fish, it’s OK as long as they are finding them.”
Sunday marked the fourth year in a row that Eastern Boat Works has built a boat for the Derby grand prize winner, and executives were happy to help keep the tradition alive. “We love taking this trip every year, but to see the key turn and that click go, you get a tear in your eye every time. It’s some person’s dream, and we are happy to do it,” said the president of Eastern Boat Works, Greg Hopkins.
Aside from the grand winners, in the Fly-Rod division, Kevin A. Ludwig won for bonito from a boat with a 4.8-pound catch, while David Nash took first for bonito from shore with a 5.46-pound fish. Robert Morrison won the boat bluefish category with a 13.54-pound catch, and Cooper Feeder claimed first place for bluefish from shore with a 4.44-pound fish. Andrew G. Moore secured top honors for false albacore from a boat with a 14.79-pound catch, and Steph Pond won for false albacore from shore with a 12.19-pound fish.
In the All-Tackle division, Curtis Fournier took first place for bonito from a boat with an 11.22-pound catch, while Carmelo Torres won for bonito from shore with an 8.13-pound fish. Nick Smith secured first place for bluefish from a boat with an 18.37-pound fish, while Brad Holley won for bluefish from shore with a 15.85-pound catch. Paige Smith was No. 1 for false albacore from a boat with a 17.12-pound fish, and Jacob A. Cardoza claimed first place for false albacore from shore with a 14.84-pound catch.
Lucas Brewer won the Triple Crown from shore with the accumulation of 33.31 pounds, and David Kadison won Triple Crown from a boat with a total of 42.61 pounds from his three fish. And in the team division, David Kadison and Bill Potter claimed first place as the Dynamic Duo.
In the Mini Junior division — ages 4 to 8 — Brooke Stedman won first place with an 8.01-pound bonito from a boat, while Owen A. Emin won for bonito from shore with a 3.74-pound fish. Tucker Schaefer took the top spot for bluefish from a boat with a 17.60-pound catch, and also won first place for false albacore from a boat with a 13.82-pound fish. Liam Abbott won for bluefish from shore with a 3.91-pound catch.
For the Juniors, ages 9 to 14, Hudson Smith claimed first place for bonito from a boat with an 8.4-pound catch, and Tegan Pepper won for bonito from shore with a 5.98-pound fish. Jocie Smith secured first place for bluefish from a boat with a 19.6-pound fish, while Shane M. Harding won for bluefish from shore with a 6.63-pound catch. Luke Burr took first place for false albacore from a boat with a 15.86-pounder, and Cameron A. LaVigne won for false albacore from shore with an 8.57-pound catch.
In addition to the Derby awards, 10 high school graduates were awarded a total of $100,000 in scholarship money by the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. Since 1988, the Derby has accumulated a total of more than $1,000,000 in scholarship funds.
