When Bob Dylan sang, “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,” I don’t believe he was referencing fly-fishing. But if you asked the hundred-plus people gathered at the M.V. Rod & Gun Club on Sunday morning what they’d been doing the night before in the 60-mph winds, the answer was definitely, “fly-fishing.”
The 33rd annual Martha’s Vineyard Rod & Gun Club Fly Rod Striped Bass Catch and Release Tournament began at 7 pm on Saturday night and ended at 2 am on Sunday morning. The weather was less than ideal. The fly-fishermen didn’t mind.
“The motto of this group is, ‘We don’t care,’” said Coop Gilkes, who started the tournament with Nelson Sigelman. “The tournament is more for comradery, for helping out your fellow fishermen, for learning something new, and for having a good time.”
Team Fish Gurus, Tom Neadow and Joe Uva, were the only team to fill the required quota of four fish each, and they filled it by 8:35 pm. Tom and Joe won the Roberto Germani Trophy.
“We had a good time with that fly tournament,” said Tom. “I fished Crab Creek. At 7 pm, I was peeling my line into my basket, and my fly hit the water and a fish grabbed it. It was crazy. I filled my quota by 7:38, but we kept fishing until around 1:50 am.”
Tom was probably as excited for the raffle item he won as he was to win the tournament. The raffle is open to everyone who enters the competition. “You can’t win these rods fishing,” said Coop. “All the entries are put into a wastepaper basket. On Sunday, we shake the basket up, stir up the papers, and draw names. Everybody has a chance to win.”
Tom’s name was drawn, and he noticed that the rod he won had the name “Janet” on it. “I think I won one of Janet Messineo’s flyrods. That’s pretty frickin cool,” said Tom, who went on to share a Janet story. “When I first started fly fishing, I was complaining to Janet, telling her how hard it was. She said, ‘Don’t give up. If you give up, you won’t get better at it.’ Now here I am winning a competition and winning one of her rods.”
Coop and his You Can’t Park There teammates won the Arnold Spofford Trophy for the team that uses only one fly. Each member can pick one fly and must fish that fly all seven hours. Coop’s team didn’t earn their quota, but they were the only team to try “one fly,” so the committee decided they deserved the trophy.
“The boys came in early, and we went out on Friday night to do some checking. We were catching fish, lots of fish,” said Coop. Then he laughed, adding, “We went out on Saturday thinking, ‘Boy, we’re gonna have a big night.’ The fish weren’t there. I was the only one who caught a fish.”
Coop and his team weren’t the only ones who scouted out fish on Friday night. Wilson Kerr and his teammates headed to Lambert’s Cove on Friday night. “We found fish really thick. We caught about 20,” said Wilson.
Similar to Coop’s team, Wilson Clint, and Dominic returned to Lambert’s Cove on Saturday night and couldn’t catch their quota. “The water was full of boiling striped bass. There was a lot of weed in the water, and we couldn’t get them to eat. We caught nine fish, but we needed 12,” said Wilson.
Wilson shares Coop’s love of the Tournament. “It’s mostly about comradery, being out on the beach on a beautiful night,” said Wilson. “Nelson does the greatest job with the awards ceremony. It’s funny and emotional. And Coop is the spirit of the event.”
When we chatted about Coop, Wilson shared, “I bought my first saltwater fly rod from Coop when I was 18 years old. Coop created this event, but he really brought fly-fishing to Martha’s Vineyard.”
Though I’ve yet to pull out my fly-fishing rod, I was out on Chappy last Thursday in the wind and rain with my teammate Dave Balon. Outside of the Derby, I don’t normally choose to fish in the wind and rain, but Dave had the day off, so I layered up in warm clothes, waders, rain gear, and hand warmers.
As we pulled up to Leland’s, Ralph Peckham was on. The bluefish weren’t abundant, but most of us were catching a few. Except Dave. He was casting, cheering me on, casting, taking pictures of my two blues, and casting some more. I offered him my lucky lure of the day — a pink and yellow Island X Hellfire. Dave declined, content with his chartreuse Robert’s Ranger.
I cast again and watched my lure hit the water. There was a big splash, too big. I looked over at Dave, and he was on. The fish gave him a run, but never jumped. We couldn’t tell how big it was until it hit the surf. Dave got it up on the beach and we both started cheering. I grabbed my scale, and watched as Dave weighed his hefty 12.92-pound bluefish.
We high-fived, took a few pictures, and Dave released that beautiful blue. Dave now leads the Martha’s Vineyard Surfcaster’s Associations in-house derby.
There are so many fish around, and the weather looks good this week. I hope to see you on the beach.
The 33rd annual Martha’s Vineyard Rod & Gun Club Fly Rod Striped Bass Catch and Release Tournament Results
Roberto Germani Trophy
The team that reaches its fish quota at the earliest time.
First place: Team “Fish Gurus,” members: Tom Neadow and Joe Uva – 8:35pm
Sonny and Joey Beaulieu Trophy
The largest fish (total measurement of length and girth) released by a team member.
First place: Connor Jamison, with 29-in. length, 13-in. girth
Arnold Spofford Trophy
The team, members of which use one style of fly.
Team “You Can’t Park There,” members: Cooper Gilkes, Cooper Fersen, Aron Casscone, Cooper Fersen, Peter Canny, and Paul Fersen
