Have you caught it yet?
Derby fever.
It’s Tuesday, officially day three of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.
The fever is real. I’ve caught it. I dream Derby, sleep Derby, and work around the Derby.
It’s not just me eating, sleeping, and dreaming about the Derby. It’s spreading around the Island, and over the globe.
Derby dreams began on Saturday night with a special gathering. J.R. Thomas organized a different type of memorial to honor Derby legend Janet Messineo Israel, who passed away last December from ALS. “One night I was thinking about Janet and fishing and the Island. Janet’s book “Casting into the Light” was on my table, and I thought, Glow sticks will cast if you go big enough,” said J.R..
J.R. reached out to his friend Rick Duarte who runs the “Fish On MV” Facebook group. “Rick said, ‘Let’s do it,’ so we bought a ton of glow sticks,” said J.R., who knew Janet his whole life, as his grandfather Bob Graves was one of Janet’s fishing buddies.
About a hundred fishermen gathered on State Beach near “Jaws” Bridge. Before the memorial cast, Tristan Israel, Janet’s husband of more than 40 years, said simply and perfectly, “If you have a rod in your hands, Janet loved you.”
I stood next to Peter Shephardson, Janet’s Team Rebos teammate. We both had on lures that Janet had given us, and we both missed her. I asked Peter if he had a new teammate. “I never did teammates, then Janet asked me. She was a good teammate. I don’t need to do that again,” said Peter.
J.R. counted down, rang the bell, then fishermen cast glowsticks into the night and reeled them in over the water in a rainbow display of neon light. It was a beautiful sight, and Janet would have loved it. Maybe we were dreaming, but it truly felt like Janet was there.
My friend and fishing cohort, Michael Blanchard, commemorated the group cast with photos and a video.
As I drove home I thought of Janet’s famous Derby advice that I’ve heard dozens of times: “Don’t give up until the miracle happens.”
With Janet in mind, I headed to Eastville Beach on Sunday morning — the first day of the Derby — for my opening casts. J.R. was there too, up on the jetty, where Janet stood years ago. We didn’t see any fish, and J.R. left — without a fish.
When I checked the leaderboard a few minutes after 8 am, who do I see has weighed in the first fish of the 80th Derby? J.R., that’s who! He was going home to walk the dog, but spotted fish and landed a 3.87-pound bonito. “I think it’s Janet, starting with the memorial, and it’s carried through,” said J.R.
If weighing in the first fish wasn’t enough cause for celebration, J.R. returned to his secret location and caught a much bigger bonito on Monday morning, tipping the scales at 7.09 pounds, and taking over the very early Shore Bonito Grand Leader position.
“It was just after sunrise. I saw a huge school and thought it was albies. I cast in and hooked up immediately. I thought it was an albie at first,” said J.R.
“It’s been an incredible start to the Derby. In the past, the closest I’ve come to an award is a fourth-place daily pin,” said J.R., who took home a first-place daily pin on Monday, and stands a good chance of winning a weekly award.
I also caught fish on Monday, but they were a fraction short. My real joy was on Sunday afternoon, when I took my friend Kathy Eckert fishing. We were enjoying the sunshine and warm weather, and Kathy was practicing her casting on her new rod, which she bought at the M.V. Surfcasters Used Tackle Sale on Labor Day weekend.
We’d been casting and gabbing for a couple of hours when fish broke to our right. We both cast. Kathy hooked up. When she landed that bonito, I’m sure all the folks on the beach heard our cheerful shouts. The bone was Kathy’s first ever, and it was weighable. Living the dream on day one!
The first day of the Derby was not only warm and sunny, but also calm seas. A flotilla of boats journeyed over to Nantucket, where they caught huge fish. Sam Bell weighed in a monster false albacore at 18.66 pounds. Kevin Peters reeled in an 18.06-pound bluefish, and David Kadison took over the boat bonito leader position with a 9.36-pound bone.
One of the big questions many anglers are asking: With these huge fish swimming around Nantucket, will records be broken this year? Don MacGillivray, who passed away this past weekend, holds the albie record with a 19.39-pounder in the 1990 Derby. Is the 80th Derby the year Don’s record is broken?
The other concern is the lack of shore fish. As of the Tuesday morning weigh-in, 100 bonito have been weighed in, only 33 from shore. Seventy-two bluefish have been weighed in, but only five from shore, and the real punch to the gut — of the 38 albies weighed in, only one, yes you read that correctly, only one has been from shore. Will the albies and bluefish show up for shore fishermen? Let’s hope that dream becomes a reality soon!
As we look ahead to the next 4½ weeks, there are so many dreams shared by thousands of fishermen: Dreams of big fish. Dreams of quality time with friends, doing what we love. Dreams of favoring winds, sunny days, and rain from 10 pm to 3 am. Dreams of warm days and cool nights. Dreams of gorgeous sunrises and sunsets — since we’re up for both. Dreams of pins and keys and an Eastern Boats Sisu, which arrived on the Island on Monday afternoon.
And maybe at the end of 35 glorious Derby days, I’ll be onstage with five friends. One of us winning the Eastern Sisu, maybe me.
Maybe not. Maybe I’ll be in the audience, celebrating with friends, reminiscing about the 80th Derby highlights, clapping for the Sisu winner, cherishing every moment, grateful to have caught the dream.
One place I know I’ll be throughout the Derby is the M.V. Museum. This year, in celebration of the 80th Derby, the Martha’s Vineyard Museum partnered with the Derby to create “Legends of the Line,” a five-week series featuring fin-tastic Island fishermen on Wednesday nights from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. Here’s the link to register: Legends of the Line: Celebrating 80 Years of Fishing – M.V. Museum.
I hope to see you on the beach, or at the museum on Wednesday nights, or at weigh-in entering our Derby catches. I definitely hope to see you at the Kids Derby on Sunday at 6 am at the Oak Bluffs Steamship Wharf.
Beautiful.
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