I love fishing, and I love the Derby.
I realize this is not news to anyone who’s read a previous fishing column, but I am reminded of this truth often when I’m on the beach, especially during the Derby. While we’re all out there casting endlessly, hoping to land a Grand Leader fish, the people we spend time with are the reason the Derby and the fishing are so much fun.
The shore fishing was painfully slow last week, and the boat fishing died back at the end of the week, but great fish tales kept us smiling and casting. I heard two incredible stories, experienced a magical moment, and cheered as adorable kids carried in fish almost bigger than themselves.
Rick Hern has been fishing the Derby since the mid-’80s. Rick introduced his friend, Jim Wareing, to the Derby years later, and the two spent hours fishing Vineyard shores as many days as they could. As their children grew up, they gave their wives a break, and Rick brought Anthony and Jim brought Leah, and they taught their children to fish and to love the Derby.
In 2018, Anthony and Leah stood on stage at the Derby award ceremony for First Place Junior Shore Bonito and First Place Junior Shore Striped Bass. “Our kids were onstage. Jim and I had tears in our eyes. We won the Derby that year. That was our win,” said Rick.
Jim passed away up in Lobsterville on Oct. 2, 2022. Rick hasn’t been able to fish the Derby like he used to. “It’s so hard without Jim. Everybody’s been unbelievably supportive, but it’s different,” said Rick.
This year, he had prepared to fish one day of the Derby. “The plan was to launch my boat in Falmouth, pick up Jared, Dodi, and Luke [Jared’s son] to get Luke on fish,” said Rick, who purchased a boat during COVID lockdown. “My motor broke, I worked on it, I got it fixed, then it broke again. Jared made plans to go with another friend, then I got my boat running.”
Rick invited a couple of friends, and he launched his boat from Falmouth. They met up with Jared and his crew and followed them over to Nantucket. “It was my first time ever to Nantucket,” said Rick.
I don’t think Rick will ever forget his first excursion to Nantucket. “The albies were breaking right next to the boat. I sent an underhand pitch to them, and I was on,” said Rick.
Rick reeled in a 13.55-pound albie, and won a daily pin and $500 for False Albacore Super Saturday. A pretty impressive outing, but I suspect Rick had built up some good karma after his August 15 trip to M.V.
Like this time, Rick and three friends had launched his 26-foot Intrepid from Falmouth. They’d motored over to State Beach to fish for bonito. The waves and wind kicked up. “It was uncomfortable in my boat. I didn’t fish. I kept my hands on the wheel. Then we see three kids in a 12-foot aluminum boat come out of Sengie with no life vests on. An hour and a half later we hear, ‘Help, help.’ They were bobbing in the water with no life vests,” said Rick.
Rick and his friends rescued the three kids, got them safely to shore, and called the police. Lots of good karma for Rick and his buddies.
For all the romantics out there, Joe Holey’s sweet story has the makings of a Netflix movie. Rick did some Island-hopping from M.V. to Nantucket for his Derby fish, but Joe Holey wins the prize for longest Island hop. Joe got married on Sept. 6, then took his bride to Greece for two weeks.
When they got back to the States, Joe headed to the Island to fish the Derby, which he’s done for decades. Last Wednesday, Joe got some fresh bunker from Julian Pepper and headed to the beach to do some chunking.
Though the shore bluefish have been scarce, Joe landed two big fish. “One was 15.1 pounds and one was 15.5 pounds when I weighed them. I brought both to weigh-in. I chose the right one,” Joe said of the bigger blue (15.35 pounds on the Derby scale), which not only took a first-place daily but more importantly became the new Grand Leader Shore Bluefish.
“In almost 25 years of fishing the Derby, this is the first time I’ve ever had a Grand Leader,” said Joe, adding, “but that’s a beatable fish. If I get a weekly and a top three out of it, I’ll be pumped.”
Joe’s already won a weekly, and now his wife Kerri has joined him on the Island. The two will fish, hunt for arrowheads and shark teeth, walk around the shops in Aquinnah, and visit Chappy. “We both love East Beach,” said Joe.
We’ll have to wait for closing bell on Oct. 19 to see if Joe’s happily-ever-after also includes a key fish.
There are few things cuter than juniors and mini juniors weighing in big fish. I was thrilled to see David Pothier win first place on Saturday for his 15.71-pound Junior Boat Bluefish. David’s big blue, which was almost as tall as him, also earned a weekly award.
“The rod bent way over. It felt like a big fish. I really worked hard to reel it in,” said David, 9, a fourth grader at O.B. School.
“He did really great with it,” said dad D.J. Pothier. “I coached him through, and he listened.”
David, who is also playing soccer this fall, is definitely carrying on the family tradition. D.J. is an avid fisherman, has seen his name on the leaderboard many times, and is a Derby filet master. David’s grandfather, David Pothier Sr., has fished the Island for years, and is on the Derby committee.
The Pothiers headed out into open waters again on Sunday, but instead of tuna fishing for albies and bones, they went out for bluefin. “David catches the bait [mackerel], and he takes his turns on the reel [in the rod holder],” said D.J.
“And I can throw a casting net,” said David, proudly, quickly adding, “Dad, send her the video.” Having watched the video, I can say that D.J. and Cameron Maciel taught David how to cast a net like a pro. I’ll be calling David for some bait fish as well as some fresh tuna for the grill.
Derby magic
I had one of my best Derby days on Saturday. For a couple of years, Michael Blanchard, Derby sponsor and photographer and all-round great guy, had been trying to catch a weighable fish. Michael and I had fished all over the Island –– from West Chop to Lobsterville to State Beach to Chappy, and a few places in between. Michael had caught lots of fish, and I do mean a lot of fish. But none of them were Derby-weighable.
My friend Capt. Ed had texted me that we were going out in the boat on the weekend. I had singular focus –– Michael was going to catch a weighable fish.
We set off for Nantucket, where the weighable fish had been big and abundant. Until Wednesday, that is. The fishing was slow on Thursday and Friday after Wednesday’s storm, but we were optimistic that Saturday would see plenty of weighable fish. We were wrong.
We saw lots of fish breaking, cast into them, but never hooked up. Looking around at the other 30 boats that were out there with us, no one was hooking up. We switched from casting to trolling. We fished all morning without a Derby catch, though Oliver did catch a huge black sea bass. After six hours, Dave’s rod bent. He reeled in a 12.27-pound bluefish. We got excited.
Finally, over an hour later, Michael’s rod went off. We all cheered. He reeled in a small but weighable blue. We did a happy dance, took pictures, cheered, clapped, and I may have a leaked a few tears of joy.
We sent the lines back out and waited. Michael’s rod went off again. This time he reeled in a nice 8-pound bluefish. The smile on his face was worth every cast it took to get there. A few hours later, our joy increased when Michael put his blue on the weigh-in table and the crowd inside Derby Headquarters celebrated loudly. Michael received his First Fish pin to more cheering and applause, and another magical Derby memory was recorded.
I hope to see you on the beach, or at weigh-in, and I hope we’re living in the moment and making Derby memories.
