October is often the best month of fishing on the Island. We can cast for bluefish, bonito, albies, stripers, and go jigging for tautog. This past October was definitely better than September, which was reflected in the results of OctoberFish, hosted by Larry’s Tackle Shop.
OctoberFish runs all thirty-one days of the month. Many people entered in the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby also enter OctoberFish, which offers the same divisions: shore and boat bluefish, bonito, and false albacore. OctoberFish also offers an After Derby division.
This year, two of the three After Derby winners would have been key-holding Derby winners if they’d caught their fish during the Derby, which ended on October 18th. Bill Robinson landed a 10.45-pound shore bonito on October 23. Bill’s bonito was almost a pound heavier than John Thurgood’s Derby winning shore bonito (9.55- pounds). Bill is no stranger to big bonitos, but his recent catch is his biggest yet. Twenty years ago, in the 60th Derby, Bill took second overall for his 8.61-pound shore bonito. “In the 90s, I got a 9-plus pound bone that won a daily award but was not in the top three overall,” said Bill.
“I’m so lucky. A fish like that 10 from shore, it shows you the magic,” Bill added.
When I asked Bill what lure he used, he shrugged. Thinking it over, he did share a bit more to the miracle of his catch. “We left the Island during the last week of the Derby for our two sons’ college homecoming. I got back to the Island on the 22nd and went fishing. I got a small bone and a couple of small blues. I went home and went through my lures. I picked the lure with the most teeth marks, and that’s the lure the 10-pounder hit,” said Bill, who won a Stradiac C5000XG reel for the After Derby victory.
David Perrier of Vineyard Haven also caught a huge hardtail that would have earned him a Derby key if he’d landed his albie four days earlier. David caught a 15.15-pound false albacore on October 22 that bested Evan Hammond’s winning Derby False Albacore (13.87-pounds).
“I was a little nervous. There were a lot of big fish around,” said David Perrier, who entered OctoberFish last year but didn’t weigh in a fish.
“This year I weighed in the 9.75 albie, then the next day caught the 15.15. I came in the second day with a bigger smile,” said David, who took home a new St. Croix rod for the After Derby prize and $420 for first place shore albie.
The most impressive winner displayed his red, white, and blue proudly. Ralph Peckham pulled into Larry’s five minutes before closing with blood covered hands, white gauze wrapped around two fingers, and a 10.55-pound After Derby first place bluefish.
“I caught the fish, dragged him up onto the beach, and went back to fishing. I made a half-dozen or so casts, then went to pick up the fish. He got me,” said Ralph. As Ralph tried to pry the blue’s mouth open to get his finger free, the fish bit his thumb.
Fortune smiled on Ralph when a stranger helped him and the fish got into his car. Then, a car with three women, two of whom happened to be nurses, stopped to help.
“They wrapped my fingers and told me to go to the hospital,” said Ralph, which he did
after stopping at Larry’s. Ralph won a pair of Danco Premio Titanium Pliers for his first place After Derby blue and he also won the newly created “Injured in Combat” award, a pack of band aids.
When all the awards were given out, it was time for the famous Key Ceremony. The three first place shore and boat winners each drew a key. Shore went first. David drew Key 1. He put it in the lock. Nothing. Bill was up next. He put his key in the lock. Nothing. Everyone watched as Josh Kresel, who’d landed the biggest shore bluefish (16.85 pounds) turned his key. Then nothing happened. He tried again. Nothing. Bill passed Josh his key, and the lock opened. Cheers and laughter filled Larry’s as Josh passed Bill the new Penn Slammer IV 5500 reel.
The first-place boaters stepped up. Cam Maciel drew Key 1 for his 14.75-pound boat albie. Cam turned the key, but nothing happened. David Kadison, who won the Derby boat last year, unlocked the winning Daiwa Saltist MQ 5000 reel, beating out his daughter Sarah and her 10.17-pound bonito.
David was out by himself fishing off Nantucket when both his rods bent. He picked up the one that looked heavier but couldn’t move the fish with his boat in gear. He switched rods and reeled in a bonito. Then he stopped the boat and picked up the second rod.
“I was super lucky the fish was still on the line. Once I stopped the boat, it took a good fifteen minutes. It didn’t want to come in. It was so thick it couldn’t swim normally. It felt super heavy, like a foul-hooked fish,” said Kadison, who reeled in what would become the Derby’s Grand Leader Boat Bluefish at 19.85-pounds. David is headed to Florida for the winter, where he’ll be fishing for grouper, wahoo, and sailfish.
Sarah is heading back to Boston, where she works from home as a food blogger when she’s not on the Vineyard fishing. You can check out Sarah’s websites at www.sarahsfitfood.com and www.baketobefit.com for great recipes and cooking ideas. If you missed OctoberFish this year, take my word for it, you want to sign up next year. Everyone who enters is a winner. Every penny of $40 entry goes into the prize structure. This year, with 130 participants, the six first place winners each received a check for $420, the six second place winners took home $250, and the six third place winners pocketed $170.
If you weren’t in the top three, you didn’t leave the award celebration empty handed. Melissa Sliwkowski collects donations for all of Larry’s vendors and then creates extremely generous raffle bags. Every OctoberFish participant who attends the award celebration wins at least one raffle prize. My raffle prize consisted of a SuperStrike lure, a Hogy swimming plug, Fish Snax Super Snax, Joe Baggs Twisted Jigs, and a Billy’s Bucktail, all of which was worth more than my $40 entry fee. And Melissa and Pete feed everyone lunch.
“It was our biggest turnout ever for awards,” said Pete Sliwkowski. “Great food, great prizes, and most importantly, great people.”
I completely agree. OctoberFish extends the fun of the fishing season. It’s laidback competition, well maybe not laid back when fingers are bleeding and anglers are turning left into Larry’s to weigh a fish in instead of turning right and heading to the hospital. But it’s definitely fun. I hope to see you on the beach, catching a few more bonitos and blues before they head south.
