We all know it is a major faux pas to double-dip. Be it salsa, spinach dip, or smoked bluefish pâté, you don’t want to get caught or accused of double-dipping.
I’m going to share a little secret, and please don’t hate me. Last weekend I double-dipped. I honestly couldn’t help myself. There were two fishing tournaments on the same weekend, and who wants to miss out on the fun?
I had the best time with the Flukettes and Capt. Ed Smith, jigging away on Saturday and Sunday in the ninth annual Fluke for Luke tournament. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss it.
My dilemma arose when the Martha’s Vineyard Surfcasters Association’s annual Catch and Release Shark Tournament was switched to the same weekend as Fluke for Luke. Fortunately, the shark tournament is four days long. I couldn’t fish Thursday, but I went out Friday morning to fish for a couple of hours around low tide.
Truth be told, I went out to fish with my friend Julie Tummino. Julie is the reigning Shark Queen. She’s won the tournament multiple times, and on Thursday, she took the early lead with a 57-inch shark.
“The best part about the whole thing is the friendships and the joking around,” said Julie. “The ribbing starts the day I leave, and goes all through the winter on how they are going to beat me.”
Julie and her husband Sal arrived on Chappy at the end of June. They’re blessed to have a family place to stay during June and July, and then come back to the Derby. Julie has spent her whole life visiting Chappy in summer.
“I love fishing, because my dad took me when I was just a tiny tot,” said Julie. “I went shark fishing with Foster Silva in the ’70s. He was one of the best. Back then, I was too small to realize the thrill of it. It’s so much fun, and puts your strength and resilience to the test.”
A decent-size shark definitely puts your strength to the test. I had three mackerel in my cooler on Friday, which was six pieces of bait. I went through the first five over the course of 90 minutes, which was time well spent chatting with Julie, Sal, Zach Magid, and Ryan Oliver.
I put the last piece of bait on. It was warm and mushy, and I had to squish it around the hook twice to get it to stay on. In other words, a yucky hunk of bait. I expected a dogfish to steal it and be done for the day.
That’s not what happened.
Shortly after casting it out, my rod bent and the line peeled. I lifted the rod out of the holder and held on. I think that shark ran six times. My biceps were screaming. My friends cheered me on. For a hot, painful minute, I thought about passing the rod to Sal.
But there’s no win in quitting, so I kept cranking. Finally the shark was at the water’s edge, and I pulled him in on a wave. Sal, Zach, and Ralph Peckham measured him, released the hook, and got him back in the water after a quick photo. He was 61 inches from nose to the split in his tail. I’d bumped my friend Julie out of first place. She congratulated me the loudest and proudest.
I fully expected Julie to catch a bigger shark while I was out fluking. I left the beach on Friday declaring Julie would win and us girls would be first and second.
While I was on the boat on Saturday, I checked in with Julie to see how she was doing. She hadn’t landed another shark. A couple of smaller sharks were caught, but none over 61 inches.
On Sunday, Julie had a bug and stayed home. The guys fished hard. Ralph landed a 58-inch shark to bump Julie to third. I never thought my shark would win. He did. Guess it wasn’t so bad to double-dip.
This past weekend, my friends Brad and Julie Barth came for a visit. We had talked during the week about fishing, and when they arrived on Friday, we discussed all our options: sunrise and sunset bass fishing, Sunday up in Menemsha for a combination of fishing, beaching, swimming, and lunch at the fish markets, or Chappy. I showed them a picture of my winning shark. Brad had never caught a shark, but we weren’t eager to plan for the morning low tide when we suspected Saturday night might be late to bed. We decided on Menemsha, especially since there hadn’t been any bluefish on Chappy beaches in recent weeks.
Sunday dawned sunny and gorgeous after the crazy thunderstorm the night before. In complete agreement, the three of us decided to head to Chappy and take our chances fishing the rising tide. Worst-case scenario, we had a picnic in the cooler, and beach blankets and sunscreen.
When we arrived on Chappy, Julie and Sal and Matt Brewer announced that they were reeling in sharks. I was excited to get a rod in for Brad. I cut a mackerel in half, baited the hook, put an 8-ounce weight on (thank you, Matt), and Brad cast the rod. We didn’t know how long we’d be waiting, so we grabbed the cooler and our beach chairs, and went over to eat lunch with the group. Within minutes, I saw the rod tip dancing.
Brad ran over, but the hook was empty. We rebaited, and Brad cast again. Once again we started eating lunch, watching the rod as we chewed.
I think Brad was four bites into his sandwich when the rod bent and stayed bent. The baitrunner was open, and the line was peeling. Brad is young and strong, a double black belt, but I’d still warned him about the pull of a shark. Now he was holding the rod and asking when he could reel. “Not yet,” I laughed. “Don’t bother reeling while he’s running.”
After about 10 minutes, Brad got the shark to shore. Sal and Matt helped to unhook him. We took a few pictures, and Brad released the brown shark back into the water. I was thrilled for him. “It was the biggest fish I’ve ever caught. It was out of control in the best way,” said Brad, adding, “The best part was the fight, but putting it back in the water myself was really amazing.”
We baited another hook for Julie, and Brad cast the line for his wife. The water was almost at high tide, and the sharks were no longer biting. We fished for another hour without a nibble.
We left Chappy around 3:30 pm. Brad and Julie needed to catch the ferry at 5 pm. I took a quick shower, and then headed to State Beach for the MVSA annual Beach Picnic. A perfect ending to a perfect Sunday. I hope to see you on the beach, and I hope we’re catching summer fun.
