Fair, friends, and fins

Wow! What a week we had last week. August tourists. August heat. Ag Fair. And … fins.

Many of us were filled with unbridled joy when rumors of bonito from shore were confirmed and then witnessed. I, for one, grabbed my rod and spent almost every morning and some early evenings casting in and around Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs, as well as a glorious Sunday morning at Lobsterville.

The only morning I skipped the beach was Thursday, when I picked vegetables from my garden in the rain and drove up to the Ag Hall to drop off entries for the 164th Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Fair.

One day a year, the zucchini, tomatoes, beans, peppers, eggplant, kale, carrots, summer squash, and all the herbs and flowers are more important than fishing. Hey, a girl’s got to have accompaniments to go with all that yummy fish.

With the vegetables checked in, I returned to my primary focus: catching that first bone of 2026. If I was driving near water, I was glancing over, and pulling over. One morning, I was headed toward the drawbridge and saw fish breaking fairly close to the wall. I parked, grabbed my bonito rod, and climbed onto the wall. I cast and cast, but kept coming up empty.

I saw J.R. Thomas further down the wall. We waved and walked toward each other. We moved up and down the wall, toward Vineyard Haven and back toward the drawbridge, following those fish who continued to swim just out of casting range.

No matter how many times I saw fish breaking, they were always out of casting range. This did not deter me. Sooner or later, those speeding tuna were going to take a pass along the beach. 

I’d come close, or the fish had come close, one night. They’d come so close that I’d waded into the water in shorts to see if I could get close enough. I didn’t, but I gave myself an A for effort. A few nights later I drove to Eastville and walked out on the jetty. I’d heard that Doug Asselin, who works at Dick’s Bait and Tackle, had caught a shark off the jetty a night or two before.

Sure enough, as I was casting, a fin poked out of the water. Then another fin. Then the shark was fully visible and swimming alongside the jetty. Fishing was done. There was no way a bonito, or any fish, was going to swim toward a hungry shark.

I needed to chat with Doug. The following afternoon, I drove over to Dick’s. Doug was behind the counter, and we started talking about sharks.

“I was on the jetty last week,” said Doug. “A guy was there scup fishing. He got a fluke. It was too small, so he threw it back, but the fish flipped and got stuck on the rocks. A few minutes later, a shark comes up on the rocks and grabs it.”

I could totally picture that shark. I’d been at Edgartown Light fishing during the Derby a few years ago when a guy near me on the point reeled in an albie. As he reached down to unhook the fish, a shark jumped at the beach, snatched the fish, barely missing the guy’s hand, and took off with the albie. The guy screamed, but all of us were startled.

Doug went back to the jetty a couple of nights later. “I worked all day, got off, grabbed a pack of mackerel, and went to see if I could catch that shark,” said Doug. “The bait wasn’t in the water for 20 minutes, and I was on.”

Doug walked down the jetty, reeling the shark to the beach, snapped the hook, and released the brown shark back into the water.

Doug’s noticed what most of us fishing have noticed. “Every shoreline has a six- to seven-foot brown shark. They are everywhere this year,” said Doug.

Is it the same sharks? How many sharks? Are the sharks scaring away the fish? Why are there so many more this year? Doug and I threw out answers, but in the end we decided that what we need is a shark study, an official shark study tagging sharks and tracking them. Something to plan after the 81st Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, over the long, cold winter months.

While I was chasing fish, a few people staying in my home were catching fish. They’ve visited the Island every summer for decades. Part of their Island vacation tradition is a charter aboard the Skipper. This year, Brad Benn and his son Justin went out Wednesday morning, and had so much fun, they decided to go out again on Friday afternoon.

I know I wrote about John Potter and the Skipper last week, but these are facts. We’re catching fish and having fun aboard the Skipper. I promise you, I have no ownership in the Skipper, and I don’t get a commission, or even free fish. I simply love how easy it is for people to hop aboard the Skipper and experience the pleasure of catching dinner.

I can tell you that the Benn family, including mom Jen, enjoyed their fresh catch hot off the grill only hours after the guys reeled it in.

Pair that fresh fish with blue-ribbon vegetables harvested minutes before from the garden, and you have a better meal than you could order at any restaurant. 

I hope to see you on the beach, where the fish are close and we’re reeling in dinner.

Twenty-six days, four hours, and 25 minutes. #IYKYK