Updated August 27.
Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby officials have set new boat boundaries for the annual fishing Derby, which encompasses the waters around Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and now all of Buzzards Bay.
This will mark the first time in history that anglers competing in the Derby will be allowed to fish the entirety of Buzzards Bay, which up-Island anglers see as a way to make the tournament more equitable.
Buddy Vanderhoop of Aquinnah, who captains a charter boat named Tomahawk out of Menemsha, met with The Times in Aquinnah this week and spoke about the newly drawn boundaries of the Derby.
Vanderhoop said he got the ball rolling on a change by writing a letter to the Derby Committee last fall.
“There were very few or no fish this season from Quicks Hole to Gay Head, Squibnocket and Noman’s Island. It has been like that since the wind farms were fired up. My boat has won the Derby eight times over the past 21 years, and I know I can’t find any weighable fish, let alone big fish anywhere,” Vanderhoop said in his letter to the Derby Committee. “The Derby seems to be now what everyone, including the other charter boats, are calling it — the Edgartown Derby.”
Vanderhoop said the former boundaries favored the south side of the Island and Edgartown. Fishermen coming from the north side and Menemsha were at a disadvantage because they had to travel 55 miles from up-Island to catch decent-size fish. He said there were two dozen well-known fishermen and boat captains who were threatening to pull out of the Derby if the organizers didn’t make the change to the boundaries.
Joe El-Deiry, vice president of the Derby and Derby Committee chair, confirmed Vanderhoop’s letter started discussion on the Derby Committee about the new boundaries. El-Deiry said they asked other fishermen around the Island about the boundary increase, and “didn’t see a negative impact” to the proposed boundary change.
“It will have a positive impact on some participants who may choose to go into Buzzards Bay,” El-Deiry said in an interview with The Times. “A lot of up-Island fishermen have felt for a long time, ‘Why is it that you can only go to the southwest of Nomans, but Edgartown boats are allowed to go all the way to Nantucket.’ A lot of fishermen were happy to include all of Buzzards Bay.”
Until now, boat owners in the Derby were limited on the west side of the Island’s waters by the entrance buoy of Buzzards Bay, north of Naushon Island and west of Woods Hole. The boundaries historically included Vineyard Sound and Nantucket Sound, and the waters surrounding Cape Cod and Nantucket, but Buzzards Bay was previously limited.
The new boundary extends from the entrance buoy of Buzzards Bay, west of Cuttyhunk, and now allows fishing north to Gooseberry Neck, following the northern shore of Buzzards Bay east-northeast towards Cape Cod Canal, and ends at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, according to the new map. The boundaries continue south-southwest along Buzzards Bay perimeter, including Woods Hole. From there the new territory merges with the longstanding boundaries through Vineyard Sound and around Nantucket.
El-Deiry said there’s a lot of fish in Buzzards Bay, and the committee wanted local anglers from up-Island to be able to have a closer distance to travel.
“It’s just giving people more opportunity,” he said. “I know there haven’t been fish in a lot of the up-Island places that have historically had lots of Derby-winning fish; Gay Head, Squibnocket, and around Nomans — those places that historically had plenty of Derby-winning fish have been much slower in recent years.”
President of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby John Custer said they have no record of the boundaries having been changed in the past.
“Blues, stripers, false albacore, and bonito are everywhere from Cuttyhunk to Westport down to the Canal. There is a lot of bait in there, and no hindrance from the wind farms. So opening that up is a game-changer,” Vanderhoop said. “We are going to be creating serious competition from this side of the Island.”
Vanderhoop said that it costs upwards of $300 in gas to make a round-trip to Nantucket, and it’s the only place anglers have been consistently catching big fish over the past few years. Vanderhoop believes a part of the blame lies with the construction of Vineyard Wind turbines. Vanderhoop is also involved in a lawsuit against the offshore wind farm, where he cites economic damages suffered from a lack of fish in the area.
“I’m just very happy with the results from the Derby Committee, that they took that under advisement and passed the boundary change; it’s awesome. I’m very, very happy with the outcome,” said Vanderhoop.
The 2026 Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby starts at 12 am on Sunday, Sept. 13, and goes until Saturday, Oct. 17.
El-Deiry said he’s getting excited for the Derby, adding, “The fishing has been slowish, but the false albacore are just starting to show up, and hopefully that continues, and hopefully we find a lot of bait around the Island, hopefully those places that have been slower up-Island come back and start producing fish like they have historically,” El-Deiry said.
Editor’s note: The Derby was incorrectly stated as ending Oct. 7 instead of Oct. 17 due to an editing error.
