From left to right, Richard Mann, John O’Connell, and Buddy D’Agostino, at the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby opening weigh in. —Nicholas Vukota 
One of the first bluefish weighed in on Sunday morning.—Nicholas Vukota 
John Custer weighs in the first fish of the derby on Sunday morning.—Nicholas Vukota 
Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby opening ceremony. —Nicholas Vukota 
John O’Connell after weighing in his 7.25 pound bluefish.—Nicholas Vukota 
Richard Mann and John O’Connell wait for the derby headquarters doors to open for first weigh in.—Nicholas Vukota 
Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby opening ceremony. —Nicholas Vukota 
Cooper Gilkes (left) and John Custer at the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby opening weigh in ceremony.—Nicholas Vukota
With a huge smile, John Custer, president of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, opened the Derby headquarters’ doors to a crowd that he said was the largest he’s ever seen on Sunday, Sept. 13 at 8 am. Alongside him was a beloved guest and legend in the fishing community, Cooper Gilkes.
Custer attributed the large turnout for the 81st Derby to how much Gilkes is loved and respected in the fishing community on-Island.
“This is easily the biggest crowd we’ve had for the opening bell, and I know why you’re here — it’s the gentleman standing to my right,” Custer, gesturing to Gilkes as he opened the ceremony, said.
Gilkes, who founded Coop’s Bait and Tackle in Edgartown after moving to the Island in 1971 was instrumental in developing the local Derby into the 3,000-plus-person fishing tournament it is today. “The three amigos,” as Gilkes described it at the ceremony, who purchased the Derby from the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce in 1987, included himself, Eddie Medeiros, and Ed Jerome. Gilkes is particularly known for his role in running the Kid’s Derby in the early days of their tenure as Derby owners.
“A couple generations now have grown up knowing Coop as synonymous with fishing, and he’s a humble, understated guy. People showed up because we love that man, and they know what he has given,” Custer told The Times in an interview. ”Looking out there seeing all those people was satisfying.”
Gilkes recalled the day they made the transfer. Gilkes said he, Medeiros, and Jerome were “like little kids chirping in the truck” on the ride from Edgartown to the Chamber of Commerce. They walked upstairs into Derby founder and longtime organizer Ben Morton’s office and purchased the Derby for $1.
“On the way home nobody said a word. All the guys in the car were just saying, ‘We did it. We finally did it, and now it’s on us,’” Gilkes said at the ceremony.
The trio, he said, went over to Gilkes’ house, where they thought about what had happened.
“I’m sitting at the table and looking around the table, and Ed Jerome is sitting there, and I made [eye] contact with Ed, and it’s racing through my mind what we did and what’s happening, and Ed winked at me and smiled,” Gilkes said.
Gilkes then recalled looking over to Medeiros, across the table, who stood up and said, “What have we done?”
Three fish were weighed immediately after the opening bell, rung three times by Gilkes this year, “Once for me, once for Ed, and once for Eddie Medeiros,” he said. First was a bluefish that came in at 3.7 pounds, caught by Richard Mann. The second fish, a 3.65-pound bluefish, was caught by his teammate, Buddy D’Agostino. Their team name is the Paws Paws.
The third fish weighed in was the biggest. Brought in by John O’Connell, the large bluefish came in at 7.25 pounds and was approximately 29 inches long.
As of Monday morning, Gustavo B. Souza leads boat bluefish at 14.54 pounds, with Tyler Poole atop the shore bluefish standings at 8.80 pounds. Dylan Kadison holds the lead for boat bonito at 7.46 pounds, and Derek Bergeron for bonito from the shore at 5.05 pounds. Scarlett Stedman’s 18.73 pound albacore leads the boat rankings, and JR Magee’s 6.75-pound albacore leads the shore.
