Derby Week 4: Catching moments, weighing memories

There’s something about Week 4 of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. There’s a shift. The competition is well underway. There have been numerous changes on the leaderboard, and will most likely be more changes on the leaderboard. We’ve fished hard, eyes on the prize, yet also on the calendar.

The clock is ticking. Loudly.

Fishing remains important, but the quality time with family and friends, the hours of togetherness, become more valuable as the minute hand circles the clock with relentless precision.

I found myself more focused on the people than the fish or that gorgeous Vineyard Vines Grand Slam Jeep Gladiator parked outside Headquarters.

I have friends who have been trying to catch a weighable from shore. It’s not easy to begin with, and it got a lot harder after the nor’easter. Last Wednesday, I invited Ursula Kresky and Cole Metell on a boat trip aboard Tenacious with the wonderful Capt. Ed Smith. My teammate Dave Balon had to work, but Oliver Valdes was able to take a day off, and Captain Ed’s son Eddie joined us too. We left the dock at 6 am with Eddie at the wheel, and headed to the south side of Nantucket.

A quick bit of background: Ursula is 86 years old, Cole is 13. Ursula’s been fishing for decades, and is one feisty woman. Cole is the only person in his family of six who fishes, and he’s been riding his bike to the beach before and after school, trying to land a fish. I hoped for two things: one weighable fish each for Ursula and Cole.

We drew numbers to determine who got the rods as they went off. I took the last number, which just happened to be No. 1. We picked our lures, one of them being pink, of course, and set them out at 200 and 220 feet. A rod went off quickly, and I was up. I reeled in a 9.59-pound bluefish, and our day was off to a decent start. We got into a school of blues. Everyone hooked up. By 8:45 am, we’d all landed weighable fish. Obviously, we kept fishing for bigger fish.

Our rods bent continuously. We released a lot of fish, having a ton of fun while we trolled for bigger fish. A bit before 1 pm, the rod with the pink lure bent. It was Ursula’s turn.

We knew this fish was bigger when Ursula groaned a couple of times. She cranked and cranked, never giving up. When she got the blue to the boat, Eddie netted it, and we all cheered. Ursula was all smiles.

“What a thrill it was to hook into an almost 11.3-pounder and feel the power and excitement of pulling him in. Nothing quite like the adrenaline rush!” said Ursula. 

“The icing on the cake? Weighing him in that evening surrounded by friends, and winning a Derby pin,” said Ursula, who finished fourth daily. “What a great feeling, what a day, and what a memory! The competition, the excitement, the ocean, the thrill of my catch — this is what makes the Derby so very special for me.”

More than an hour passed without a big fish. It was 2 o’clock. The wind was picking up. We toyed with the idea of starting the hour-and-a-half slog back to the Vineyard. As we debated, the pink lure rod doubled over.

Cole raced to the rod and struggled to lift it out of the holder. I jammed my hands into my pockets, resisting every urge to help him. Finally, after grimacing and gritting his

teeth, Cole got the rod upright and began reeling. We all waited, coached, encouraged, and, truthfully, I snapped a few pictures of his pained face and texted them to his mom. It took a few minutes, but Cole got his fish to the boat. We gasped when we saw it. Eddie netted it. It was longer than the three-foot cooler we put it in.

“I could barely hold the rod,” said the 4-foot-11 Cole. “When I first saw the fish, I couldn’t believe my eyes. All I saw was a big shiny lump. I thought it was bigger than me.”

Eddie and I weighed the fish once we docked, but didn’t tell Cole. When Cole carried the fish up the ramp to Headquarters, everyone watched. The fish truly was almost as big as him. Cole hefted the blue up to John Custer, and we watched the scale total 15.2 pounds! Cole’s face broke into the widest smile. I cried.

Cole’s mom, Allyson, and I have run hundreds of miles together, and numerous marathons. Let me tell you, watching Cole weigh in that huge bluefish as his first-ever Derby fish was better than crossing the finishing line after 26.2 miles.

Cole collected his First Fish Pin, and went on to win a first-place daily. He currently stands in third place overall for Junior Boat Bluefish with five days to go.

“I feel like I finally achieved something none of my siblings have,” said Cole, the youngest of four. 

So many of you know or know of photographer Michael Blanchard. He is one of the finest human beings I know. While he spends countless hours taking pictures, he also desperately wants to weigh in a Derby fish each year. Last year, he finally succeeded. 

Michael had been casting all over the Island this Derby, but he hadn’t landed a weighable yet. On Sunday, we boarded Tenacious in search of his 2026 weighable. Dave was aboard and Eddie was once again at the wheel, while Capt. Ed kept us in line. The sky was gray, the wind was up but doable, and the waves were rocky but manageable.

How to say this nicely? The day was long. I appreciate Capt. Ed and Eddie sooo much! When I tell you that they kept grinding, I mean they kept grinding. We went from the Cape Poge Lighthouse through the Rip past the breach at Norton, and back and forth all day. As in all day! Can you say “tenacious”?

The waves rocked us and the skies opened. Through the rain and tossing, they kept grinding. We did catch quite a few beautiful black sea bass, and immediately released them.

Eight hours passed. Let me say that again: Eight hours!

Michael said, “We need a Hail Mary.”

I replied, “Amaze, amaze, amaze.”

I’m not sure if we channeled our inner Grace and Rocky, but a rod finally went off. Michael jumped up. I think we all held our breath until that fish was safely in the boat. Then we cheered. My eyes wept, from joy or exhaustion, I don’t know.

We reset the rods and hoped they would go off again. It was Dave’s turn. (If Dave tells you it was my turn, it wasn’t. I’d already caught a bunch of boat bluefish on Wednesday’s trip when Dave couldn’t go. So … Dave’s turn.)

Thirty minutes later, the rod bent. It wasn’t a sea bass. Dave got the fish to the boat, Eddie netted it, and my joy was complete. We fished for another 20 minutes without a hit, reeled up, and headed into Edgartown Harbor. 

When Dave and I met Michael and Anne-Marie Bell at Headquarters and we all watched Michael weigh in his fish, I offered up huge praise and gratitude to Capt. Ed and Eddie for their off-the-charts efforts. “Rocky and Grace save stars”; Capt. Ed and Eddie save Derby.

I would be remiss to skip the leaderboard changes throughout Week 4. On Tuesday, Oct. 6, rumors spread from Lobsterville to Chappy, to West Chop and beyond that Cameron Maciel had landed a big bonito. A little after 7 pm, Cam carried a 9.13-pound shore bonito into Headquarters to move into first place, and join his mom Angie Fisher on the Grand Leader board. It would be super-cool to see Angie onstage for a Grand Leader Shore False Albacore and Cam standing beside her for his Grand Leader Shore Bonito. We shall see what the tides bring.

On Wednesday, Sarah Kadison landed a 13.15-pound boat bluefish on the flyrod to move into first. On Friday, Rob Morrison claimed the Flyrod Boat Bluefish lead with a 13.48-pound blue.

If you don’t believe in unicorns, you haven’t been at Derby Headquarters when an aquatic version is put on the weighmasters’ table. Saturday was Unicorn Day.

We all thought Bruce Dew’s 19.91-pound bluefish was unbeatable. Until Ben Ciciora walked into the weigh-in with a 19.69-pound blue at 8:35 am. After Ben weighed in his second-place fish, the possibility of a 20-pound blue swimming through our waters seems plausible. 

Shore fishermen are now sleeping on the beach with one hand on their rod and a bell on the tip to wake them if a fish bites their chunk. Will we see a 20-pounder on the board? Is this the year Abe Williams’ state record is beaten? We’ll know soon enough.

On Saturday night, when we hadn’t seen a single albie, boat or shore, since Paul Carney weighed in a 6.79-pounder on Monday, Jay Harrison carried in a unicorn. Jay’s albie tipped the scales at 12.64 pounds, putting Jay into second place overall. Here’s hoping for another unicorn during these final days.

It’s early Tuesday morning, time is slipping away, and I’m heading out to fish. When the paper comes out on Thursday, we’ll only have two full days left of the 2026 Derby. There is never enough time for all the moments we hope to live.

I hope to see you on the beach, and I hope the moments we’re living are keepers.