Week 2: New leader fish ahead of the storm

Have you been following the leaderboard? The first week of the 81st Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby was filled with fish. As someone who searched for fish all summer in what felt like a near-empty ocean, I am thrilled to be catching fish and to see so many great fish on the leaderboard. We’ve seen small weighables, big blues, and a new state-record boat albie, as well as cute kids and at least five kinds of fish weighed in on Kids’ Day. 

Did I mention there are fish around? It’s as if the Derby sent out an engraved invitation to all the blues, bones, and albies, and they actually accepted.

Another Derby miracle!

Tyler Poole, who weighed in a daily first-place bonito and bluefish on the first night of the Derby, searched and fished multiple spots chasing the elusive false albacore for his Triple Crown. On Friday, he found it, landing a seven-pound albie to earn a daily second-place pin and to take the lead in the Triple Crown and Shore Team divisions. “I went to three spots and finally found it at the ol’ reliable [location],” said Tyler. 

I had a great time Saturday night fishing through sunset for blues with Tyler and our MV Surfcasters group. Tyler and I fished side by side most of the night. When I heard his line peeling, I reeled in to watch him land a beautiful 9.88-pound blue that upped his division weights for his triple and team scores.

Tyler, who lives in Maryland, is on-Island until Oct. 6. He’s got to return to work, and “I have jury duty when I get back,” he said. 

Tyler will continue to fish hard and smart. This week he’ll “fish until it’s too bad to fish, maybe go bass fishing — and try a few spots that aren’t blown out,” he said.

I hooked up on a nice fish after Tyler left for weigh-in, had my reel jam up, and lost the fish. You better believe I took that reel into Coop’s Bait and Tackle Shop on Sunday. Coop and Aron Cascone looked at it. The reel was clean on first inspection, no sand messing up the drag. Aron then took it apart, and found the spring wasn’t working.

He fixed it, greased it up, replaced a washer, and sent me out to catch the Derby winner. Thanks, Aron and Coop!

Zachary Horrocks is a master on the flyrod, and he’s no stranger to the Derby leaderboard. On Thursday night, he weighed in an 8.81-pound bonito that holds the lead for Flyrod Boat Bonito. He also sits in second place for his Flyrod Boat False Albacore with a hefty 14.24-pound albie. 

He caught the bonito from his boat off Nantucket. “We left the dock around 5:10 in the morning. When we got there, I did one drift and hooked a bonito. It was about 7 pounds. My second bone was the big one,” said Zach.

Zach was born and raised in Lake Placid, N.Y. His dad, Terry Horrocks, started bringing him to the Island to fish the Derby when he was a kid. He’s been coming ever since, over 30 years.

For the bulk of the year, Zach is a hunting and fishing guide in Lake Placid. He also skis in Utah in his spare time, though no longer as a professional. Martha’s Vineyard is always his fall destination.

“I came with my dad to fish the Derby. I’ve guided here going back and forth over the years, but I’m mostly just here in the fall,” said Zach.

I’m fairly certain we’ll see more of Zach on the leaderboard after the storm passes.

On Friday morning, Doug Asselin walked into headquarters and put a nice-size bluefish onto the weighmaster’s table. When the scale registered 11.81 pounds, Doug was the new Shore Bluefish Grand Leader, knocking Ed Amaral off the leaderboard for the 9.63-pound blue he’d weighed in 12 hours earlier on Thursday night.

“I was chunking,” said Doug. “I had both mackerel and bunker with me. I try to always bring two baits. Sometimes one works better than the other.

“That night, I ended up catching three or four of those three-pound blues, then I got one that was eight pounds. I kept it. It was decent enough to bring to weigh-in. About an hour and a half later, I got the big one,” said Doug, who’s been in the Grand Leader position before and has also been bumped off each time.

“I try not to put any pressure on myself. I pretend I didn’t catch the fish, don’t check the results, and just go fishing to try to catch a bigger one,” he said.

I see Doug all over the Island casting for fish. I asked him whether he prefers casting or chunking. “I prefer catching fish,” said Doug, “So I’ll go lure-fishing or chunking. Whatever the fish want, I’ll do.”

Doug knew his bluefish was not going to hold the lead. I’m sure he wasn’t shocked to get bumped off the leaderboard over the weekend. He might have been surprised when Ben Ciciora weighed in a 15.88-pound bluefish on Sunday night at 7:08 pm. That’s a pretty big blue for this early in the Derby. We usually see the hefty ones in October.

Ben was also out on the beach chunking. While Doug was out all night chunking, Ben was clearly fishing during the day. “I caught a few smaller ones that day before catching the bigger one. I didn’t get any after that [big] one,” said Ben.

Ben is a family man, spending the bulk of his time with his wife Casey and their son William, 3½, and their 1-year-old daughter Goldie. “With a young family, I don’t get to fish the Derby as much as I used to,” said Ben. “However, my son is starting to like fishing, and I can’t wait to get him involved in the Derby next year.”

On a personal note, I’ve had a great week fishing with friends. My teammate Dave Balon and I fished all over the Island. I caught a few more small blues and landed my first albie of the year, which was an absolute blast. Dave caught a bunch of fish, and I had the most fun watching him land a nice 6.99-pound blue at sunset on Friday for his first weighable.

Monday, Oliver Valdes, who weighed in his first blue on Saturday, and I fished a few spots down-Island. We got into small blues, nothing we wanted to bring to weigh-in. While we were fishing the North Shore, our friend Sal Tummino was fishing the South Shore. Sal struck gold, landing a 7-pound albie and a 12.86-pound bluefish that is now the Senior Bluefish Grand Leader. My bestie, Julie Tummino, was home sick on Monday, but as soon as she’s feeling better she’ll be out there trying to beat the love of her life and also up their team score. We love you, Sal!

We’ve all seen the storm warnings for this week, and certainly felt the wind the last few days. Ben Ciciora put into words my own thoughts: “The Derby has started pretty slow for me, but it’s picking up with the change in weather. I’m hoping this storm passes, and it gets better.”

Stay safe out there this week while we’re fishing through the storm. I hope to see you on the beach and at headquarters, carrying in those fish we caught casting into 30-mile-per-hour winds.