Lisa Belcastro
Fish and prizes galore for OctoberFish
October is often the best month of fishing on the Island. We can cast for bluefish, bonito, albies, stripers, and go jigging for tautog....
Hardtails return in time for OctoberFish
I hope you’re still fishing. The summer tourists may have left, but the fish we’ve been waiting for have finally decided to visit Martha’s...
Hot rods prevail in cold weather of Derby’s fourth week
The colder weather heated up the fourth week of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. Shore fishermen caught more fish, and boaters...
A Derby roundup: week 3
I love fishing, and I love the Derby.
I realize this is not news to anyone who’s read a previous fishing column, but I am...
Monsters in the Derby
As a child I was terrified of monsters. My parents took my brother and me to the drive-in many times. There was usually a...
Steve Amaral: An Island son, a Derby legend
Steve Amaral was 9 years old when he fished his first Derby. He has only missed one since, when he was stationed overseas during...
Opening weeks of Derby bring milestones and memories
Oh my gosh! Have you been watching the Derby leaderboard?
Some of us check it morning and night. Perhaps multiple times each morning and evening....
McCabe wins it, but girls rule the Kid’s Derby
Shouts of joy were louder than the ferry whistle at the Oak Bluffs Steamship dock Sunday morning for the annual Kid’s Derby, the most...
Catching the Derby dream
Have you caught it yet?
Derby fever.
It’s Tuesday, officially day three of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.
The fever is real. I’ve caught...
Eighty years of fin-tastic fun
It’s 1946.
Two brothers, Ed, 10, and Steve, 9, Amaral, joined by their parents and younger siblings (Leo, 8, and Eleanor, 7) enter the first...
Catching art that’s black-and-white and read all over
Have you ever walked into a friend’s home or a business and been surprised by a piece of art?
I had plans to fish with...
Get your Derby on
It’s time.
16 days, 9 hours, 7 minutes, and 23 seconds. Derby time.
Are you ready?
I have a long to-do list, and I’ve started checking off...
Learning to fly
Is there something new that you want to learn to do or add to your life, but you’ve been struggling to find the time,...
Surfcasters’ shark tournament is a community builder
The summer of 2025 on Martha’s Vineyard has certainly been about sharks –– whether you’re celebrating at a “Jaws” 50th anniversary event, watching one...
Fluke for Luke: A celebration of friends and fishing
What did you do last weekend? We finally had great weather on both days, which created a flawless setting for the eighth annual Fluke...
Building a dream
Seventy-five days, 17 hours, 37 minutes.
I know you know, because we’re all counting down the days, hours, and minutes until the Martha’s Vineyard Striped...
Shark on!
I’ve got to be honest, since this is a fishing column after all, that when I say I headed out to Chappy on Saturday,...
Fishing for shark on Chappy on the 50th
What did you do last weekend? Did you celebrate the 50th anniversary of “Jaws” with the thousands of tourists who visited the Island?
Everywhere you...
Healthy doses of vitamin B: Bass, bluefish, or … June bonito?
I’ve been trekking out to Chappy for a few hours here and there over the past week. There have been bluefish, not in abundance,...
Blowin’ in the Wind
When Bob Dylan sang, “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,” I don’t believe he was referencing fly-fishing. But if you asked...