With 51 minutes to go during Saturday night’s final weigh-in for the 74th Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, it seemed as if all the fish on the grand leaderboards were going to hold.

Four weeks into the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, the leaderboard remains static and the fish remain fickle, as Island anglers struggle with scarce catch and some scary weather.

The fish are beginning to climb their way up the scales as the 74th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby approaches the halfway mark. More than 3,500 anglers have registered and 665 fish have been weighed in.

Five days into the 74th annual Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, all over the Island fishermen are hauling their packs of tackle along the shoreline or heading out in boats.

The first fish to cross the scale was a 7.73-pound false albacore Sunday morning as the 74th Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby got under way. The derby is the Vineyard’s fall fishing classic.

The curtain rises at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 15 for the 74th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. The first weigh-in begins at 8 a.m.