News
Steve Amaral came in this morning to weigh in his own 18.15-pound striper as well as Michael Alwardt’s striper, a 17-pound fish. The two men have fished together for 17 years.
Mr. Amaral, of Oak Bluffs, 72, has fished 62 of the 63 derbies. One of the most respected shore striped bass fishermen around, he was named to the derby hall of fame last year. He said he caught his fish Sunday night sometime between 6 and 9 p.m. at the South Shore. The air was calm, the seas were the same. The men were fishing with eels.
Saturday night, an hour before sundown. The ferocious northeast wind from the day before has died, the only reminder a thick blanket of seaweed covering the rocky north shore. My friend and I are fishing. He has entered the derby; I have not. We trade off using two rods, one big, one small. The small rod has a sluggo, apparently the lure of choice for catching bass this year, the large one a popper.
Another lone fisherman stands in the rocks several hundred yards away. We can hear the quiet whine of his reel as he casts far out into the setting sun.
Today is bluefish Saturday. Participating fishermen have an opportunity to win $500 if they catch the biggest fish today in a boat, and there is another $500 for the angler who catches
the biggest bluefish from the shore.
Assailing their critics, backers of the Bradley Square project in Oak Bluffs announced abruptly this week that they were putting the property up for sale.
Patrick Manning, executive director of the Island Affordable Housing Fund, sent an e-mail to fellow project backers Tuesday morning stating that continued opposition to the project coupled with the possibility of legal appeals led to the decision.
Harvard law professor Charles J. Ogletree is a celebrated black writer, teacher and speaker and director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice. But on Sunday, he accomplished something truly special: he was in the leader’s spot in the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby on Sunday, weighing in a 26.68-pound striped bass he had caught earlier in the day, fishing with Buddy Vanderhoop and a couple of friends.
Melissa Freitag, candidate for state representative, will meet with Vineyard residents from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Waterside Market on Main street in Vineyard Haven.
Ms. Freitag, who is on the government and history faculty at Cape Cod Community College and active town government volunteer, is arranging public sessions at various points across the district. She said in a statement that she hopes residents whom she has not yet been able to meet will come by to speak with her about their concerns on state and local issues.