Recognized by his brown, leather hat, worn smooth by decades of fishing in salt air on Island shores, Mike Cassidy is an anchor of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.

With the turn of the calendar comes the return of fall high school sports on the Vineyard. And after last's year strong showing, the hype has returned, too.

Sarah Kadison and five-year-old Tucker Schaefer both earned triple crowns (catching a bonito, false albacore and bluefish) on opening day. Tucker's advice to other fishermen: "reel hard."

The resounding thwacking of a pickleball against a paddle may be silenced by municipal regulation in Chilmark, at least for now, after the town planning board moved to enact a moratorium on building new pickleball courts at their meeting on Monday.

On Sunday at 12:01 a.m., anglers will head to moonlit beaches and offshore Island waters — as they have every September since 1946 — when the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby gets underway.

The Martha’s Vineyard Surfcasters Association is holding its annual used tackle sale Saturday, Sept. 2, giving Islanders an opportunity to stock up on supplies before the upcoming Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.