Mark Alan Lovewell
Autumn is in the air and there is no better evidence than the sight of pickup trucks loaded with fishing rods and gear. The 65th Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby opened on Sunday; so far there are 1,400 fishermen registered.
The biggest striped bass weighed in at the Edgartown headquarters is a 32-pounder brought in Wednesday morning by Evan D. Metropoulous, a boat angler with a reputation for loving to be on the water and a persistence in catching big fish.
As the sun rose over Flat Point Farm in West Tisbury on Sunday, so did the smell of a pork dinner. It was an odd time of day for it. Amid the quiet of the dawn, the bees visiting the wildflowers and the birds flying about a vacant field, there was the sound of sizzling and a small cloud of smoke coming from a large black steel box, hot to the touch, with a thermometer dial on the door reading 325 degrees. A pig was roasting.
With the start of the 65th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby just days away, fishermen are concerned about the health of the centerpiece fish, striped bass, in these waters and along the coast.
There is perhaps not a fish more watched by commercial and recreational fishermen, not to mention scientists, than the striped bass. The fish is the swimming equivalent of the American eagle.
The 65th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby opens Sunday morning at a minute past midnight. The fishermen are waiting.
George Moran of Oak Bluffs will be out there. At 64, he is almost as old as the derby. “For me it is wonderful being outdoors, being on the beaches, out at night with the stars and moon,” Mr. Moran said.
Tomorrow marks a new start for an Island institution. The Oak Bluffs Fire Museum opens its doors for the first time to the public at 1 p.m. The station at the intersection of Wing and County Roads, in front of the Nelson Amaral town fire station, came together over the last three years.
Refreshments will be served from 1 to 3 p.m. and there will be plenty of firemen on hand to share stories.
Generations of joggers, walkers and runners gathered at Washington Park in Oak Bluffs on Saturday morning for the 22nd annual Sullivan 5K Run and Walk for Health and Fitness. The fundraiser for the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital had all the trappings of a family reunion and social until the race began and the group suddenly rushed en masse down the street. Prior to the start, participants lingered about, sharing stories and sipping from bottles of water.