Universal rain gauge at Edgartown National Weather Station
On Wednesday morning of last week, the winds were blowing. The gale force breeze rattled the windows and shook the doors of many homes, while sheets of rain fell. At the National Weather Service cooperative station in Edgartown, the storm left an unusual signature, never seen before.
One of the two rain gauges at the station was so shaken by the winds, it stopped recording the rainfall. The pen that keeps track of rainfall minute by minute was shaken off the chart. The Universal rain gauge records the amount of rainfall minute by minute. The winds were so violent that the pen looked more like a seismic event than a weather event.
Fortunately, the second rain gauge, one that just collects precipitation in a tube, recorded 1.45 inches for the storm.
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This post was written by Mark Alan Lovewell on December 17, 2009
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For the Vineyard seafood lover, now is the time to buy. The price of bay scallops on the Island is the lowest it has been in years, and recipes that haven’t been used in a long time are coming down off the shelf. With the bay scallop selling at under $13 a pound, the shopper has more choices on how to prepare a meal. How about a bay scallop casserole? Two years ago, if you thought of eating a bay scallop, you’d buy your pound for just under $20 and you’d ration them like imported caviar. When it came to meal time, the bay scallops were dished out slowly with a small spoon. It wasn’t the main dish, it was the delicious side order. Mom counted out how many “eyes” there were prior to dinner and every one got an equal number. With today’s prices, consumers can afford a far more liberal array of dishes. How about a casserole? Cook them just like you would scalloped potatoes in a casserole dish. A lot of butter, bread crumbs, maybe a little milk and some cheese. Put it in the oven and when it comes out, you have a meal reminiscent of the 1970s, 1960s and before.
It isn’t just the poor economy that has made bay scallops more affordable: it’s abundance. Fish markets are getting the coastal bivalve from a lot of places: Chatham is having a great year, the first in over a decade. Nantucket is fine. And there are several sources on Martha’s Vineyard: Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, Chilmark. Aquinnah may not have a commercial season, because the abundance is so low. Smart shoppers will take advantage of the local flavor, and avoid imports. At a local Stop & Shop, the prefrozen and undersized farmed bay scallops from China were going for less than $6 a pound.
The 64th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby really went on without a hitch. The tournament worked well this year. We heard no reports of fish being caught loaded with lead, though one made it through the weigh-in station with more than enough ice inside. The fishermen generally had a great time and the comraderie that was shared was often more important than the fish.
The 65th annual contest ahead will have a significant sound to it. When a contest gets to be as old as an angler’s vocational retirement age, it has to be both bigger and more esteemed.
Though the contest will be as solid as a rock next year, anglers need to be prepared for a few big changes outside of the contest. For one, the state of Massachusetts, under the urging of the federal government, is going to come out with a saltwater recreational fishing license. The license won’t be expensive and the money raised is promised to go back into fisheries related management. Not everyone will be required to get a license. A one-day angler who wants to go out on a charter fishing boat won’t need a license, under the current regulations now going before state legislators.
Next year there will be a rising sound of concern about the health of striped bass and changes in the oversight along the coast. Shore anglers complained a lot this derby of a failed fall migration. Did the schools of bass really pass by the Vineyard enroute to Southern waters? That concern will heighten, as the lower states ease some of their rules, claiming that the striped bass fishery is healthy.
A lot is at stake when a truly celebrated fishing contest, that has survived the generations, good and bad fishing days, faces a rising tide of worried anglers. Everyone wants more big fish out in the waters around the Vineyard. While it is unlikely that there is strength enough in the movement to make striped bass game fish status and no commercial fishing for it in Massachusetts, the climate will be different in 2010.
A new report came out this week from a group of experienced Woods Hole fisheries scientists who claim that climate change is sending a lot of different species of fish into deeper northern waters. So many species of fish that used to be a part of the Island recreational and commercial sport are no longer here, not just because of overfishing, but perhaps because of changes in our waters. Is that why the schools of bait have been missing in recent years. Or, is it the rising use of mid-water trawlers targeting small fish south of the Vineyard.
Anglers care. They are concerned. Whether their emotions are ahead or behind the science, the fishing derby of next year will be different than it was this year.
— Mark Alan Lovewell
Michael Seeger, left, at the moment he learned that he had won the boat. Standing next to him is William Pate, who, moments later, would learn that he had won the truck for a fish he had caught from the Boston Whaler he won in the derby three years ago.
William A. Pate, of West Tisbury, who spends summers working at Cutler Bike Shop in Edgartown was announced as the winner of this year’s Grand Prize, a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, at the 64th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby awards ceremony held at Nectar’s nightlcub on Sunday afternoon. The winning catch was a 12.66-pound false albacore, caught from a boat. Three years ago, Mr. Pate won a brand new Boston Whaler at the derby for the biggest bluefish, a 13.87-pounder that he caught from shore. He caught this year’s winning fish while aboard the very boat he won in 2006.
Michael L. Seeger, of Chilmark, is the grand prize winner of the 24-foot Eastern Boat, for catching a 7.99 pound bonito from the shore. If he follows Mr. Pate’s example, he’ll be catching the winning derby fish from a boat in 2012.
Close to 300 fishermen, spouses and friends showed up at Nectar’s Sunday afternoon to see who the Grand Prize winners, to walk away with a brand new truck and boat, would be. Everything else was pretty much known when the derby ended on Saturday night at 10 o’clock at the derby weigh-in station in downtown Edgartown.
Mr. Seeger said that the possibility that he might win the boat didn’t sink in until three days before the derby ended. He said, “When you win, it’s when you aren’t thinking of winning.”
This year’s five-week contest attracted 2,844 registrants, weighing in almost 22,500 pounds of striped bass, bluefish, false albacore and atlantic bonito in total.
If his big bonito holds the lead through the derby's end, 11-year-old Wyatt Jenkinson will have wait five years to drive his prize.
Monday night, a young angler moved in amid the grand leaders of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. Wyatt A. Jenkinson, 11, of Chilmark, a West Tisbury elementary school student, caught a 9.71-pound Atlantic bonito, the largest bonito caught in the derby so far. The young angler’s fish is huge, heavier than the biggest fish weighed in last year. If it lasts, the junior fisherman could win a truck. Wyatt was fishing with his father, Patrick, in the boat Wyknott. Joanie Jenkinson, West Tisbury animal control officer and Wyatt’s grandmother, said she and her husband Patrick, a lobsterman, received a cell phone call from the young angler midmorning on Monday, reporting that he had caught the fish. “He wanted us to come down to the weigh-in station later in the day, because he had caught the big bonito,” Mrs. Jenkinson said. Ann M. Howes of West Tisbury, who works for the derby, saw the boy walk into the headquarters with his fish. She said the crowd cheered when Mr. Jenkinson’s fish hit the scale at 8:19 p.m. Mrs. Jenkinson said of event: “I didn’t realize the enormity until we got to the weigh-in.” Wyatt won a mystery prize for his fish. She said of her son and grandson: “Those two have been putting the time in together.” She said her grandson loves fishing first, then hockey.
UPDATE: David Kinney, author of the derby book “The Big One”, the film rights to which were recently sold to Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks, has an excellent post on his blog that recounts his personal experience fishing with Wyatt and his father Patrick in the 2007 derby. Check it out here:
www.davidkinney.net/news/2009/10/junior-fisherman-major-league-bonito/
A 13.86-pound bluefish, a potential derby leader in the boat division, that was found to have traces of ice inside was removed from the derby contest on Saturday. Though the fish was weighed in on Monday, Oct. 5 by derby top angler Stephen J. Pietruska of Vineyard Haven, it never made it on to the board. Derby president Ed Jerome said today the derby committee met twice on the matter, most recently on Saturday morning, with the angler present to deliberate whether to allow the fish in the contest. The weight of a fish, down to hundredths of a pound, is a big deal in the month-long contest. With 2,700 fishermen competing for more than $350,000 in prizes, it all matters, even shards of ice.
The derby ends on Saturday, Oct. 17. Mr. Jerome said that from the start, it was clear to the derby committee that Mr. Pietruska hadn’t removed all the ice from the fish prior to weigh-in, as required in the rules. In a press release issued on Sunday, “Although the angler’s intent may have been to protect the freshness of his fish for the filet program and to reduce the loss of weight of his fish from catch to weigh-in, it is the responsibility of the angler to bring a fish to the derby scale without any ice that may add additional weight to his catch.”
On the night that Mr. Pietruska weighed in his fish, as part of a routine procedure, the fish was taken to the fillet station and cut open for examination. It was during that examination that 1.8 ounces of ice, or .11 of a pound was discovered still inside the fish. “The normal procedure is that if anything of concern is found, it too is weighed. The ice was weighed,” Mr. Jerome said. Had the 13.86-pound fish been allowed, Mr. Pietruska’s would have lead the derby and beat the current angler Tom Rapone, who has a 13.81 pound bluefish, caught with a flyrod. Mr. Rapone is still the leader in the bluefish boat division. If Mr. Rapone’s fish still leads this Saturday, he is eligible to participate in a drawing with other boat leaders for a new Chevy truck, one of the grand prizes.
Mr. Jerome said a meeting was organized by derby committee members soon after Mr. Pietruska’s fish was opened and the shards of ice were discovered and weighed. Mr. Jerome said he heard about the questionable fish and got to the weigh-in station about eight minutes later. The meeting took place at the Edgartown Yacht Club, which is next door to the weigh-in. The committee chose to hold the fish, and not post it on the board as a leader. Mr. Jerome said Mr. Pietruska was informed that the fish was being held. The committee met for two hours on Saturday morning at the Baylies Room, the ground floor of Edgartown’s Whaling Church. Mr. Pietruska attended and spoke. Mr. Jerome said: “He answered questions and told us how he went about protecting his fish.” Like the rest of the fishermen in the derby, Mr. Jerome said Mr. Pietruska has a technique for icing down his fish. The only fault that existed, Mr. Jerome said was that all of the ice had not been removed from the fish when it was weighed in. He said the derby headquarters has a barrel of water for anglers to use to wash off the sand and anything else on a fish, prior to weighing in. Of the two meetings, Mr. Jerome said: “We have a process from start to finish. It is important for us to hear all the information. We try to make a decision for the derby and for the sake of all the contestants.” Mr. Pietruska is on the grand leader board for another fish, a 44.68-pound striped bass he caught from a boat on the first day of the derby, Sept. 13.
There are 2,640 fishermen registered in the month-long 2009 Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby and that is at least equal to last year’s participation, so far. Deby president Ed Jerome said yesterday, regarding this year’s participation numbers, “we are really pleased with the pace of the derby.”
While the number of fishermen is about the same as last year is good news, the bad news is that the number of striped bass is also much the same: not many. Only six flyfishermen have weighed in a striped bass caught from the shore. Only three fishermen have caught a striped bass from their boat large enough to weigh in. All-tackle striped bass anglers have done considerably better, but that doesn’t mean they are all that happy. Three weeks into the derby and 150 striped bass have been weighed in by shore fishermen, and 138 have been weighed in by boat anglers. “I’d like to know why this is happening,” said Cooper A. Gilkes 3rd, a derby committee member and owner of an Edgartown fish tackle shop. “We used to be able to catch a lot of fish in the derby.”
Derby chairman Greg Skomal is also a fisheries biologist for the state Division of Marine Fisheries, and keeps a record of derby landings through the years. “Last year was one of the worst years for striped bass landings. This year is only slightly better,” he said. With ten days left in the contest, the derby stats describe a different contest than last year. As of today, over 900 bluefish were landed, totalling 7,309 pounds. Atlantic bonito are doing much better than last year: over 320 bonito have been landed. The false albacore count is hovering around 216 fish. Mr. Skomal said bluefish landings so far in the derby are on par with last year. This year is definitely a bluefisherman’s paradise. Thomas J. Rapone, a well-respected top flyfisherman, leads the grand overall boat division with a 13.81-pound bluefish. Oddly enough, Peter C. Shepardson of Vineyard Haven leads the bluefish shore division with a fish that weighs precisely the same. We’ve often heard that many of the fish come to the Vineyard as year classes, meaning that one year is more usually substantially more prolific than another. Those year classes are identifiable by their weight. Mr. Shepardson and Mr. Rapone’s fish are likely members of the same year class, probably spawned in the year 2000.
Very rarely are severed buoys reunited with their pots.
Everett H. Poole of Chilmark has seen and heard just about everything on the waterfront, but this is a new one. The 79-year-old lobsterman and former owner of Menemsha fishmarket Poole’s Fish said a recreational angler walked into his chandlery and made a most unusual request.
“He told me he was out fishing and cut off a couple of lobster pots,” Mr. Poole said. He wanted to purchase some lobster pot buoys to replace the ones he damaged. In Poole’s experience, that has never happened before. Everyone who spends more than an hour on the water knows here are a lot of captains going back and forth on the water, often without paying too much attention as to where they’re going. Lobster pot buoys get hit by a propeller, the line to the pot is severed and the whole kit and caboodle is lost to Davy Jones. Commercial lobstermen already have a hard enough time making a living catching lobsters without even talking about what they lose to errant propellers. So Mr. Poole was appropriately amazed to meet someone who wanted to do something right by such an accident. “He not only wanted to replace the two lobsterpot buoys he damaged, but he wanted to give the lobstermen another two.” Mr. Poole said the man was out fishing for bonito east of Menemsha in Vineyard Sound when he accidentally ran into the gear. “You know, I’ll never see that again in my lifetime,” he said.
Mr. Willoughby has been fishing the derby since the very beginning.
A surprise party was thrown at the derby weigh-in Sunday night for Bob Willoughby, 82, of Edgartown. Mr. Willoughby has fished in 63 out of the 64 derbies, and friends and family thought it a nice gesture to celebrate and honor the angler for that achievement. He received a plaque and a huge trophy. Roy Langley, weighmaster, described Mr. Willoughby as the Dean of Memorial Wharf. “He is a fine gentleman,” Mr. Langley said. “He used to fish Memorial Wharf every day.” Mr. Willoughby was deeply touched by the event.
Sign of the Times: Long lines at the tackle shop.
There have always been unemployed fishermen in the annual fall derby. Each fall, after summer businesses shut down, pink slips are passed out to many of those in the tourist businesses, and many of the chefs, shopkeepers and tour bus drivers get a break and go fishing. But this year’s derby is taking place in unusual times here and ashore in America. There is a far greater level of energy on the beach, on the water and at the headquarters in Edgartown. There are a lot more hard-core anglers learning all they can about the sport. They’ve lost their jobs, either here or afar, but many are trying to turn their bad luck into good luck. They may not be all driven into the derby to win the big 24-foot boat or the 2009 pickup truck. Derby officials report a strong showing of membership in the five-week contest. For $45, an angler can fish in a contest that offers over $300,000 in prizes. Among the most seasoned and experienced derby anglers, they have one prescription for getting a blessing from Lady Luck: “Spend the time.” The winners of the derby are rarely the guys that walk into the tackle shop, purchase a derby button, go fishing that night and catch a big one. Rather, the winners are the anglers who go out there day and night, live and breathe fishing. They are the top anglers. There are a lot more fishermen of the latter breed out there this fall. And it isn’t just about a love for fishing.