09/25/2026
Now in its 81st year, the Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass & Bluefish Derby, Inc. has once again taken over the shoreline, harbors, and early-morning conversations of the Vineyard. Anglers are back on the water and weighing in at Derby Headquarters in Edgartown, carrying on a tradition that has brought generations of Islanders and visitors together since 1946.
And this year is already one for the books: a 19.91-pound false albacore weighed in by Sherry Countryman set both a new Derby record and Massachusetts state record.
But as anyone who has spent a fall on the Vineyard knows, the Derby has always been about more than the leaderboard. It is early mornings, familiar faces at the weigh-in station, stories traded on the dock, and an Island community gathering around one of its most enduring traditions.
Photo Credit: Larry Glick