The Martha's Vineyard Derby: A Visitor's Guide to the 81st Striped Bass & Bluefish Derby (2026)

From the middle of September to the middle of October, Martha's Vineyard trades one obsession for another. The beach crowds are gone, the water is still warm, and around three thousand people — carpenters, teachers, retirees, kids up long past bedtime — spend five weeks fishing around the clock in the Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass & Bluefish Derby, one of the oldest and largest surfcasting tournaments in the United States. The 81st Derby runs from September 13 through October 17, 2026, and here is the part most visitors never hear: you don't need to fish, or know the first thing about fishing, to enjoy it. The best free show of the island's fall happens on a dock in Edgartown, twice a day, every day, for five straight weeks.

This guide is written for the visitor, not the angler. If you want tackle advice, tides and charter listings, that lives in our Martha's Vineyard fishing guide. Here we'll cover what the Derby actually is, where to stand and watch, what it costs to jump in casually, and why the whole island cares so much.

A Tournament That Doubles as a Festival

The Derby started in 1946, dreamed up by a public relations man named Nathaniel Sperber together with the Martha's Vineyard Rod and Gun Club and a group of island businessmen who wanted a reason for tourists to stay past Labor Day. More than 1,200 anglers entered that first year, and the winning striped bass weighed exactly 47 pounds. Eighty years later the event has grown into a five-week community festival with its own headquarters, its own store, a scholarship fund, and a following that borders on religious. Recent editions have drawn over 3,100 registered anglers.

For thirty-five consecutive days and nights, people fish beaches, jetties, bridges and boats all over the island, then bring their catch to be weighed in front of whoever happens to be standing around. Restaurants talk about it. The radio talks about it. Kids skip breakfast to make the morning weigh-in. If you're on the island anytime between September 13 and October 17, you're at the Derby whether you planned to be or not — it's woven into September and October here the way the Fair is woven into August.

About the Name: Nobody Weighs a Striped Bass

The most common misunderstanding about the Derby is right there in the title. Striped bass has not been an eligible, weighed species since 2020, when the committee removed it out of concern for the stock and to align with tightening coastal regulations. It wasn't the first time — bass came off the board from 1985 to 1992 during an earlier collapse — and nobody on the committee has suggested it's coming back soon.

The three species that count in 2026 are bluefish (minimum 22 inches), Atlantic bonito (minimum 21 inches) and false albacore (minimum 25 inches, and each angler may weigh in no more than four of them across the whole Derby). Striped bass do still have a place: the Derby runs a separate catch-and-release program, named for the late Roberto Germani, where anglers measure, log and release their fish — stripers included — and winners take home plaques by length rather than prizes. So if you see someone carefully photographing a big bass against a measuring tape at dawn and then sliding it back into the wash, that's not a rule-breaker. That's the other Derby.

One more wrinkle that's new since 2025: Massachusetts now has its first-ever state limits on bonito and false albacore — a 16-inch minimum and a combined five fish per person per day. The Derby's own minimums are stricter, so as a spectator you'll never notice, but if you enter and plan to keep fish, the state rule applies to you too.

The Weigh-In on Dock Street

Derby headquarters sits at the end of Dock Street on Edgartown Harbor, in the little shingled building by the Chappy Ferry slip, and the scales run twice a day for the entire Derby: 8 to 10 in the morning and 7 to 9 in the evening. Anglers back their trucks up, haul out coolers, and one by one their fish "cross the scales" while an official reads the weight out loud. Leaders go up on the board. Everyone within earshot has an opinion.

Watching is free, nobody checks whether you belong there, and the evening session is the one with the atmosphere — headlamps, coffee, fish tales, and the occasional gasp when something heavy hits the scale. Martha's Vineyard Magazine describes the scene as tourists, locals and "envious fishless fishermen" gathered around to see what the island produced that day, and that's exactly what it feels like. Bring the kids; fifteen minutes is enough to get the idea, though people tend to stay longer than they meant to.

A practical note: the little lot on the stone wharf next to the Chappy Ferry fills fast, and Edgartown street parking is free but time-limited. During Derby evenings the painless move is the Edgartown Park & Ride with the free shuttle downtown, or just walking in — our parking guide has the details. The Derby also sells its caps and shirts at headquarters (islanders spot the year's design a hundred yards away); if you want one, your best bet is during the weigh-in windows, and there's an online store at mvderby.com as well.

The 2026 Dates

Weigh-ins run 8–10 a.m. and 7–9 p.m. every single day in between. For everything else happening on the island those weeks, see the events calendar.

If You Want to Fish It

Plenty of visitors enter on a whim, and the Derby is built to allow it. One flat registration covers all five weeks, whether you fish thirty-five nights or one evening off State Beach. For 2026 the fees are $70 for adults, $45 for seniors 65 and up, and $25 for juniors (ages 9–14) and mini-juniors (4–8), with a fly-rod division at the same prices and team entry at $10 a head. Fees are non-refundable once the Derby starts.

You can pay online at mvderby.com, but paying is not the same as being registered: you have to pick up your badge and rules brochure in person at a registration point, and a fish caught before you've done that doesn't count. The registration points are Derby headquarters itself plus a handful of island shops — Larry's Tackle Shop, Coop's Bait & Tackle and Kismet Outfitters in Edgartown, Dick's Bait & Tackle in Oak Bluffs, and Menemsha Texaco in Chilmark. The tackle shops will also rent or sell you a serviceable surf setup, fix a reel, and quietly point a beginner somewhere fish have been seen; Larry's has been doing exactly that since 1947.

Separate from the Derby, Massachusetts requires a recreational saltwater permit for anglers 16 and older. It's $10 (free at 60-plus, though you still need the permit itself), it's bought online through the state's MassFishHunt portal in a few minutes, and Derby registration does not include it. Under 16 fish free, no permit needed. If you'd rather skip the learning curve entirely, September and October are prime light-tackle weeks and the island's charter captains stay busy through the Derby — the fishing guide lists them.

Two rules worth knowing so the weigh-in makes sense: fish must be weighed within 14 hours of being caught and properly iced, and when a fish takes over a division lead, the weighmaster may cut it open. That last rule has a story behind it, which we'll get to.

Prizes, Grand Leaders, and a Key That Opens a Boat

The prize structure cascades. Daily winners in each species and division take modest cash ($40 down to $10) and pins. Weekly winners get prizes for the biggest fish of the week. At the top sit the six Grand Leaders — the heaviest bluefish, bonito and false albacore from shore and from boat — who each receive $500, a plaque and a limited-edition Michael Blanchard photographic print. There's a Triple Crown for the heaviest combined weight across all three species, and mystery prizes drawn at random all Derby long, which means a nine-year-old with one modest bluefish can walk away with something.

Then there's the finale. The six Grand Leaders qualify for a single grand prize: a 22-foot Eastern Boats Sisu Hardtop with outboard and trailer. At the awards ceremony each of the six draws a key and, in turn, tries it in a lock in front of the whole crowd. One key opens it. Skill gets you to the stage; pure luck hands you the boat. In 2024 it went to Carmelo Torres, a first-time entrant who caught his leading bonito from shore in the middle of a nor'easter. In 2025 it went to Sam Bell with an 18.66-pound false albacore — his second Derby win, having taken home a truck back in 2013, in the years when the Derby still alternated trucks and boats. Today the boat is the only grand prize.

The awards ceremony on Sunday, October 18 at Farm Neck Golf Club in Oak Bluffs is free and open to anyone — juniors at 11 a.m., adults at 1 p.m. If you're still on the island that weekend, the key drawing is genuine theater and a fitting last act for a fall trip.

Where to Watch from Shore

Part of the Derby's charm is that it happens in plain sight. During those five weeks you'll see rods bent against the horizon at spots you were already planning to visit. The Menemsha jetties in Chilmark are the classic picture — surfcasters lined shoulder to shoulder with the fishing fleet coming and going behind them, and the island's best sunset thrown in. Joseph Sylvia State Beach between Oak Bluffs and Edgartown is the easiest stop: anglers work the channels by the American Legion Memorial Bridge (the "Jaws Bridge"), there's free roadside parking, and the VTA's Route 13 runs right past. Memorial Wharf in Edgartown puts you a few steps from Derby headquarters, though fishing access on the wharf itself has come and gone with construction projects in recent years, so take it as a viewing spot first. The Oak Bluffs jetties and East Chop see steady action, and Lobsterville Beach in Aquinnah is hallowed ground for fly fishers.

One access note for 2026: a breach opened at Norton Point on New Year's Day, once again cutting the over-sand vehicle route between South Beach and Wasque on Chappaquiddick — and the last breach took eight years to heal. Wasque remains a famous Derby shoreline, but this year you get there only via the On Time ferry from Edgartown. Our Chappaquiddick day trip guide covers how that works.

Wherever you watch, a little etiquette goes a long way. Give casting anglers room and never walk between a rod and the water; a line you can't see is still a line. Keep kids and dogs clear of rod tips and hooks laid on the sand. And don't ask an islander where they caught it. They will lie to you cheerfully, and it's considered part of the sport.

Stories They Still Tell at the Scale

Eighty years produce good stories. The one every islander knows is the squid scandal: a local fisherman brought a 55.5-pound striped bass to the scale and briefly took the boat-division lead — until the weighmaster, exercising that cut-open rule, found the fish stuffed with frozen squid to add weight. The angler and an accomplice were thrown out. The bitter footnote, retold with a shake of the head ever since: the bass was big enough to have won without the stuffing.

The record book has its own landmark. Don MacGillivray's 19.39-pound false albacore, caught in the 1990 Derby, still stands as the Massachusetts state record for the species more than three decades later. And the fact that a Derby fish holds a state record tells you something about these waters in the fall — the bait stacks up around the island in September and October, and everything that eats comes with it.

The Fillet Table and the Scholarships

Two quieter traditions are easy to miss from the crowd. First, anglers can donate any part of their catch at the weigh-in, where volunteers fillet it and send it out free to island seniors through the towns' Councils on Aging and, since 2020, Island Grown Initiative's food network. In 2021, the last season with a published total, more than 13,000 pounds of fish crossed the scales into that program. Second, the entry fees and sponsorships fund college scholarships for the island's graduating seniors — over $1.1 million awarded since 1988, including $115,000 to eleven graduates in 2025 alone. Your $70 casual entry is, among other things, a donation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have to fish to enjoy the Derby?

No. The twice-daily weigh-ins at Derby headquarters on Dock Street in Edgartown (8–10 a.m. and 7–9 p.m., September 13 through October 17, 2026) are free and open to everyone, and the evening session is one of the island's best fall spectacles. The awards ceremony on October 18 at Farm Neck Golf Club is public too.

Can you catch striped bass in the Derby?

Striped bass hasn't been a weighed species since 2020. The 2026 Derby weighs bluefish, bonito and false albacore only. Stripers are part of a separate catch-and-release program where fish are measured, logged and released for plaques rather than prizes.

How much does it cost to enter the 2026 Derby?

$70 for adults, $45 for seniors 65+, $25 for juniors (9–14) and mini-juniors (4–8). One fee covers all five weeks. You must pick up your badge in person at a registration point before you fish, and you'll also need the separate $10 Massachusetts saltwater permit if you're 16 or older.

Where are the Derby weigh-ins?

At Derby headquarters on Dock Street, Edgartown, by the Chappy Ferry slip, every day of the Derby from 8 to 10 a.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Parking nearby is tight in the evenings — the Edgartown Park & Ride shuttle or a walk in from town works better.

What can you win?

Daily and weekly prizes per species and division, $500 plus a plaque and an art print for each of the six Grand Leaders, and one grand prize: a 22-foot Eastern Boats Sisu Hardtop with outboard and trailer, awarded among the six leaders by a key-and-lock drawing at the awards ceremony.

Do visitors need a fishing license for the Derby?

Yes — anyone 16 or older needs the Massachusetts recreational saltwater permit ($10, free for 60+, purchased online via MassFishHunt). Derby registration does not include it; they're two separate things.

Where can I watch Derby fishing without entering?

The Menemsha jetties at sunset, State Beach and the Jaws Bridge between Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, the Oak Bluffs jetties and East Chop, Lobsterville Beach in Aquinnah, and Memorial Wharf in Edgartown right by Derby headquarters. Give anglers casting room and keep clear of their lines.