A few weeks ago I was invited to go to historic Martha's Vineyard to fish the last week of the Derby. After about 15 minutes of deliberating, I was in. I cleared 3 days off the schedule, busted my hump to get an order filled and set out to the island of the mad Russian, Serge de Somov.
After a rain filled drive to Woods Hole, I boarded the ferry and tried to catch a few minutes of sleep. Anticipation must have been getting the best of me, because there was no sleep to be found behind my eyes. I got off the ferry, and headed over to Larry's Tackle Shop to get my derby entry and a few eels. Then off to the house to meet Rick and Jim. I have met Rick before (he is my official unofficial pro staff of one) as he has been very helpful testing plugs for me. Luckily these New Englanders graciously opened the door to this Jersey boy. We quickly started to put together a game plan and while I rigged an eel, they sorted through some plugs I brought for the house.
Shortly after dark, we shoved some food in our mouths, grabbed our wetsuits and waders, and headed out. We arrived at our location of rocks and started the walk. Rick requested I bring a larger 2 1/2 oz. darter that I have been holding in my back pocket, and of course he picked the color I liked best. After the first cast on the bar, I might have regretted giving it to him as he landed the first fish of the night. We were hoping that it would be a good start to the night. I had a light tap and then it was over, so we walked onto the the next point. The fishing that week, and for the whole derby was very slow, as the daily derby results confirm. We fished the rest of the night and didn't land another fish. We wanted to catch the dawn albie bite, so headed back for a couple hours of sleep.
