A landmark catch during The Derby highlights what the 79-year old tournament is really all about.
Alone on the beach, in the darkness, Rich Mann waited. Since his buddies all landed bluefish earlier that evening, they had headed into Edgartown to the weigh-in at Derby HQ. It was September 15th, 2024, the first night of the 79th Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass & Bluefish Derby.
Even for an experienced angler, bait fishing alone, especially out on the wild surfside beaches of the Vineyard, can be daunting. Rich could handle a bluefish, but tangling with a brown shark solo is rarely a good idea. And so, he waited.
A self-described New England boy from Halifax, Massachusetts, Rich has been obsessively fishing the fall Derby since 2017, when Rick Hern and Jim Wareing invited him out. He fell hard and fast for the format and the island and was hooked. The camaraderie and the people he met almost felt like discovering a group of brothers he never knew he had. And he fit right in, loving nothing more than being out on the Vineyard’s most-remote beaches, often sleeping in “Pawpatrol”, his trusty red diesel suburban.
That’s No Bluefish!
Rich was relieved when he saw headlights down the beach, headed his way. He recognized his buddy Jared Stobie’s truck and before Jared even killed the engine, Rich had cast a piece of fresh bunker out into a moonlit ocean. As soon as the eight-ounce sinker touched bottom he felt something brush the line and then a solid thump. He set the hook and was “on”, and immediately knew it was no bluefish. Clearly, a brown shark had found the bait. Jared joked about the wisdom of waiting for their return, as 50-pound braid dumped off Rich’s Van Staal 250.
The first jump did not surprise him. Brown sharks often go airborne early in the fight. In the bright moonlight he saw a splash “as high as a man” but no more. But something felt off – different. Rich had landed plenty of sharks out on “Chappy” and they almost always parallel the beach. But this fish didn’t. Four times Rich worked the fish back to the beach and four times the fish ran 80 plus yards, each time straight out. Whatever this was, it was big, and very strong.
The second sign that something was odd is that the fish jumped two or three more times. They could hear it “crashing around out there” and Ryan Quirk, Jared, and brothers, Tony and Buddy D’Agostino were soon gathered around, offering encouragement.
They still thought it was probably a brown shark, but this fish did not fit any profile. Striped bass do not jump like this and a rough-tailed stingray would have bogged down on the bottom by now. Way too heavy for a bluefish. Something special was happening.
In The Wash
When the fish finally tired and slid into the wash, Rich glimpsed the familiar black tail of a brown shark in the glow of their headlamps. Tony and Buddy waded in to grab it, as he kept pressure on the head – standard procedure for these toothy predators. But in the water, the tail felt different – “smooth, not sandpapery” – and then someone started yelling, “Tarpon! Tarpon! Tarpon!”
Higher up on the beach, Rich was convinced it was going break off. While no one there had ever caught a tarpon, they had seen enough TV shows to know what to do. One of them lipped it and suddenly the fish was up on the beach!
The group was immediately aware of the magnitude of the situation (as far as they knew, no one had ever landed a tarpon on the Vineyard), but they were also equally aware that they needed to release this fish, and fast. Jared snapped some photographic proof and they taped it out at over 6 feet long, working together like a pit crew. Back in the water, the tarpon nosed down after a bit and “kicked off strong”, as they say. Stunned and incredulous, the five friends celebrated and decided to call it a night, heading off the beach together for a late dinner.
The Tarpon King
Since landing the tarpon, Rich has become a bit of a celebrity. Both Island newspapers covered the story, as did a few local fishing magazines, Saltwater Sportsman shared it on Facebook to their 228,000 followers and the Derby’s post has been seen by another 140,000. Someone on the ferry called him the Tarpon King of Martha’s Vineyard!
Some comments questioned the wisdom of removing the fish from the water, citing regs from places where tarpon are more common. When I asked Rich about the negative chatter, he said he felt very good about the release. He even found himself looking out at the rip the next day, thinking he might see rolling tarpon.
The Man Himself
Speaking with Rich for this story, I heard an account of a rare catch – a 6-foot “silver king”, a warm-water tarpon, inexplicably landed on the Vineyard, during the Derby. But the real story he told, the energy I heard in his voice, had nothing to do with the fish. It was how much he values the camaraderie, the friendships, the event itself, and the gratitude towards the buddies who helped him land it. He conveyed not a hint of self-congratulatory pride; it was all about others – the “family” he has built fishing the Vineyard Derby – an event he clearly adores. In fact, he told me, “I will never miss another Derby; till the day I die”.
Based on all the time he puts in, I wrongly assumed he was single. Rich is married, with two little kids. This year, his wife – along with their young son and daughter – joined him on-Island, to fish the Derby. When I suggested he might consider procuring a warm, dry hotel room this year, he laughed and told me he might just buy another suburban so they can all sleep out on the beach!
Landing a tarpon on the Vineyard is indeed a rare feat, but the bigger accomplishment is recognizing the remarkable event as a chance to savor the teamwork it took, the friends he’s made, and the feeling of seeing Jared’s headlights coming back toward him that night on the beach.
Ed Jerome, the beloved former President of the Derby, used to say that what makes the Derby so special is that it’s not really about the fish, it’s about the people. After all, for most of us, this is why we fish. Thanks to Rich Mann and a wayward tarpon, we are reminded of this once again.