I’ve got to be honest, since this is a fishing column after all, that when I say I headed out to Chappy on Saturday, it wasn’t solely, or even mostly, to go fishing. My friends Julie and Sal Tummino had arrived on Chappy a few days earlier, and I’d been out of town on a work trip and hadn’t seen them yet.
Julie and Sal are both great fishermen, though Julie often outfishes Sal (Sorry, Sal). I’d been scouring Facebook for their fish photos while I was in D.C., only to be reminded that the fish were scarce and the sharks were plentiful. Since it was the Fourth of July weekend, and we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of “Jaws,” why wouldn’t “Bruce” and his shark friends be here in abundance?
Somehow Sal and Julie both managed to catch a couple of bluefish early in the week. Julie moved into first place for the M.V. Surfcasters In-House Derby July standings with her 9.44-pound blue. Julie also landed her first shark of 2025 on Friday.
Saturday dawned sunny and warm, but not hot, with a light breeze. Perfect beach weather for hanging with friends. Kathy Eckert arrived at my house around 9 am, and we loaded up the truck — fishing and shark rods — and headed to Edgartown. First stop was Coop’s Bait and Tackle to register for the Fluke for Luke Tournament. Are you registered? Stop by Coop’s, Larry’s, or Dick’s Tackle shops to pick up your pin. Tournament is this weekend.
After chatting with Coop and Tina Gilkes for a bit, we drove to the Chappy ferry line, joyfully surprised to be the fourth car in line. We took the inside trail down to Wasque, stopping to fish near the Rip.
Kathy and I both cast a few favorite lures. Kathy had purchased a new pink Deadly Dick at Coop’s, because pink is always good, and a pink Deadly Dick is never a bad choice for blues. While there had been bonito swimming around Chappy in mid- to late June, we didn’t see a bone or a blue on our lures, or anyone else’s. We put the rods back in the truck, and went in search of Julie and Sal.
We found them relaxing by the Crossover. Zach Magid, who often fishes from a boat since he won the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby in 2021, was there too. I would have loved some of Zach’s famous fresh bluefish tacos, but the main ingredient was MIA.
Zach and Sal each set a metal sand spike. Zach cut a mackerel and put the head on his shark hook. Within minutes of casting the line out, we saw the tip of Zach’s rod joggle a few times. Zach gently removed the rod from the spike, waiting for the shark to … “Jaws” theme music … chomp … and run.
The line peeled, and Zach held on. He landed a beautiful female brown shark, who was rather annoyed and very feisty. Sal came over to help Zach remove the hook, and the shark grabbed the pliers out of Sal’s hand. The guys got the pliers and the hook out of the shark’s mouth, I took a few pictures, and Zach released her back into the ocean. The crowd, who had gathered around Zach, cheered.
I was eager to catch my first shark of the season. I asked Zach to cast for me. A recent surgery has complicated my ability to cast anything over five or six ounces. The eight-ounce weight to hold bottom and the four ounces of mackerel were too much for me at the moment.
I stood by the rod, chatting, and waiting. You know the sound of the reel in “Jaws” when Quint is sitting in the chair? Click, click, click. It’s real — or should I say “reel”? With the first flicker of movement, I picked up the rod and held on.
Bam!
Jaws’ friend was on.
He ran, rather far down the beach if I don’t say so without complaining too much.
It took a hot minute — or 10 — to get the shark on the beach. The Fourth of July crowd cheered once again while I held the line and Sal and Zach removed the hook. I pulled the shark back into the water and smiled as he swam away.
We didn’t see a single bluefish or bonito all weekend, but everyone enjoyed the shark fishing. On Sunday night, I spent a little more time with sharks. I went to see “The Shark Is Broken” at the PAC. We loved it. If you haven’t seen it, there’s still a few days left (https://circuitarts.org/jaws2025)
I hope to see you on the beach, or this weekend on a boat, catching fluke and sea bass.