Edgartown selectmen set dates for the 2015-2016 bay scallop season. Recreational scalloping begins Thursday, Oct. 1 in all Edgartown waters, but dragging for scallops is prohibited in Cape Pogue until Oct. 30. The commercial season kicks off Nov. 2 in all waters.

The weekend weather demonstrated a tried and true maxim for competitors in the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby: east is least, west is best. Plenty of fish were weighed in Saturday, but there was a drop off Sunday and Monday.

Early Sunday morning, Hannah Gibb was the first to arrive at the Oak Bluffs ferry gate, ready to cast off the Steamship Authority wharf as part of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby’s annual kids’ day, which kicked off at 6 a.m.

This years kids’ derby is Sunday, Sept. 20, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Just a short window of time, before the ferries roll in and take over.

At the stroke of 12:01 a.m. Sunday, no one turned into a pumpkin, but a whole lot of people turned into obsessive, superstitious and sometimes secretive competitors in the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.

By many accounts, the 70th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby is shaping up for a strong start on Sunday morning. Committee member Amy Coffey said Wednesday that all four derby species — false albacore, bonito, bluefish and striped bass — are biting.