The Friday night full moon is called the Pumpkin Moon and it is in the zodiacal constellation Pisces.

The eclipse will occur on the evening of Friday, Oct.

The strong persistent northeast wind this past week has made fishing especially tough the last few days. Seas are high and waters rough from East Beach on Chappaquiddick to Dogfish Bar in Aquinnah. The forecast for the weekend isn’t much better. To catch fish, an angler has to be more strategic about where he or she goes.

Skies overhead are full of bright stars, and from time to time the moon and planets are visible, too.

It is incredibly dry. How dry? Last month was the driest September on the Vineyard in 67 years of record keeping.

Foliage is turning brown. Lawns are amber and leaves and grass crunch underfoot. Fire has become a concern.

Yesterday, while responding to a mid-day small brush fire in the woods near Sweetened Water Farm in Edgartown, fire chief Peter Shemeth called for mutual aid from West Tisbury.

“It is awfully dry and there is nothing you can do about it,” confirmed West Tisbury fire chief Manuel Estrella.

The top striped bass keep getting bigger and with two weeks to go in the 68th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby so does the field. More than 2,600 fishermen are registered in the contest and more and more keep showing up.

“I’d be really pleased if we got over 3,000,” said derby chairman John Custer.

The contest ends on Saturday, Oct. 19.

Overall nearly 12,000 pounds of fish have been weighed in as of Thursday morning. Striped bass total 5,300.26 pounds and bluefish total 4,288.88 pounds.