Commissioner Griffin, a Derby Winner and Director Diodati at the 2008 Awards Ceremony

Each year January 1 through November 30 the MarineFisheries conducts the Massachusetts Saltwater Fishing Derby. This is a free derby, meaning no entry fees. Fish entered must be caught by hook and line and measured and weighed at a MarineFisheries-certified official weigh station. All entries will receive a derby pin and at the end of the derby year, trophies will be awarded to anglers who landed the heaviest fish in each species category. Winners are chosen in three divisions - men, women, and juniors (age 15 and younger). There is also a "Skillful Skipper" award, which is presented to the captain who has three derby winning fish caught on their boat. Last year 48 anglers were awarded engraved trophies. The awards ceremony takes place in early February at the Eastern Fishing and Outdoor Expo in Worcester, MA.

One state record was caught in 2008: King Mackerel.

There were two Skillful Skipper winners in 2008: Capt. Dave Niemi of the Capt. John & Son and Capt. James Walsh of the American Classic.

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Massachusetts Saltwater Weigh-In Derby 2009 Leaders as of 10/28/09
Species	Division	Name	Heaviest Fish	Weigh Station
Albacore
Bigeye Tuna
Black Sea Bass	Men	Bob Motta	7 lbs 5 oz	Red Top Sporting Goods
	Women	Norma Stecich	6 lbs 14 oz	Forestdale Bait & Tackle
	Junior	Lucas LaBranche	5 lbs 7 oz	Blackbeard's Bait & Tackle
Bluefish	Men	Jeff Capute	18 lbs 11 oz	Sports Port
	Women	Elizabeth Creedon	13 lbs 12 oz	Riverview Bait & Tackle
	Junior	Forest Kiedeisch	12 lbs 6 oz	Canal Bait & Tackle
Bluefin Tuna
Blue Shark
Bonito	Men	Stephen Israelian	8 lbs 14 oz	Riverview Bait & Tackle
	Women	Tanya Taber	5 lbs 13 oz	Fairhaven Bait & Tackle
	Junior	Wyatt Jenkinson	9 lbs 11 oz	MV Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby
Cod	Men	Bill Beier	71 lbs 11 oz	Bridge Road Bait & Tackle
Cusk	Men	Robert Kukstis	32 lbs 8 oz	Fore River Fishing Tackle
Dolphin	Men	Ty Warren	61 lbs 3 oz	Eastman's Sport & Tackle
	Junior	Hunter Major	17 lbs 12 oz	Fairhaven Bait & Tackle
False Albacore	Men	Keith McArt	16 lbs 9 oz	MV Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby
	Junior	Jimmy Velissaris	11 lbs 8 oz	Red Top Sporting Goods
Fluke	Men	Sean Keegan	13 lbs 6 oz	Eastman's Sport & Tackle
	Junior	Samantha Silvia	8 lbs	Sportsmans' Outfitter
Haddock	Men	Thomas Kolar	15 lbs 8 oz	Cherry's Bait Shop
	Women	Karen TenEyck	16 lbs 2 oz	Cherry's Bait Shop
	Junior	Sophia Gatzounas	8 lbs	Yankee Fleet
Halibut
King Mackerel
Mackerel
Mako Shark	Men	Taylor Sears	624 lbs	Belsan Bait & Tackle
Pollock
Porbeagle Shark	Men	Matthew Grimes	482 lbs 8 oz	Nantucket Angler's Club
Scup	Men	Roy Brum	4 lbs	Uncle Ken's Bait & Tackle
	Women	Chris Uliano	2 lbs 9 oz	Red Top Sporting Goods
	Junior	Ben Phillips	2 lbs 11 oz	Fairhaven Bait & Tackle
Spanish Mackerel	Men	Bill Potter	5 lbs 8 oz	Dick's Bait & Tackle
	Junior	John Malloy III	4 lbs 2 oz	Falmouth Bait & Tackle
Striped Bass	Men	Zachary Tilton	61 lbs 14 oz	Dick's Bait & Tackle
	Women	Helena Kirschenbaum	42 lbs 6 oz	Dick's Bait & Tackle
	Junior	Chris Coache	53 lbs 9 oz	Fairhaven Bait & Tackle
Swordfish
Tautog	Men	John Pereira Jr.	11 lbs 6 oz	Westport Marine
	Women	Susan Belekewicz	8 lbs 2 oz	Eastman's Sport & Tackle
	Junior	Peter Amaral	8 lbs 14 oz	Main Bait & Tackle
Thresher Shark	Men	Paul Houle	220 lbs	Powderhorn Outfitter
Wahoo	Men	David Berger	81 lbs	Eastman's Sport & Tackle
	Junior	Tony Canha	43 lbs 11 oz	Dick's Bait & Tackle
Weakfish	Men	Jeff Chace	13 lbs 4 oz	Sportsman's Outfitter
Winter Flounder	Men	Reynaldo De Dios	7 lbs	Cherry's Bait Shop
	Women	Cathy Evans	5 lbs 11 oz	The Sportsman's Den
Wolffish	Men	David Sullivan	24 lbs	Yankee Fleet
	Junior	Jacob Ward	39 lbs 14 oz	Cherry's Bait Shop
Yellowfin Tuna

= New State Record in 2009

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Massachusetts Saltwater Game Fish Records as of 9/29/09
Species	Weight	Location	Date	Angler
Albacore	65 lbs	Canyon	8/23/03	Tommy Good
Bigeye Tuna	189 lbs	Hydrographer Canyon	Sept 2007	Bill Manthorne
Black Sea Bass	8 lbs 15 oz	Buzzards Bay	May 2007	Aaron Costa
Bluefish	27lbs 4 oz	Graves Light	9/11/82	Louis Gordon
Bluefin Tuna	1,228 lbs	Cape Cod Bay	9/23/84	Marlene Goldstein
Blue Marlin	701 lbs	Fishtails	7/26/92	Walter Morrison
Blue Shark	454 lbs	Inside Fingers	7/19/96	Peter Bergin
Bonito	13 lbs 8 oz	NB Dike	9/23/02	Eddie Gomez
Cod	92 lbs	Jeffreys Ledge	7/5/87	Robert Radzik
Coho Salmon	18 lbs 8 oz	North River	1/21/86	James Lewis
Cusk	34 lbs 4 oz	Stellwagon Bank	7/15/90	Gabe Silvestrone
Dolphin	61 lbs 3 oz	Veatch Canyon	8/8/09	Ty Warren
False Albacore	19 lbs 5 oz	Edgartown	9/27/1990	Donald MacGillivray
Fluke	21 lbs 8 oz	Nomans Isl.	9/25/80	Joseph Czapiga
Haddock	20 lbs	Stellwagon Bank	1972	Don Rehnstrom
	20 lbs	Boston Lightship	8/3/74	Joseph Gelsomini
Halibut	321 lbs	Mass. Bay	7/21/65	Norman Cournoyer
King Mackerel	8 lbs 6 oz	Lucas Shoals	2008	Tim Broderick
Mackerel	3 lbs 8 oz	Hampton Shoal	10/9/94	Steve Ostrander
Mako Shark	1,324 lbs	Mass Bay	7/27/99	Kevin Scola
Pollock	48 lbs 2 oz	Cashes Ledge	9/14/92	Sal Mocerino
Porbeagle Shark	482 lbs 8 oz	Nantucket	9/5/09	Matthew Grimes
Scup	5 lbs 14 oz	Noman's Isl.	10/17/83	Robert Pimental
Spanish Mackerel	7 lbs 13 oz		9/24/06	Rocco DeTeso
Striped Bass	73 lbs	Quick's Hole	1913	Charles Church
	73 lbs	Sow & Pigs	1967	Charles Cinto
	73 lbs	Nauset Beach	11/3/81	Anton Stetzko
Swordfish	646 lbs	Noman's Isl.	1972	Albert Little
Tautog	22 lbs 9 oz	Gay Head	6/29/78	Michael Horsely
Thresher Shark	548 lbs	Star	7/17/04	R. Keith Allison Jr.
Wahoo	131 lbs 5 oz		9/23/06	Kenneth Abbott
Weakfish	18 lbs 12 oz	Buzzards Bay	8/19/84	George Mahoney
White Marlin	131 lbs	Nantucket	7/30/82	Ted Nfatzger
Winter Flounder	8 lbs 2 oz	Georges Bank	7/12/96	Tom Hillebrand
Wolffish	55 lbs 8 oz	Cape Cod Bay	6/19/00	Andrew Glovsky
Yellowfin Tuna	187 lbs	Nantucket	8/5/90	Mark Boujoukos

= New State Record in 2009

For more information about this fishing derby, please contact John Boardman