A Shelter Island summer staple — Snapper Derby 2022 has great fish stories for all

At last year’s annual Snapper Derby, the kids with snapper poles showed up, but the fish didn’t.

All was forgotten last Saturday as fish and fishers of all sizes gathered on the lawn in front of the Shelter Island School to celebrate the Island’s oldest occupation, see who caught the biggest fish, and help the Lions Club (and 42 generous sponsors) raise money for the Lions Club Foundation.

The first thing to know about the Snapper Derby, a day-long fishing competition is this: a snapper is a baby bluefish. For decades, Shelter Island children have taken their fishing poles to the water on derby-day and tried to catch a big one.

The competition rewards not just the youngster who catches the biggest snapper (defined as under a pound) but also the one who catches the biggest bluefish.

Around 10 a.m. Saturday morning, a family of fishermen dangled their lines into a patch of rippling water on the creek side of First Bridge. The party of three, Eamon Kenny, his brother Tom and their dad, Ted, had only been on the spot about 20 minutes, but already the junior anglers had landed some fish — a couple of snappers and tiny sea robins.

In spite of the burst of activity, their bucket was empty due to a landing accident.

“The second snapper came off,” Ted Kenny reported with a knowing look. “It was on the sidewalk, and then it was back into the water.”

“We do it every year, but last year we got skunked,” he added. “There wasn’t a lot of snappers last year.  See those flashes of silver?” — he pointed to a roiling spot of water — “That’s snappers under the peanut bunker.”

Over at Second Bridge, the afternoon anglers were out, on the shore and in a boat. Twin brothers Michael and Dennis Millott fished just offshore, accompanied by their father Michael, and grandfather Dennis Korchinski.

As of 3 p.m., they had not caught a thing. “My brother caught a 9-ounce snapper one time,” said Michael, who was clearly the spokesmen for the pair. That fish was caught at the Heights Beach Club, their grandfather helpfully added.

After a beautiful day of fishing, the weigh-in commenced promptly at 5 p.m., and a steady stream of fish-bearing children made their way onto the lawn in front of the school with Ziploc bags and coolers containing their entries.

One child had a large insulated bag with handles, suitable for transporting a swordfish. Some children simply carried the fish in their hands.

Colton Clark arrived at the weigh-in with a nice-sized snapper. School Nurse Mary Kanarvogel was on hand to weigh each contestant’s fish. As she admired it, Colton said he’d like to dedicate the snapper to his fellow fishermen Chase and Colby who got skunked this year.

Eliza McCarthy stepped up to the weigh-in with her parents Bryan and Tracy at her side, and hesitated a moment when Ms. Kanarvogel asked her to take her snapper out and put it on the scale. Eliza was not the only snapper fisher to be grossed out by having to touch a fish.

One fisher refused to touch her entry, so her mother stepped up to do the dirty work, as mothers so often do. “Do we have to touch it?” she wondered, “I would like a paper towel. Poor little fellow.”

Finally, at 6 p.m. sharp, the awards were announced. The winner of the Logo Contest — the winner may go on to be next year’s T-shirt design — was Elijah Freund.

Brother/sister fishers Eleanor and Oscar Hassett won for the most fish caught and released, seven each. “Finally, I’ve won something!” Oscar was heard to exclaim.

A special award for the liveliest fish went to Teddy Carroll, who was not present to collect his trophy because he had to leave the weigh-in to put the lively fellow back in the water before it hurt somebody.

Volunteers with boning knives and fry pans were busy under the tent filleting and cooking the contestants less fortunate than the liveliest fish. Peyton Erantuk was planning to take his snapper appetizers home to his cousins.

Jackson Clark brought in the biggest bluefish, and also won the unofficial cutest fisherman contest. At 8.48 pounds, the fish dwarfed the scale and the boy.

Finally, Isabel Thilberg caught an elegant fish that weighed just two-tenths of an ounce shy of a pound, making her the snapper champion of 2022.