When I arrived at the beach on November 3, 1979 this message was scratched into the dirt of the parking lot: LUCIANO WAS HERE, 22, 28, 36.

That was Luciano Rebay’s way of telling us that he had beached three large stripers on his annual Election Day pilgrimage to the Vineyard from Columbia University, where he was a brilliant and popular professor of Italian literature. On the Vineyard he was renowned by those who knew him as a skilled and dedicated surf fisherman of unbounded energy and enthusiasm.

November fishing was outstanding in the days that followed, culminating in an all-out blitz of big bass up to sixty pounds at Long Beach for Tom Taylor and Bernie Arruda on Thanksgiving weekend.

My fishing log reveals that the Vineyard’s late October and November surf have often produced outstanding striper catches. A few examples among many: October 30, 1975 – Francis Bernard, sixty-three pounds at Quansoo; October 29, 1977 – John Mayhew, fifty-three pounds at Long Beach; November 16, 1978 – Charlie Finnerty, fifty-four pounds at Squibnocket Mussel Bed; November 12, 1984 – Roberto Germani, forty pounds on a fly at Dogfish Bar.

The fall run consistently produced marvelous striped bass fishing in years past, and when I worked at Salt Water Sportsman magazine in the sixties and early seventies, I often took my vacation to fish the Vineyard after the derby had ended because that was when it was best.

That’s past tense. For reasons known only to the fish, we haven’t had a good fall run in many years. But history has a habit of repeating itself, and hope springs eternal. Stay tuned.