Freeport Hudson Anglers
27th Annual Shark Tournament
(516)766-7459
June 19, 1999
(Lots of great photos downloading, please be patient.)
The Freeport Hudson Anglers of Long Island held their 27th Annual Shark Tournament, the largest shark tournament in the world, on Saturday, June 19th. The tournament was a tremendous success with just about every boat that entered hooking up. The predominant fish was mako. Mother Nature blessed them with great weather and sea condtions for sharking. Approximately 350 sharks were tagged with 90 being brought to the scale. Approximately 2000 anglers participated in 320 boats ranging from 21' to 70' plus battle wagon.
Yours truly (and my family) went down to the previous night's barbecue and Captain's meeting. There was a good old time Long Island feeling that went through me that evening, with the hot summer night...hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill and ice cold beer flowing. The excitement was in the air, with everyone anticipating a great day to come.
At the Captain's meeting there were many presentations and proclamations...including one from the Mayor of Freeport, William Glacken presented to George Steininger, the Club president. Dave Wygoda the Tournament Director instructed everyone to the rules and regulations of the event and Bernie Shapiro was the Master of Ceremonies. A free raffle was held for products donated by some 235 companies.
Captains talked between themselves about their game plan...and the clock was ticking away.
Showtime was now only hours away. I was escorted over to the "Blondie" the incredible 37 foot Bertram that I would be on during the tournament. It was captained by Brian Fuchs, a fishermen who has been deep sea fishing all of his life. We talked about our plans for the next day and then I realized that it was 10 PM and I had to be back at the boat at 4 AM. So I headed home and didn't get home until midnight, tried to sleep, but was up at 2:40 AM and down to the car to race back out to Freeport...and was I psyched!
I was introduced to all of the guys on the "Blondie" and we headed out to the starting point. You had to see all those boats...it was incredible! Over 300 boats wired to go...then came the flare...I felt like I was at a drag race. We shot out like a rocket...twin diesel turbos help out just a little...and we were off! Of course there's always one brain dead person who has to cut right in front of you...like you have air brakes! But that was the only glitch that we had and off we went. Screaming across an ocean of glass. I'm talking smooth. The first day of west winds in weeks. What a pleasure, just that alone made the day.
I was trying to get some sleep on the way out, but that was a lost cause, when you're setting the water a boiling. Well, we finally got to our spot and set up shop. We had found a good temperature break, so we chummed and set out our balloons with some fresh bait bluefish and mackerel. Then we waited and waited and waited...we told stories and talked and then finally some sleep, oh sweet slumber...oh joy! The time was slipping away, so we made a move to another canyon and set up again. It was close to 3 PM, just enough time to get back, when a balloon starts walking away. Shark on! One of the young guys on the boat started pulling in the line and at the end was a nice blue, but not one big enough to keep so we let him go.
Then the other balloon went off...and this little doggie was just a wee bit shy of the regulation weight so we let that one go. Then there were two more under size and then suddenly the unexpected happened...a huge school of tuna came by. These were big mama luke submarines. My blood started boiling big time...new game plan...tuna, tuna, tuna!
Daisy chains were thrown out, pencils and simple, single, squid rigs were put on. We came around to the huge school of tuna and my heart jumped into my mouth. Wam Bam thank you very much we were on. Two small tuna came up and we released them, then we came around again and wam we were on again. This time a nice size tuna came up.
By the time I got back to Freeport the tournament was over and the winners had been announced. There was a phenominal come back of makos this year, witnessed by the number of makos caught and released during the tournament. They are as follows:
1st place: 404 lbs. Mako
Captain Mario Cirillo of the Outcast II
Angler: Nick Rineri
Grand Prize: $25,000 with prizes totalling $26,500
2nd place: 353 lbs. Mako
Captain Bob Romanow of JEM
Angler: Billey Berden
Prize: $8,100 with prizes totalling $19,550
3rd place: 346 lbs. Mako
Captain Glen Kapoosuzian of White Kap
Angler: Steve Spatenga
Prize: $4,335 with prizes totalling $9,655
4th place: 307 lbs. Mako
Captain Dennis D'Ambrosio of Alissa D
Angler: Nick Genovese
Prize: $2000 with prizes totalling $6,200
Over 5000 pounds of meat were donated to three food banks and spectators.
Mark your calendar for next years tournament which will be held on Saturday, June 17, 2000.
To send us your fishing reports, Click Here.
Return to Main Page or Dave's Special Reports.
At the Captain's meeting there were many presentations and proclamations...including one from the Mayor of Freeport, William Glacken presented to George Steininger, the Club president. Dave Wygoda the Tournament Director instructed everyone to the rules and regulations of the event and Bernie Shapiro was the Master of Ceremonies. A free raffle was held for products donated by some 235 companies.
Captains talked between themselves about their game plan...and the clock was ticking away.
Showtime was now only hours away. I was escorted over to the "Blondie" the incredible 37 foot Bertram that I would be on during the tournament. It was captained by Brian Fuchs, a fishermen who has been deep sea fishing all of his life. We talked about our plans for the next day and then I realized that it was 10 PM and I had to be back at the boat at 4 AM. So I headed home and didn't get home until midnight, tried to sleep, but was up at 2:40 AM and down to the car to race back out to Freeport...and was I psyched!
I was introduced to all of the guys on the "Blondie" and we headed out to the starting point. You had to see all those boats...it was incredible! Over 300 boats wired to go...then came the flare...I felt like I was at a drag race. We shot out like a rocket...twin diesel turbos help out just a little...and we were off! Of course there's always one brain dead person who has to cut right in front of you...like you have air brakes! But that was the only glitch that we had and off we went. Screaming across an ocean of glass. I'm talking smooth. The first day of west winds in weeks. What a pleasure, just that alone made the day.
I was trying to get some sleep on the way out, but that was a lost cause, when you're setting the water a boiling. Well, we finally got to our spot and set up shop. We had found a good temperature break, so we chummed and set out our balloons with some fresh bait bluefish and mackerel. Then we waited and waited and waited...we told stories and talked and then finally some sleep, oh sweet slumber...oh joy! The time was slipping away, so we made a move to another canyon and set up again. It was close to 3 PM, just enough time to get back, when a balloon starts walking away. Shark on! One of the young guys on the boat started pulling in the line and at the end was a nice blue, but not one big enough to keep so we let him go.
Then the other balloon went off...and this little doggie was just a wee bit shy of the regulation weight so we let that one go. Then there were two more under size and then suddenly the unexpected happened...a huge school of tuna came by. These were big mama luke submarines. My blood started boiling big time...new game plan...tuna, tuna, tuna!
Daisy chains were thrown out, pencils and simple, single, squid rigs were put on. We came around to the huge school of tuna and my heart jumped into my mouth. Wam Bam thank you very much we were on. Two small tuna came up and we released them, then we came around again and wam we were on again. This time a nice size tuna came up.
By the time I got back to Freeport the tournament was over and the winners had been announced. There was a phenominal come back of makos this year, witnessed by the number of makos caught and released during the tournament. They are as follows:
1st place: 404 lbs. Mako
Captain Mario Cirillo of the Outcast II
Angler: Nick Rineri
Grand Prize: $25,000 with prizes totalling $26,500
2nd place: 353 lbs. Mako
Captain Bob Romanow of JEM
Angler: Billey Berden
Prize: $8,100 with prizes totalling $19,550
3rd place: 346 lbs. Mako
Captain Glen Kapoosuzian of White Kap
Angler: Steve Spatenga
Prize: $4,335 with prizes totalling $9,655
4th place: 307 lbs. Mako
Captain Dennis D'Ambrosio of Alissa D
Angler: Nick Genovese
Prize: $2000 with prizes totalling $6,200
Over 5000 pounds of meat were donated to three food banks and spectators.
Mark your calendar for next years tournament which will be held on Saturday, June 17, 2000.
To send us your fishing reports, Click Here.
Return to Main Page or Dave's Special Reports.
I was introduced to all of the guys on the "Blondie" and we headed out to the starting point. You had to see all those boats...it was incredible! Over 300 boats wired to go...then came the flare...I felt like I was at a drag race. We shot out like a rocket...twin diesel turbos help out just a little...and we were off! Of course there's always one brain dead person who has to cut right in front of you...like you have air brakes! But that was the only glitch that we had and off we went. Screaming across an ocean of glass. I'm talking smooth. The first day of west winds in weeks. What a pleasure, just that alone made the day.
I was trying to get some sleep on the way out, but that was a lost cause, when you're setting the water a boiling. Well, we finally got to our spot and set up shop. We had found a good temperature break, so we chummed and set out our balloons with some fresh bait bluefish and mackerel. Then we waited and waited and waited...we told stories and talked and then finally some sleep, oh sweet slumber...oh joy! The time was slipping away, so we made a move to another canyon and set up again. It was close to 3 PM, just enough time to get back, when a balloon starts walking away. Shark on! One of the young guys on the boat started pulling in the line and at the end was a nice blue, but not one big enough to keep so we let him go.
Then the other balloon went off...and this little doggie was just a wee bit shy of the regulation weight so we let that one go. Then there were two more under size and then suddenly the unexpected happened...a huge school of tuna came by. These were big mama luke submarines. My blood started boiling big time...new game plan...tuna, tuna, tuna!
Daisy chains were thrown out, pencils and simple, single, squid rigs were put on. We came around to the huge school of tuna and my heart jumped into my mouth. Wam Bam thank you very much we were on. Two small tuna came up and we released them, then we came around again and wam we were on again. This time a nice size tuna came up.
By the time I got back to Freeport the tournament was over and the winners had been announced. There was a phenominal come back of makos this year, witnessed by the number of makos caught and released during the tournament. They are as follows:
1st place: 404 lbs. Mako
Captain Mario Cirillo of the Outcast II
Angler: Nick Rineri
Grand Prize: $25,000 with prizes totalling $26,500
2nd place: 353 lbs. Mako
Captain Bob Romanow of JEM
Angler: Billey Berden
Prize: $8,100 with prizes totalling $19,550
3rd place: 346 lbs. Mako
Captain Glen Kapoosuzian of White Kap
Angler: Steve Spatenga
Prize: $4,335 with prizes totalling $9,655
4th place: 307 lbs. Mako
Captain Dennis D'Ambrosio of Alissa D
Angler: Nick Genovese
Prize: $2000 with prizes totalling $6,200
Over 5000 pounds of meat were donated to three food banks and spectators.
Mark your calendar for next years tournament which will be held on Saturday, June 17, 2000.