Star Island Shark Fishing Tournament
Montauk - Part I
Saturday & Sunday, June 20 & 21, 1998
Fishing tournaments are a trip...you better have a sense of humor because all the best layed plans can go "boom" in your face. How much time do you have to get to your special spot...how fast can you go. The water temperature can change over night. Let's throw in fog. You're running out of time and there's a sound coming from your engine that makes you twinge. The bait in the live well just went belly up. Oh here's a good one...the prize fish on the end of your line bites two hours before dock time and he's not going to cooperate and come in just yet. Oh the fun! I'd have a nervous breakdown right there and then. But the excitement of everyone getting together the night before...stories flying...some better kept unsaid. The hours are clicking away before the time to go. I'd get some sleep...sure! Half of these guys are like little kids the day before their birthday...if they get two hours sleep it will be a miracle.
The time is here...check the gear...check it again. Sharpen hooks one more time. It's 6 AM...let the games begin. It is funny watching more than one hundred boats jockey to get out of the inlet all at one time. The weather couldn't have been better. This was going to be a great contest. The sharks were there this year, unlike last year when we had freezing cold water from the winter from hell. El nino had changed that this year and all were going to have to work hard. I, on the other hand, decided to stay on the dock and see all the boats as they came in for the weigh in. How else could I cover the over 200 boats that were entered into the tournament...Hello?!
Anyway, you could see the guys' expressions as the boat came closer to the dock. Some looked like death...knowing in their hearts of hearts that their fish was not going to be the one. On the other hand there were those who looked like the cat that at the canary. They lost their cool. They were doing the "Dave Shimmey of the year"...shake it Mama! Anyway, back to the weigh in. I love custom fishing boats and there were some real beauties.
There was a large crowd. Fact: Kids love sharks...Fact: Kids love shark stories...Fact: Captain Mundus has the best stories and the stories are real! Scary, but real! Capt. Mundus is one of the last true characters left on the fishing circuit. And he was there through the entire tournament. The kids' eyes were bugging out. There were Marine Biologists doing studies on all the sharks as they came in. A one shot deal for them to make certain studies on sharks that would otherwise take years. Translation...all the sharks went to a good cause...no waste in this tournament.
Click here for Part II (and the results of the tournament).
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The time is here...check the gear...check it again. Sharpen hooks one more time. It's 6 AM...let the games begin. It is funny watching more than one hundred boats jockey to get out of the inlet all at one time. The weather couldn't have been better. This was going to be a great contest. The sharks were there this year, unlike last year when we had freezing cold water from the winter from hell. El nino had changed that this year and all were going to have to work hard. I, on the other hand, decided to stay on the dock and see all the boats as they came in for the weigh in. How else could I cover the over 200 boats that were entered into the tournament...Hello?!
Anyway, you could see the guys' expressions as the boat came closer to the dock. Some looked like death...knowing in their hearts of hearts that their fish was not going to be the one. On the other hand there were those who looked like the cat that at the canary. They lost their cool. They were doing the "Dave Shimmey of the year"...shake it Mama! Anyway, back to the weigh in. I love custom fishing boats and there were some real beauties.
There was a large crowd. Fact: Kids love sharks...Fact: Kids love shark stories...Fact: Captain Mundus has the best stories and the stories are real! Scary, but real! Capt. Mundus is one of the last true characters left on the fishing circuit. And he was there through the entire tournament. The kids' eyes were bugging out. There were Marine Biologists doing studies on all the sharks as they came in. A one shot deal for them to make certain studies on sharks that would otherwise take years. Translation...all the sharks went to a good cause...no waste in this tournament.
Click here for Part II (and the results of the tournament).