The Great Gun Moriches Anglers hosted a fishing tournament at the Union Avenue dock in Center Moriches on June 22.
The tournament began at 6 a.m. and included both inshore and offshore fishing. Striped bass, bluefish, weakfish and fluke were accepted for the inshore fishing competition; thresher sharks and bluefin tuna were accepted for the offshore fishing part of the tournament.
Judging began at the Union Avenue dock at 5:30 p.m., with first place for largest inshore and offshore fish winning 50 percent of the total money offered as prizes for their respective categories. The tournament raised funds for the Great Gun Moriches Anglers.
“The Great Gun Moriches Anglers Fishing Club has held inshore (fluke) and offshore (shark) tournaments for many years,” Great Gun Moriches Anglers director of communications Tim Markart said. “With the ever-changing regulations, it was decided this year to combine our fluke and shark tournaments into [one] larger all-inclusive tournament.”
“This is the evolution of our former shark tournament,” Great Gun Moriches Anglers president Evan Goldstein added. “As conservation is a priority, we only target edible species in all our tournaments. This is an annual event dating back over 40 years.”
Surfcasters Thomas Johnson and Sal Castellano won the first-place prize, $400, for inshore fishing with a striped bass weighing 10.67 pounds. Richard Cannarella won the first-place prize for offshore fishing with a 205-pound thresher shark and won $1,440. Cannarella also won an additional prize of $1,200. Because no participant qualified for the second and third-place prizes for offshore fishing, the second and third-place prizes were raffled off.
Tournament participants met at the Rock Hill Country Club on June 21 for a captains’ meeting. Markart said drinks, a raffle, and door prizes were handed out during the meeting. All anglers must have submitted their fish by 6 p.m. on June 22 in order to be eligible for an award.
“The prize amount will be determined by the total number of entries in each category [minus] 10 percent for the club’s operating expenses,” Markart said.
New York State regulations prevented any striped bass over 31 inches long from being submitted.
“That restriction limits the weight to where any of the four species in the inshore category can be competitive,” Great Gun Moriches Anglers member Frank Lapinski said.
“All members of the Great Gun Moriches Anglers have a passion for fishing, conservation, and protecting Moriches Bay and ocean,” Markart added.
The Great Gun Moriches Anglers currently plan to host the tournament again next year.
“We anticipate this format being very successful and plan to continue with [it] moving forward,” Markart said.
“I’ve been fishing these waters for nearly 50 years plus,” fisherman Russell Werthner said. “If the tournament is the same next year, I will… be fishing for whatever the inshore fish will be.”
The Great Gun Moriches Anglers’ next event will be Take a Vet Fishing on July 27, where the organization will be helping military veterans fish in local waters. A fluke tournament is also currently being planned
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