Montauk Pioneer - July 4, 2008

It was a glorious day for the 38th annual Montauk Marine Basin Shark Tag Tournament. The annual event hosted by the Darenbergs had an official $50,000 in prize money and a Calcutta that had over a quarter of a million dollars floating in it. Read all the details of the tournament on the next page for the winners. From Niantic, CT were the boys on Lucia, captained by Jeff Ross, and owned by Paul Laprocina. The boys were excited about catching a 295-pound thresher shark that was in contention for the top prize until the three big winners came in after 4PM on Saturday. All of these good friends use an array of confusing yet fun nicknames. The anglers consisted of Tom "Tuna" Bongo, 27 years young, his buddy Kurt "Jack" Hayes age 32, Brett "the builder" Pawlak, and the angler who caught the shark; Greg "wicked tough" Gross. They went to Nicks to celebrate and hope, they joked, and they appreciated the camaraderie that went beyond the $2800 they spent on fees. Here is their log. However it seemed the boats that came in last came in with the money winning fish. They were kind enough to share their fishing story with some detail:

Day 1: Fishing hard the Lucia lost a big mako , then later caught and released 15 blue sharks.

Day 2: Returning to the same spot, in Captain Jeff "Frank" Ross's words," "We set two rods and were setting the third when the thresher was hooked. Twenty minutes of steady pressure and using the boat we got the shark to the surface. During the fight Jack Hayes worked alongside Tom 'Tuna" Bongo' While 'Wicked Tough' Greg Goss kept the rod in control." Greg Gross worked hard on the rod while Captain Jeff "Frank" Ross maneuvered the boat flawlessly. Finally Captain Jeff "Frank" Ross stuck flying gaff home and Brett "the Builder" followed with a direct hit on the straight gaff. Then with the tail roped they headed home. It was mentioned that information about charters with Jeff Ross can be attained by calling 860-625-8377. In the big yellow and white striped tent Carl Darenberg presided over the cash awards and shark trophies. He thanked major sponsor Coors Light. Later, up in his office above the store at Montauk Marine Basin Carl kicked back and took it all in. He spoke of the days when the radio station covered the final day of the tournament. He recalled how his dad invited the National Marine Fisheries to come and promote tagging in order to monitor and dissect the sharks when appropriate. He recalled the very first tournament they held back in 1971 when he was still a teenager and his father and mother worked the docks. Now he has his own daughter Courtney working the front desk. He talked about good weather tournaments and bad weather tournaments but most of all what he said was it all went so smoothly, "The weather cooperated and quite frankly it's amazing besides the $50,000 prize money we put up the boats had a Calcutta of over $250,000 which is a record for us." Carl did ask us to mention the other Montauk Marine Basin Tournament, that being the Montauk Marine Basin's 5th Annual 2008 Shootout being held September 26th, 27th, and 28th. For information one can call 631 668 5900 or check Yachts@optonline.net there is a fax number 631 668 5659. My dad, sister, brothers and mother all participated in the tournament 25 years ago with my dad actually winning some prize money one year. He was very proud of that fact and was a loyal visitor with his 43' Egg Harbor named Lady Elizabeth to Montauk Marine Basin. He always told everyone, the Darenberg's always treated him and his family "as if they were part of their family."

Both Carl Darenberg Sr. and Jr. were on hand to eyeball the event they first created back in 1971. Carl Darenberg Jr. who was the tournament director wanted to thank his staff consisting of Karen German, asst director, Richard Schoen weigh master and dock master, announcer Big Rich of Karaoke fame who was also celebrating his birthday, and dock boys JJ, Nick, Guy, Alex and Zen. This year also featured Chad Backer as "shark cutting technician. Helen McGuire handled the catering excellently.