Montauk Pioneer - July 4, 2008 - Shark Tag Tourney Snags 465-Pound

During the Montauk Marine Basin's 38th Annual Shark Tag Tournament, last weekend, there were several huge fish caught, including a 465-pound Thresher and a 324-pound Mako. And one of this tourney's biggest surprises, and highlights, was that two women anglers snagged two of the winning fish, and each won and award.

The winning thresher shark was caught by Anthony Jamaciaos of Clinton, CT, aboard the vessel, "Fugged About It." The winning mako was caught by Bob Ley, on the boat, "Diggin' It II."

This tag and release tourney took place last Saturday and Sunday, June 27 and 28, with 80 boats and 345 anglers participating in the event. Altogether, there were 6 mako sharks caught, 8 threshers, 3 blue sharks, and there were a total of 95 sharks caught and released.

Carl Darenberg, of the Montauk Marine Basin, said his marina has been doing tag and release tourneys for many years, since it is more environmental and not as many sharks are killed. Only the biggest and winning sharks are taken, and the makos are the best for food.

In this tournament, which was a tag and release event, the second largest shark caught was a 376-pound thresher, taken by the vessel "Vista." The captain was John Aceri and the angler was Joe Mattiolo. The third largest overall shark caught in the tournament was a 333-pound thresher, landed on board the boat, "Fiesta." The angler was Gary Dow of Cutchogue.

The second largest mako caught in the tourney was a 208-pounder, caught on the "Fish N' Chicks" by Chris Fello. The third place mako, of 178 pounds, was caught on the vessel "Ultimate," by Andria Nachon of New London, CT, one of two women anglers fishing the tournament. The other woman angler, Karen Weaver, snagged the "Female Angler Award," with a 289-pound thresher, caught aboard the boat, "We Go."

Carl Darenberg said he was impressed with these women winning awards. "Our marina has always had family-oriented tournaments, where we give awards to both female and junior anglers," he said. "We're pleased that we had a great turnout this year, with good food, music and entertainment."

He said this year's tourney was also very exciting, because on the second day, lots of threshers brought in were potential winners, but not until about a half-hour of the deadline was the biggest thresher brought in.

"The 465-pound thresher came in at the end, so it beat out all the others at the last minute," he explained.

There were only three blue sharks that were weighed in as qualifying fish at the scales. The largest blue of the tournament was a 327-pounder taken on the "Real Deal." It was caught by Rob Giodens of Manorville. The other blues were weighed at 322 pounds, caught by Paul Chouinard of Wallingford, CT, aboard, "On The Edge."

Throughout the two-day tourney, crowds of people lined the docks to watch all the excitement. The weather held out, and was mostly sunny and warm both days. The tourney kicked off, as usual, with a captain's meeting and a dinner on Thursday night, and ended on Saturday night with a beer bash and awards ceremony. Winners received cash awards and trophies, made of ceramic shark replicas.

More fishing action will continue this fall. The Montauk Marine Basin will be having a Tuna Tournament the last weekend of September. For more information, check their website at marinebasin.com or call 631-668-5900.