The 19th Manhattan Cup Charity Fishing Tournament, presented by Yamaha Outboards, is scheduled for June 7, 2019 at Liberty Landing Marina and the Liberty House Restaurant in Jersey City, NJ. You can support wounded combat veterans by entering to fish in any of several categories, and if you can’t fish, you still attend the awards dinner alongside American heroes, guest speakers, and celebrities, while also entering the raffles and auctions.
The Manhattan Cup catch and release striped bass and bluefish tournament brings a group of veterans out to fish the tournament in a special Warrior Division aboard boats donated by area charter captains. All are recently returning combat veterans dealing with wounds and PTSD out for a special day of fishing and appreciation on the waters surrounding Manhattan.
This year the Manhattan Cup will honor Lt. Christopher J. Raguso, of Commack, NY, a true American Hero. Chris, an FDNY Lieutenant cited numerous times for bravery, died in a helicopter crash while deployed in Afghanistan in March of 2018 while piloting a US Air Force Rescue Helicopter tasked with evacuating wounded soldiers in the final battles against ISIS.
Chris had deployed multiple times in war zones in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. He lived his life in the service of others and eventually gave his life for his country, leaving behind a wife and two young daughters. Joining the event to honor Chris on June 7 is his father, Capt. John Raguso, noted fishing captain and boating/electronics editor at The Fisherman. The Manhattan Cup will also honor longtime Fisherman contributor Capt.Al Ristori with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the dinner.
There are three categories of angler participation; Fly Tackle, Artificial Lures or Bait Fishing. Once again this year Gray FishTags will contribute tacking gear to boats wishing to help the non-profit gather critical information on the fish released during the tournament; the boat tagging the most fish in the quickest amount of time during the Manhattan Cup will also walk away from the event with a Gray trophy striped bass mount.
The day starts with breakfast and a pre-tournament meeting at Liberty Landing Restaurant followed by a day of fishing for striped bass and bluefish. After fishing, premium cocktails, hot and cold appetizers will be served with arguably the best view of Manhattan’s financial district skyline anywhere. Dinner will then be served, following which prizes will awarded and the numerous raffles and auctions commence featuring fishing trips, charters, tackle and much more. All proceeds are used for fisheries conservation efforts and to get combat veterans out fishing.
Tournament entry includes a swag bag filled by generous sponsors in addition to special boxed-lunch for your day out fishing New York City’s premier sandwich shop from Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio, Wichcraft. Capt. Jeff Northrop will be supplying piles of his world-famous Hummock Island Oysters sustainably farm-raised in Connecticut for everyone to enjoy.
There are several ways you can fish the event – by entering and fishing your own boat and team in the Sportsman Division; by purchasing entry on a donated boat for your team to fish with a professional captain; or by entering as an individual to be assigned to a donated boat. To contribute to the event, you can also donate towards the purchase of a donated boat for a group or individual veteran, or purchase dinner tickets for the Awards Dinner.
Got to www.manhattancup.com to sign up, give a donation or purchase tickets. Questions? Call John De[ersenaire at the Recreational Fishing Alliance at 888-JOIN RFA, Gary Caputi at 732-740-9982 or Capt. Frank Crescitelli at 917-468-4817
This is an all charity event and is fully tax deductible. For this one day New York is not just the Financial Capital of the World but will also be the fishing capital of the world!
