The second of the two surf fishing classic events is now in the books for 2024. The official name of the three-day tournament is the Fred Golofaro Memorial South Shore Classic, which was done after the passing of the senior editor Fred Golofaro a couple of years ago in his honor. The event itself was always a personal love of Fred’s, and there was no better honor than to rename it in honor of him.
Just like the Montauk event at the end of September, the same rule format applied to this contest as well. Due to the slot limit on stripers that shrunk down to 31 inches from the 35-inch mark last year, it was determined that it would not be ideal to host a tournament where the casters were fishing on the small 3-inch slot. We also concluded that it would be more conservation-minded to make the entire striped bass category catch and release only with a measure, photograph with tournament tag, and submit style of contest. The bluefish division remained the same as years prior with a weigh in necessary at Captree Bait and Tackle.
What was great to see this year is that both categories were completely filled in with striped bass and blue – a sign of the good fishing going on right now along the South Shore stretchdue to the sand eel run we’ve been having the past few weeks. This striper favorite baitfish has kept the bass in range for casters and has even given those fishing off the shore better fishing opportunities for boat anglers in certain days.
The leaderboard saw some familiar names that have shown up in the past. Junior Castro took first place with his 44-incher. He was awarded a $ 1,000 check from State Parks along with a catch-and-release conservation plaque from the Golofaro family, who were also present for the event. Darwin Lopez took second with a 41-inch-striper, which landed him a St. Croix Surf Rod, and Eric Siciliq finished in third with his 36-incher. He was awarded a Shimano Spinning Reel for his catch. For the bluefish category, familiar name Ruben Fournier took first with a 6.32-pounder for the $1000 check, Junior Castro hit the board again with a 5.64-pound bluefish for a St. Croix rod and Akeem Medins grabbed third with a 5.54-pound fish for a Penn reel. The awards were followed by raffles, which were donated by Captree Bait and Tackle, Yo-Zuri, Owner, and The Fisherman Magazine
I personally wanted to give a big thanks to State Parks and Parks and Recreation for helping to set up and coordinate the event. James Gillmore III, Kevin Boone and Caitlin Pannacchione, along with the rest of State Parks Staff were a big help with making sure this one went smoothly. Another big shout-out is definitely in order for Brendan from Captree Bait and Tackle for his late-night availability during the event and for once again being the official event location this year. And, of course, another big thanks goes to all of those who participated in the tournament again this year. I know that most put in a lot of effort to come up with that winning fish. The turnout and filled in boards this year really showed it.
We’re looking forward to doing this one again next year. Also, I would like to field some suggestions and feedback for fine-tuning this event for the future. We’re thinking of getting some better rulers made up that could be used for both the Montauk event and this one. I’ve already been in talk about it. If you have any additional comments, please email me at mbroderick@thefisheman.com.
