Hosted by The Fisherman and Long Island State Parks, the Fred Golofaro Montauk Surf Fishing Classic is slated for September 29 through October 1. Fishing kicks off at noon on Friday and continues through Sunday at noon. The awards ceremony will take place at the Point at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. The first 100 attendees at Sunday’s awards ceremony will receive a goody bag, and all attendees will receive a free ticket for the awards ceremony raffle.
Weigh-in for this year’s contest will be Paulie’s Tackle throughout the weekend. The in-person entry deadline is 9 a.m. on Saturday morning at Paulie’s for those who can’t get to Montauk before the weekend. The entry fee remains just $20 per angler.
Boundary lines for this contest are all shore areas east of the westernmost boundary of Napeague State Park. All areas must be accessible by foot or wading. Swimming, using a boat, kayak, or any flotation device to access an area is prohibited.
For striped bass, the tournament is seeing a bit of a different format this year. Due to the shrinking of the striper slot again, from 28 -35 inches to 28 – 31 inches, we decided to change it up a bit and made one striper category that will be catch and release only to promote conservation efforts and make it where the three largest (longest) fish will win. An official tournament ruler will be given out with your sign-up information, along with a tournament tag that will need to be in the photo, along with the fish and the length of the fish visible. Photos must include the time stamp and must be submitted to Paulie’s Tackle in person for documentation. We opted out of weight for the catch and release category since it’s tougher to document on a photo and would overall be healthier for the fish not to hang them on a scale. The bluefish category will remain a weighg in, how it was, and the minimum is set at 5 pounds. Winners of the striped bass (length) and bluefish categories will receive $ 1,000 this year, which is a $250 increase from the first-place prize in years past. In the case of a tie, the earliest fish checked in will take priority.
The Fred Golofaro South Shore Surf Fishing Classic follows and is set for October 27 through 29. It is also hosted by The Fisherman and Long Island State Parks and is sponsored by Captree Bait & Tackle. It kicks off at noon on Friday, October 28, and continues through noon on Sunday, October 30. The entry fee is $20, and it goes without saying that you must be entered prior to checking in any fish. The same prize categories featured in the Montauk Classic will be in play here, which will be the top three length stripers released and the top three weighed bluefish. The awards ceremony takes place at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday at Captree State Park. The first 100 attendees at the awards ceremony will receive free tackle, and all attendees will receive a free ticket for the awards ceremony raffle. Boundary lines are the Jones Beach West End Two Jetty to the east jetty of Moriches Inlet.
If you have any other questions or if you are a lure maker or wish to donate some sort of tackle for tournament raffles, please contact me at [email protected].
