The 11th Annual Babylon Autumn Surf Fishing Cup, sponsored by Town of Babylon and hosted by Paumonak Surfcasters and the Long Island Beach Buggy Association (LIBBA) has grown in participation with each succeeding year. It takes place this weekend, from 5 p.m. Friday, October 26 through noon on Sunday, October 28, followed by an awards ceremony at Cedar beach. Camaraderie is a key component of this event which provides an opportunity for members of the Island’s surf fishing clubs to meet and fish side by side along Babylon Town beaches which had been inaccessible to non-residents prior to the Surf Cup.
Everyone who enters the event, whether a Babylon Town Resident or not, receives an entry card that serves as a permit for 4×4 access and also provides parking access to the town’s beaches. Following the tournament, those with state 4×4 permits will be allowed access to Babylon’s Cedar Beach through state park property from the Sore Thumb. Boundary lines for the Cup have been extended from the ocean side of the Sore Thumb to the western border of Babylon Town’s Gilgo Beach, but there is no 4×4 access beyond Gilgo State Park. The boundaries do not include the bay side. Walk-on access is available through the Gilgo Beach parking lot.
You can still register in person from 5 p.m. Friday until 9 a.m. Saturday morning at the Tournament’s mobile headquarters which is LIBBA president Cookie Rondinella’s camper. It will be stationed in the Cedar Beach Overlook parking lot Friday evening and on the beach opposite the pavilion for the remainder of the contest, and will also serve as the event’s weigh station. The entry fee is $20 and there are prizes for the three largest bass and bluefish, as well as a catch and release award. There is also a special pool that LIBBA members have the option of entering. For more information, you can contact the Town Clerk’s office at 631-957-4286. For information on the location of tournament headquarters for entering or weighing a fish, call Cookie Rondinella at 516-859-5266.
