Three hundred and forty anglers on 103 boats scoured the ocean and west end bays on Sunday, June 25th for the honor of being crowned Duke of Fluke. At the end of the day, participants gathered at Amity Beach for weigh-ins, burgers and dogs, raffles, music by Cutting Edge, and of course to share in the camaraderie of other anglers. Bill and Denise Witchey of Combs Bait & Tackle began the tournament in 1995 as a tribute to the late Roy Kneisel, an avid Amityville angler who tutored many young anglers from the area before passing away in 1994. Participating in the event has become an annual tradition for many South Shore anglers.
Patrick Schaefer claimed the honor of Duke of Fluke with a 6.24-pound summer flattie. Not far behind was Juan Carrasquillo Jr. with a 5.91-pound flattie. Juan was part of a crew aboard Capt. Rick Smith’s charter boat Miss Beryl. Chartered by Bill Russo and his crew of fluke sharpies, including Juan, Victor, Richard and Richie, the boat put a considerable dent in the prize list, winning second, fourth, sixth and thirteenth places in the individual category, and first place in the Calcutta. In total they walked away with $2,400 in cash, two rod and reel outfits and a bunch of tackle and non-tackle items. The Calcutta was based on the combined weight of the three largest fluke on a boat. Miss Beryl tallied 16.95 pounds, while the crew on Joe Masseria’s Miss Lynn racked up 14.38 pounds for second place.
Rounding out the top ten individual winners were Larry Seaman III with a 5.82, Victor Lucero a 5.63, Joe Massaeria a 5.50, Keith Bernot a 5.45, Kyle Geiger a 5.25, Bob Ciambriello a 5.16, Matt Lott a 5.14 and Keith Devinish a 4.94 pounder. Eleventh through 23rd place fish ranged from 4.79 pounds down to 4.14 pounds. The 23rd place fish was worth a bonus of a $200 gift certificate to Combs B&T in honor of the event’s 23rd year. The top five fish earned cash prizes while the remaining places were rewarded with tackle prizes.
An additional 15 youngsters were entered in the Junior Division, which provided trophies for the top three fluke. Andrew Allessi led the way with a 4.02 pounder. Brandon Allessi was right behind him with a 3.67-pound fish, and Max Heller took third with a 3.64-pound fluke.
