The Jersey Shore Beach N Boat Fishing Tournament closed out its inaugural year with an awards celebration in the MarineMax showroom in Brick, NJ. Top anglers were honored with cash and prizes and many other gifts and prizes were bestowed upon some lucky winners.
Beach N Boat offered 80 prizes for the top 10 fish weighed in each of eight species categories. In addition to the prizes for the top fish, Beach N Boat gave gift bags to all attendees and conducted door prize and other drawings. Richard Hennigan from Beverly, NJ won the most valued prize just for signing up, a Native Slayer 12 Kayak provided by The Kayak Fishing Store. Kate Nelson from Bay Point Marina walked away with a $750 tackle package including a Lamiglas surf rod and Penn 6500 reel winning the “Refer Your Friends” contest.
The Jersey Shore Beach N Boat Fishing Tournament touts the event as “fun for the entire family,” and it appears family fishing pays off, at least for the LaGrossa brothers. Phil LaGrossa weighed in the striped bass winner of 46.2 pounds at Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park on May 18 and also added third place at 43.95 pounds, while his brother, Chris, took sixth and seventh with stripers of 40.1 and 39.56 pounds. They added four bluefish awards from 20.25 to 21.19 pounds, and Phil took the second place fluke prize with a 9.75-pounder weighed at Pell’s on July 7 where he also weighed the first place weakfish of 9.75 pounds taken from shore on April 26.
The Oliszewski’s from Waretown and Hamilton also made a great family showing. Father, Alex Oliszewski topped the blackfish category weighing a 13.7 pounder on April 27 at Lacey Marine followed by sixth and 10th place kingfish of 1.3 and 1.18 pounds weighed at Lacey and Creekside Outfitters on August 19 and 4, respectively. Weighing in her own 1.23-pound kingfish for ninth place with Alex on August 19 at Lacey Marine, mother, Ginger also took 4th place kingfish with a 1.43 pounder caught from a boat one month later on September 19 and weighed at Creekside Outfitters. Sneaking in the middle, son, Eric, came in fifth place for kingfish with a 1.3 pound boated king on August 4.
Michael Ramm was second in weakfish at 9.5 pounds and added third (8.75 pounds), fourth (7.5 pounds) and seventh (6.5 pounds). His friend, Kristina Bacon, filled the void with 7.25- and 7.5-pound weakfish taking 5th and 6th places- all weighed at The Tackle Box in Hazlet.
Families and friends were not the only anglers to win multiple prizes. Howard Owens not only won the first prize for bluefish with a gator 23.4-pounder weighed at The Reel Seat in Brielle on Oct. 19, but added third and fourth at 21.95 and 21.45 pounds weighed at Reel Life in Point Pleasant on Oct. 6. Walter Fisher was second with a 22.75-pounder weighed on Oct. 1 at The Tackle Box in Hazlet, where he also weighed twin 20.25-pounders for eighth and tenth places.
Edward Plichta from Howell and Paul Haertel from Clifton each captured three places. Plichta’s 10.49-pound fluke, 45.45- and 37.54- pound stripers took first, second and eight while Haertel’s 7.01 tog, 40.63 pound striper and 8.47 pound fluke took a pair of fifth and one seventh place.
Other first place winners not able to attend include Robert Pettit with a 75-pound black drum out of Longreach Marina, Bill Young (no relation to the director) with a beautiful 2.31-pound kingfish weighed August 24 at Creekside Outfitters and from Bobbies Boats in Barnegat Light, a 5.5-pound sea bass for Gregory Carr on May 27.
For the complete final standings, check out the leaderboard at http://beachnboat.com/leaderboard.
The event was a total success and all attendees enjoyed delicious food from River Rocks Restaurant and Marina Bar, adjacent to MarineMax, and beverage provided by Ritchie and Page Distributors, served by some very attractive Bud Light ladies.
Captain Mike Young, tournament director, summed up the first year by saying, “People really enjoyed the fun, camaraderie and challenge of fishing against over 800 anglers throughout the entire New Jersey Shore. It was a fabulous first year and we are going to break all records in 2014.” Beach n Boat is encouraging early registration and you can sign up now for only $20 at www.BeachNBoat.com/sign-up-now.
