Tuna Tournament Reels in Cash for a Great Cause

The 55th Annual Babylon Invitational Tuna Tournament was hosted by the Babylon Tuna Club this past weekend in honor of 9/11 and our troops.

Babylon Tuna Club members worked diligently from early Thursday morning to the late night hours of Sunday, July 31. A T-shirt sale to celebrate the event helped raise money, as did the fresh fish sold each day after fish weigh-ins.

There was a hot buffet with food by Francesco's, as well as sausage, zeppoles, ice cream, cold drinks and popcorn at the vendors' booths.

Arts, crafts and live music by "The Brewster Band" enhanced the sounds of the festivities.

"It was a huge event for Babylon," said organizer Jim O'Rourke. "We had over five thousand people visit the docks and even with a bad economy, it was still a successful event."

The sponsors are too numerous to list, but included Nassau Fire Apparatus, the Babylon Fishing Station, Suffolk Marine and Tackle, Astoria Bank, West Marine and Pier 44.

When the last boat had arrived, the winners in the overnight category were as follows: 1st place- the crew from the "Feather Edge," captained by Ed O'Brien, with an 88 lb. yellowfin tuna; 2nd and 3rd places- were held by the "Locktite", captained by Joe Kasenchak, whose crew had a 60 lb. yellowfin (2nd) and a 58 lb. albacore tuna for third.

First place in the mahi-mahi category went to a boat named "Marine Max" whose crew took a 19 pounder.

In the day trip division, 1st place went to the crew of the "Jay Mar", captained by Bob Tyree, with a 33 lb. yellowfin tuna, while 2nd place was held by "Crime Pays", captained by Mike Weis, whose crew caught a 149 lb. mako shark. Quite a few white marlin were all caught and released, as well as one blue marlin.

Unfortunately, the vessel "5-Fish-N-Kids" arrived just shy of the designated time span for the tournament, but they had an impressive swordfish which weighed in too late to be included.

"We were fishing the east wall of Hudson Canyon and we were up all night but we fought it for a good hour before we got it in the boat," said a smiling Jerry Vacca, one of the members of the winning boat the "Feather Edge."

"It gave me a good fight and we almost lost it a few times after it hooked up under the trim tabs, but luckily our guys got some good gaffe shots in and got it in the boat," said Tom Cunningham, the "Feather Edge," member who hooked and reeled in the fish.

"I've been fishing with these guys for 15 years and we're a tight knit crew."

As the sun set Sunday evening, the breeze picked up and so did the celebrations. Money raised for a good cause highlighted the camaraderie and good fellowship of the local community.