Fishing Report: Big Blue Tourney Unofficial Results

It seems that it might be the second year of a heartbreaker for Anastasios Makropoulous in the as he was edged out late on Sunday by a bigger fish once again.

This year’s second place winner in the unofficial results has his name spelled “Anastasios Makropoulous.” Last year’s second place winner spelled his name “Anastasias Makropoulous.” The difference is one letter, “a.”

A person who answered the phone at Jack’s Bait and Tackle, where the second place winner weighed both years, was unsure if it was the same fisherman. Calls to WICC offices were not returned with an answer as of yet.

Anastasios Makropoulous held the number one position when he weighed in a 15.16 lbs. bluefish on Saturday at Jack’s Bait and Tackle in City Island, NY at 4:33 p.m. For almost 24 hours his fish was in the running to net Makropoulous the top prize of $25,000.

Then, on Sunday at 4:19 p.m., just 41 minutes before the end of the contest, Mitchell Staschke–no doubt zooming into Captain Morgan’s Bait and Tackle in Madison, CT as fast as his boat could carry him–weighed in a 15.41 lbs. blue to snatch the top prize.

If it is in fact the same fisherman, then Makropoulous also had to satisfy himself with a second place position behind local angler late on Sunday last year.

Makropoulous’ blue in 2010 weighed in at 15.86 at 4:02 a.m. on Sunday only to be brought down by Huner’s 15.94 pounder at 2:16 p.m. weighed at in Port Jefferson. A photo-finish to be sure with a mere .08 lbs. separating the first and second place fish.

Placing second place two years in a row is no small feat and Makropoulous’ skills shine among the fisherman in the Sound this past weekend. Not a bad place to be with second place drawing a $10,000 prize both years.

Of course, Mitchell Staschke walks away with $25,000, when the results become official. Staschke and Makropoulous must both pass a lie detector test before claiming their prizes.

We will follow up to find out if there was a misplaced vowel in Makropoulous’ first name or if there are two people with strikingly similar first and last names who placed second two years in a row in the tournament.

This reporter is proud to say he took the port prize at Caraftis in the tourney with a 13.05 lbs. blue weighed in at 8:10 a.m. That was just enough to beat out Sean Reilly whose boat, named the FellowShip, we fished on along with Mike Welsh, another avid fisherman whose reports have been . Reilly’s blue weighed in at 12.89 lbs.

Barring any other misspelled names, only two anglers made it back into the top twenty this year again. Makropoulous and Huner both placed fish in the top spots. Huner brought in a 13.45 lbs. blue this year, enough to make 19th place and a $200 prize.

Some more interesting stats gleaned from the unofficial results:

Out of 18 total weigh stations* in New York and Connecticut, the top 20 fish were weighed in at 10 of them. Last year the top twenty fish were weighed in at 13 stations.

Connecticut tops the charts with 13 of the top 20 bluefish weighed in at an official station located in that state while 7 fish were weighed in at New York-based weigh station. Last year, Connecticut eked out New York weigh stations, 11 to nine.

Candy Caraftis said that in all, “the blue fishing tournament went very well.

“We saw lots of blues. Mainly nine and 10 pounders,” she said. “Happy to have some locals in the money.”

She also reported that the porgy fishing has been “fantastic’ and “sea bass are starting to mix in with the porgies.”

She said that Joe Gilner had a keeper fluke on Sunday at 21 inches.

“One of the first fluke keepers I have heard of in a while,” she said.

Over in Rocky Point, Stan Hentschel from said that the “big blues are being taken early a.m. between Sound Beach and Rocky point on chunks.”

He also said that he received “first reports of albies in our area.”

“They’ve been sighted up around Cranes Neck and Mt. Sinai and east around Shoreham,” Hentschel reported.

To catch albies or false albacore, he suggests a light leader, “if any leader at all.” He said for lures you can use a Deadly Dick or the Crippled Herring. Both work. He also said that the fly fisherman do very well with these fish.

“Right now we’ve got some pretty good sized bluefish up to 12 lbs.,” he also said.

The striped bass are still scarce but he hopes that the cool front coming in will “stir things up a little bit.”

*Note that Hi Hook Bait and Tackle in Huntington was not listed as an official weigh station on the WICC webite.

Greatest Bluefish Tournament on Earth 2011 Unofficial Results

Data from the WICC website.