Mattituck fishing tournament raises $20,000 for Lyme Disease research

BEN AMATO PHOTO
Eileen Miller poses with a really large fish she reeled in at
this weekend’s tournament.

Over 160 fishermen took to their boats this past weekend in the first annual Peconic Fishing Tournament to benefit the Lyme Disease Association.  They caught many blues, flukes and striped bass and best of all, they came away with a new awareness of how devastating and dangerous Lyme Disease really is. 
Michael and Mary Ellen Cirrito brought together family, friends, dozens of local businesses and charities to organize the event, which was held at Strong’s Marina in Mattituck, and raised over $20,000 for the national Lyme Disease Association. 
The winners of the competition were Otto Ordermann, who caught a 5.31 pound fluke.  Jason Papa reeled in a 9.7 pound bluefish.  John Knoud hauled in a 29.8 pound striped bass. They each received a 22″ color flat screen TV from P.C. Richards and an original Gyotaku, a Japanese fish painting done by Jaxsfish, a local artist. 
Steve Rosin brought in 26.3 pounds of bluefish, fluke and striped bass to win the Peconic Grand Slam.  He went home with a trophy and a check for $1,000.
In the Junior division, the DeAngelis family had a wonderful day. Anthony had the winning fluke at 3.64 pounds. Joey caught a blue weighing 2.23 and Nicky reeled in an 11.25 striped bass that was almost as tall as he was.  They went home with plaques and new rods and reels.