Our 32nd Year Sailing from
STAR ISLAND YACHT CLUB
Montauk New York
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Captain Jay
Rigano |
Captain Tom
McKinley
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Mike Olsen's $75,000
Thresher |
TOURNAMENT WINNING RECORD
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2008 SHARK TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE Star Island Tournament - June 13 & 14 Montauk Marine Tournament - June 27 & 28 Montauk Captains Tournament - July 11 & 12 Star Island Mako/Thresher Tournament - Aug 8 & 9 |
$21, 000 Thresher 471 lbs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2001 - WAHOO |
2008 RATES
$50 extra for live eels on bass trips
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OFFSHORE- Yellowfins & Albacore |
INSHORE - Big Fluke |
INSHORE - Striped Bass |
CHECK OUT OUR SPECIAL WRECK TRIPS
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Silver
Hake |
50 LB +
Codfish |
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58 lb codfish |
18 lb 1 oz blackfish |
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To book a trip, call Capt Jay Rigano at
631 668 4586
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Capt Jay Rigano |
Captain Jay Rigano started his fishing life in Montauk around 1952, fishing with Captains John & George Potts. He and his friends would make a half a dozen or more trips each year aboard their legendary Bluefin I. Bottom fishing was his special love, especially codfish. However that wasn't enough to keep him happy, so in addition he had a 16' skiff fitted with a five horsepower outboard motor. He would use it for fishing around the rocks in shallow sections of Long Island Sound near his hometown of Mamaroneck, often in three to four feet of water. The target was striped bass, usually schoolies, but also occasional fish to twenty-five pounds. The choice bait was a couple of sandworms trolled as slow as possible. In fact if Jay could have gotten a smaller motor, he would have preferred it. The fishing was |
only done at night because the fish would be in deeper water during the day, but also because he was required to make a living, which he did as a plumber.
Eventually the sameness of the bass fishing became a bore, and Jay decided that he would be better off concentrating on Montauk. He bought a 21' fiberglass outboard from a Montauk rental dock, and would use it to pursue his bottom fishing interests. It was at that time that he also got his Coast Guard license to carry passengers, although he didn't use it, preferring commercial bottom fishing to chartering.
Three years later he graduated to a 30' Repco inboard, that was more comfortable, as well as giving him a much wider range. He was now able to fish waters to the east of Block Island, traditionally the best area for summer codfishing. His routine was very simple. He worked as a plumber from Monday through Thursday, and fished Montauk from Friday through Sunday, often putting in so much time that he acquired the nickname of "Captain Midnight".
In those years weakfish were a popular target species. Jay would leave the dock around 3:00 am, and start catching weaks at the outer Shagwong Buoy. The fish would constantly move east and Jay would move along with them, sometimes winding up as far away as the northern end of Block Island. Then he would travel south of the island to finish off his already full day with a couple of hours codfishing. It was during one of these marathon excursions that he first took a shot at tuna. He heard some offshore boats on the radio talking about how close they were to the cod boats, so he pulled anchor and took off. The result was another species to add to his mixed bag.
With the larger boat, he also started booking charter trips, mostly for bottom fishing, but then his cliental started to talk about offshore fishing. This required a larger boat, and the result was a 34' Fortier, named the "LORI JAY". Shark tournaments became of special interest to him when the then Montauk Captains Association started their charity tournament, operating it out of Star Island Yacht Club. When that event was moved to a different marina, Star Island initiated it's own tournament. The first year Jay was prevailed upon to enter it by the marina's owner to help boost the number of entrants. From then on, Jay has fished every shark tournament held in Montauk, finishing in the money in eight of the last ten years.
Over the years he tended to spend more time fishing and less and less time with his plumbing business. Finally in 1996 he put away his tools and retired to the charter business full time. He purchased his latest boat, a 37' Wayne Beals, which he feels will last him the rest of his life. He continues to operate it out of the Star Island Yacht club, where he has been docked for the last twenty years.
Capt Tom McKinley |
As a youngster Captain Tom McKinley would spend the summers at Sound Beach, on Long Island's north shore, surfcasting, diving and spearing fish and, when he got the opportunity, fishing from a boat with the locals. It so happened that some of those locals that Tom fished with as a kid went on to become captains in Montauk's growing charter boat fleet, so when Tom decided it was time for him to do some real fishing, it was natural for him to head to Montauk and sign up for charters with his friends. In 1967 he bought a 31' Egg Harbor, which he called the "no name" boat, because it wasn't named. He would keep at Sound Beach, except for the fall when he would move it to Montauk for the height of the striped bass season. In 1972 he bought a 28' fiberglass Uniflite, but instead of only bringing it to Montauk in the fall, he kept it here for the entire season. Tom was a member of the New York City Fire Department, a job that has a great advantage for a fisherman. Their hours are not like a standard nine to five job. Instead they might be on duty for twenty-four hours straight, followed by three days off, resulting in a lot of fishing time. In addition, it was often |
possible to trade shifts with co-workers. For instance, a died in the wool bass fisherman interested in fishing the full moon periods in the fall might trade with a fellow fire fighter who wanted more time off during the ski season.
Once he started keeping the boat in Montauk full time he started to get more involved in the overall fishing scene. Instead of concentrating only on fishing for bass, he started venturing offshore on his boat, a neighbors or even as an occasional mate on a charter boat. This experience allowed him to get a captains license in 1975, and with it the opportunity for more fishing type work during his time off, either fishing other boats out of Montauk or on occasion transporting boats up and down the coast.
In 1983, after twenty-two years on the job, Tom retired as a lieutenant from the fire department. However, instead of immediately moving to Montauk, he became partners with another fireman in a party boat that they operated jointly out of Captree. But the draw of Montauk and its great fishing was too much. After one year Tom decided that Captree wasn't for him and he sold out to his partner.
In 1984 he bought his present boat the "SUNDOWNER", a 36', twin diesel powered Harris and joined the Montauk charter fleet. Naturally it was slow to begin with and he only fished the summer months, teaching the rest of the year in a mid island high school. In wasn't long however before his summer business became a full time one and he gave up teaching. For the last ten years he has spent the major portion of the year in Montauk, dividing the winter months between his home in Setauket and a considerable amount of travelling, quite often on fishing trips to exotic ports all over the world. But when he considers all the places that he has fished, he still feels that Montauk is the best.
In 2000 he sold the SUNDOWNER and is now co-captain on Capt Jay Rigano's LORI-JAY II.
