A Day of Fishing and Friendly Competition on Fan Pier

Manny Dejesus, Mark Rose, and Joe Cirame pose with their first-place winning catch on Fan Pier after a day of fishing out on the Harbor.

Nine-year-old Joe Cirame of Saugus took first place in the 2^nd Annual Save the Harbor / Save the Bay Youth Fishing Tournament at Fan Pier on Boston’s waterfront with a 46-inch striped bass weighing close to 42 pounds. The young angler made the impressive catch while fishing with Captain Mike Fallon on his 34-foot Regulator "Marinaro" with a team of young anglers that included Save the Harbor / Save the Bay youth program summer staffers Manny Dejesus of Fenway, Tom Kenary of Wellesley Hills, and Mark Rose of Dorchester.

Taking second place was 11 year-old Brady Marshall, of Mattapan, one of 22 kids from Camp Harbor View who fished aboard the head boat "Belle" with Captain Charlie Gibbons of Boston Fun Cruises, his mate Darryl, and an experienced crew including Save the Harbor / Save the Bay’s own Bay Watcher Bruce Berman as well as tournament sponsors Harold and Richard Tubman of Circle Furniture. Marshall’s winning catch was a 36-inch striped bass, weighing in at 21 lbs.

Tournament sponsor Joe Fallon of The Fallon Company set the tone for the day with a pep talk on the dock at Fan Pier Marina. “Don’t just go fishing, go catching,” he said as he wished all participants the best of luck.

After distributing bait, tackle, rods, and other equipment provided by tournament sponsor Peter Santini of Fishin’ Finatics, 18 junior program assistants from Save the Harbor / Save the Bay boarded a fleet of donated boats and set out onto the harbor looking for big fish. The fleet was soon joined by 22 teens from Camp Harbor View, who joined the competition from their base on Long Island.

The young anglers used a number of techniques throughout the day, including “chumming and chunking", jigs and worms, and trolling with deep diving lures, "9er" umbrella rigs, and of course the deadly Santini tube. The largest fish was caught trolling off Boston Light, while the 2^nd largest grabbed a jig and worm between Spectacle Island and Camp Harbor View.

After a couple of hours of fishing in the clear, clean waters of Boston Harbor, the young anglers returned to Fan Pier Marina for a weigh in ceremony and photos before enjoying sandwiches provided by Top Secret Sandwiches on the Boston Fish Pier and ice cream sundaes donated by Emack and Bolio’s Aquarium Store. After lunch, the captains and crew filleted the winning fish and distributed fillets to all the campers to bring home for dinner.

Save the Harbor / Save the Bay's Bruce Berman and Patty Foley, along with Circle Furniture's Harold Tubman, pose with tournament participants and the day's winning catches.

 “There really is no better way to spend the day than out on Boston Harbor with great kids like these" said Harold Tubman of Circle Furniture. "I think my brother and I had more fun than they did!"

Each summer Save the Harbor/Save the Bay leads two free Youth Environmental Education programs that combine experiential learning with hands-on education that brings the harbor to life for young people. Since 2003 their "All Access Boston Harbor" and "Boston Harbor Explorers" have connected more than 60,000 youth and teens from the region's youth sailing centers, community organizations and youth groups to Boston Harbor and the Boston Harbor Islands.

These free summer youth programs are made possible with Leadership Grants from Distrigas of Massachusetts/GDF SUEZ, P. I. Garden Fund, Bay State Cruise Company, Forest Berkley & Marcie Tyre Berkley, The Coca-Cola Foundation, The Ludcke Foundation, Yawkey Foundation II, The Fallon Company, Massachusetts Port Authority, P&G Gillette and Schrafft Charitable Trust.

Save the Harbor also appreciates funding support from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, The Dolphin Trust, Alice W. Dorr Foundation, Massachusetts Bay Lines, National Grid Foundation, John Hancock Financial Services, Lawrence J & Ann Rubenstein Charitable Trust, Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation, Boston Bruins Foundation, Clipper Ship Foundation, Jay Cashman, Inc., Mass Humanities, Bank of America Pavilion, Circle Furniture, Fuller Foundation, Thomas & Lucinda Foley, Lovett-Woodsum Family Charitable Foundation Inc., South Boston Community Development Corporation, Andus Baker & Rowan Murphy Family Foundation, Boston Centers for Youth and Families, Department of Conservation and Recreation, Martha Mazzone Charitable Gift Fund, Matthew J. & Gilda Strazzula Foundation,  Community Suffolk, Inc., DeMarco Produce and hundreds of individual small donors.