Enthusiasts get a jump on season at Freeport Fishing and Boating Show

Seated in a green camping chair, Vincent Andrisani clamped a fishing pole with all his might as he furiously tried to reel in a mahi-mahi.

The 11-year-old wasn’t in a tropical destination like Costa Rica or Panama, but rather inside the Freeport Recreation Center on Saturday afternoon.

Andrisani reeled in the fish, displayed in front of him on a TV screen, through a computer-driven sportfishing simulator, a popular attraction at Saturday’s Freeport Fishing and Boating Show.

“It was a little bit of a struggle as you can see because they’re very feisty fish,” said Yalud Andrisani of the Bronx, who filmed her son with a cellphone before taking a stab herself with the simulator. “But he held on and he did it.”

The fishing show, hosted by the nonprofit New York Sportfishing Federation, featured dozens of vendors selling fishing gear like rods and reels, along with activities such as a virtual boating trainer and seminars hosted by Long Island charter captains.

The show serves as the largest fundraiser for the sportfishing federation and represents an unofficial kick off to the season for fishermen suffering cabin fever. The event, typically held on Presidents Day weekend, had been on hiatus since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Jeff Leavitt of Long Beach, the federation’s secretary, said he used to attend the fishing show when he was a kid. He still has a coffee mug from a show decades ago, he said.

"It's always been pretty big," he said. "It used to be almost the only show."

Funds from the event go toward the federation’s Teach A Kid to Fish program and promoting the sportfishing community in New York.

Mike Barnett, who runs the charterboat Cod Father in Freeport, manned the raffle Saturday. He has operated a charterboat since 1987.

He said he just took his 32-foot boat out of the water for some maintenance before he gets right back into another season on the water.

“Once we get to the end of April and May, then we’ll start with fluke and striped bass,” he said.

The seminars offered fishermen a chance to learn strategies for catching blackfish around the North Fork and how to catch striped bass and fluke from west-end inlets, among other topics. Members of the state Department of Environmental Conservation also set up a booth. The DEC fishing regulations are constantly tweaked, although the federation leaders said they have been mostly steady in the last two years.

Leavitt encouraged fishermen to check the DEC website for the latest information on regulations.

Joseph Feliccia of West Babylon, the co-owner of the fishing simulator with his son Ryan, has been a member of the federation for more than 30 years and is a former president. He served as this year’s event coordinator.

He purchased the simulator equipment a few years ago and they set up at flea markets and private events like birthday parties.

“I always tell parents, get your camera ready,” Feliccia said for when a kid experiences the initial pull of the fishing rod.

The fishing show returns Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the recreation center. Admission is $15 and free for children under 16.