Reclaimed park welcomes anglers

When members of the Mastic Beach community at Osprey Point months ago began planning the first of what they hope will become an annual Snapper Derby, they naturally wondered if it would be a success.

Who could blame them? Only five years ago Osprey Park, where the event was held Saturday, was in shambles. Virtually ignored by the Town of Brookhaven as well as local residents, its facilities had been vandalized and burned. A once productive fishing dock was dilapidated and a serious safety concern.

"This park was a travesty. It had become a place for addicts and drug pushers," said Frank Cappiello, 62, who lives just a few houses away.

Then the community came together and decided to reclaim the grounds, which look out over a particularly beautiful stretch of Moriches Bay just east of Smiths Point Bridge.

"We began cleaning up the place on our own," continued Cappiello. "Once we made some progress, we asked the town for support and it responded by rebuilding the sunshade, providing new benches and renovating the bathrooms Finally, instead of repairing the dock, the parks department decided to build a new one."

And what a dock it is. Stretching roughly 300 feet out into the bay before a long cross section sporting rod holders on each piling parallels the beach, it provided plenty of room for the 46 participants entered in the contest. Within minutes of the start, snapper blues, kingfish, sea robins and blue crabs were being caught. Other days have seen fluke, bluefish, triggerfish and eels lifted onto the clean, new planks.

"This is wonderful," said a cheerful Joe Ruffo, 42, who heads the local Community Watch. "This project really brought everyone together and now entire families are spending time here. It's fun to see the kids catching fish and they are learning a lot about conservation -- they'll tell you to toss the small ones back."

Local resident Chris Biel, 35, who installed the rod holders, agreed the project is a huge success. "I love it here," he said while helping youngsters unhook their catches. "This was such an eyesore. Now there are entire families coming to fish on a regular basis and we're all getting to know each other."

Yancy Butler, 13, of East Patchogue was catching up a storm. "It's fun here," he said while unhooking his eighth snapper of the morning. "I'm putting my baits on backwards so the point sticks out the head of the shiner. It's working really well."

One of the best things about the reclaimed park, located at the end of Ocean View Drive in Mastic Beach, is that it is open to everyone. All the residents ask is that visitors fish and crab legally, remove leftover bait or crabbing lines when done, and keep things consistent with a family atmosphere.

Cappiello and others who enjoy the dock hope it will stay open through the fall with a full-time attendant keeping an eye on the facilities. The dock currently has a permit that allows fishing into early September.

"I hope they renew the fishing permit to run through November," he said. "It would really be great to keep fishing here during the fall run."

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