2026 Striper Tournament - A Great Weekend of Catch and Release Fishing for a Cause! - North and South Rivers Watershed Association

Will Pellicano accepting his $1,000 check from Tad Beagley and Samantha Woods. Photo by Randy Otto.

This past weekend, the NSRWA held its 10th Annual South Shore Striper Tournament, with an outstanding turnout from participants, volunteers, and sponsors. In total, 183 anglers, 66 of whom were age 12 or under, participated across the five different categories, with the youngest participant being 4 years old. The largest fish was a 47.75″ striper caught and released from a boat by Will Pellicano. Congratulations to all who participated!

The first 50 kids (12 and under) registered for FREE and took home a hat and a fish-friendly lure, thanks to the Levitate Foundation.

The first 150 anglers got a 10th Anniversary Hat, courtesy of our friends at Briteway Car Wash.

Please see all of our corporate sponsors below and thank them with your business.

Each participant received a Hogy bucktail teaser, as one of the best ways to reduce fish mortaility is by using lures, not bait, with a single hook and bucktail teaser. We also asked people to share videos of releasing their fish and offered a prize for doing so. You can see those videos on our Facebook page.

The tournament supports our work to restore our waterways and fisheries on the South Shore! Part of this event’s goal was also to raise awareness surrounding proper catch and release techniques, all of which are important in sustaining our culturally important fisheries.

Check out the photos from the Awards Presentation below.

See photos on Facebook

Click here to see the 2026 Striper Tournament Leaderboard.

To learn more about ways to reduce mortality with proper catch-and-release fishing practices, please view our webinar Sustaining the Stripers with Ben Gahagan from MassDMF.

The winners were:
Place	Name	Size
Boat First Place	William Pellicano	47.75″
Boat Second Place Calcutta	Jack Speer	47″
Boat Child First Place	Chris Park, Jr.	42″
Boat Child Second Place	Ricky Herb	41″
Boat Child Third Place	Avery Papi	38.25″
Shore First Place	Ronan Kearney	46.75″
Shore Second Place Calcutta	Richard Taft	46.25″
Shore Child First Place	Alexander Richmond	31.5″
Shore Child Second Place	Jake Beagley	31″
Shore Child Third Place	Colin Cancellieri	30.25″
Flyfishing First Place	Robert Brothers	33″
Fly Fishing Second Place Calcutta	Jim Kearns	30.1″
Measuring Stick Raffle Winner	William Buonocore
Release Video Raffle	Emmie & Isla Grace Sprague

Follow these seven steps to protect Striped Bass and adhere to responsible catch and release practices:

Use lures, not bait, with a single hook and flag bucktail teasers. Do NOT use trebles. Go barbless, and use circle hooks if using bait. Trebles and bait will increase fish mortality.
Limit fight time. Use heavier lines and leaders to reduce fight time.
Use an extra-long net to land the striper
Keep in water and remove the hook gently. Use hook removal tools if available.
Use wet hands and keep the fish horizontal. Support the middle
Be prepared to take a photo and measure to reduce airtime to less than 10 seconds. Every second counts!
Get fish in water and move water over the gills until they bite your fingers. Release!