by Steve Tornovish
I just attended the nicest Nantucket event that I’ve ever been at. The award ceremony for the 2024 August Blues Fishing Tournament was held tonight at the Miacomet Golf Club and it was amazing, in all the ways that an awards event should be. It was amazing in the feelings department. This fishing tournament raised more than $35,000 for the fight to end Duchenne muscular dystrophy. It was amazing in the hope department. Major prizes were competed for and won by women in a sport often dominated by men. We saw that there’s so much hope for the future, as the next generation of awesome fishers were well represented. It was quite apparent that we veteran anglers better pick up our game! And it was fun. We laughed, we cheered, and we celebrated the winners. Who would have ever seen this coming when the event was conceived in 2023?
But wait, there’s more! A new member of the Nantucket beach fishing community won the Triple Strike Beach Prize, a prize he earned by fishing long hours, hunting for the strangely elusive bluefish. This guy fished hard. He told me, “I only live one way. I apply it to everything I do.” The results certainly bore this out. He walked out to the farthest reaches of Great Point and Smith’s Point. He fought through the thick red weed at Low Beach. He saw the sun rising as he fished Point O’ Breakers. Yeah, that’s what champions do. And this fisher knows what being a champion is all about. After all, he was the captain of three New England Patriots Super Bowl winning teams. Congratulations to Tedy Bruschi, the 2024 Triple Strike Beach Champion!
And how about this: the day that the tournament announced that the prize for the biggest beach bluefish was going to be a signed red New England Patriots #54 jersey from that same Tedy Bruschi, Nathan Skerritt posted on his Instagram page, “I will fight tooth and nail to win this! Tooth and nail!” And he did! Nathan’s 35-inch entry held up and his dream came true. I’m here to tell you, folks, Nate Skerritt is one of the coolest people you’ll ever meet on the beach or anywhere, for that matter. His story is amazing and his passion for life is unmatched. It was wonderful to see him holding the Bru-fish award tonight. Nate, you deserved that. Congratulations!
Heather Unruh was dominant in the boat fishing division in a way much like Mike Tyson was dominant in the heavyweight division from 1985 to 1990. She knocked out the competition and won both the Triple Strike Boat Prize and the largest boat-caught bluefish. Her closest competitor in both categories was her husband, Hal Beacham! Heather was unstoppable. Her 38-inch bluefish was the biggest entry in the competition.
The Junior Triple Strike event was won by Graham Staniford, a come-from-behind victory achieved on the last day of the tournament. Graham is an awesome young angler, and I’m looking forward to the day when I get to take him and his family out on the beach for an adventure!
The Family Prize, a new event for the 2024 tournament, was won by the Roberts family. Grandpa Dr. Paul Roberts along with his son, Dr. Matt Roberts, and young Hayden Roberts combined for an average bluefish length of 31.75 inches. This contest was spirited, and I believe will become one of the most sought-after prizes in future years. I assure you that I will be looking for my 7-year-old grandnephew Henry and his dad, Matt, to get catching next year!
Noah Karberg caught the first beach bonito and then the first boat bonito of the tournament. This outrageous performance led to him receiving a special bonito print, donated by Pete VanDingstee (have you seen his fish prints? They’re amazing!). Austin Starr (adult) and Homer Ray V (junior) won the Tinker Blue Prize for the smallest fish. Dante Bruschi kept the family tradition going strong with his award for the first beach false albacore.
This event honors our own August “Augie” Chotkowski, a young man who had fought the battle with Duchenne muscular dystrophy for all of his 28 years. The emphasis is always on the fun in this tournament, but the cause that gave rise to it is very serious cause. Proceeds from the August Blues tournament help fund Parents Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD). From parentprojectmd.org: “Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy fights to end Duchenne. We accelerate research, raise our voices to impact policy, demand optimal care for every single family, and strive to ensure access to approved therapies.”
Greg and Augie recently took a long road trip to Orlando, FL for the annual PPMD gathering. Earlier this summer, I spoke with Pat Furlong, the President and CEO of PPMD. Pat was a surprise guest at tonight’s event. She was amazed by what the Nantucket fishing community achieved last year, raising $15,000. I can’t imagine how she feels about this year’s tournament that more than doubled that amount! Pat told me, “I’ve known Greg and Augie for years. Greg is so very kind and innovative. A person needs a lot of creativity to care for someone with Duchenne.” Pat thought that the tournament idea was perfect: “We’re all fishing for treatments and cures.”
Yes, Pat, and the Nantucket fishing community is going to keep fishing to help catch those treatments and cures. Thank you for what you do, and thank you to all who make the August Blues tournament both fun and meaningful. We saw a lot of champions crowned tonight. We saw former champions conquer new challenges. We saw underdogs win in the last moments. The greatest champion, however, was our tournament’s namesake, Augie, parked in the center of the action and loving every minute of it. Yes, this was the best Nantucket event I’ve ever attended.