Dan Ladd

New York Outdoor News Long Island Fishing Reports contributor Mike Dean not only took top honors in the striped bass category at the recent Manhattan Cup, held June 7, he also caught (and released) the biggest striper in the event’s 23-year history.
Dean’s estimated 60.16-pound mammoth striped bass is a personal best for the finance trader from Quogue, in Suffolk County, N.Y., who also authors the Manhattan to Montauk angling blog.
“I’m a humble guy,” Dean said, “but for a day I felt like the best angler in New York.”

Fishing seasons have gradually been opening across New York throughout the spring months and the June 15 black bass opener may be the biggest of them all. And this year, in familiar fashion, it opens on a Saturday.
New York’s bass opener was traditionally the third Saturday in June for decades. But regulation changes in 2022 set June 15 as the hard opener, which is now the standard. For most of the state, a catch-and-release season still exists from Dec. 1 through June 14. Black bass have been making headlines this year, especially prior to the season.