Matt Broderick's May 14 Long Island Metro Forecast for The Fisherman did not open the way a weekly video report usually does. Before the tournament calendar, before the open house, before the lure spread for the weekend, Broderick took the camera through three obituaries from inside the New York fishing community in the space of a single week.
The loss anglers will feel first is Captain Al Lorenzetti, who passed away on May 12. A long-running contributor to the magazine's weekly video forecasts, Lorenzetti fished alongside his father from childhood and built a lifetime of intimate knowledge on the Great South Bay.
"Al developed a profound understanding of the Great South Bay," Broderick said. "He was a gifted communicator who was always willing to share his knowledge with everybody. It is safe to say Al was an expert on catching striped bass, and catching stripers back in the day when they were more scarce."
Lorenzetti produced a popular series of fishing videos in the 1990s and in 1997 launched Skimmer Outdoors, running clients from celebrities Kevin James and Stanley Tucci to a long list of finance industry names aboard his 1979 23-foot Mako, the Skimmer.
"Captain Al, I'm going to miss introducing you in the weekly video fishing forecast videos," Broderick said. "Tight lines and rest in peace."
The second loss was Stu Miller, one of the magazine's original advertising representatives on Long Island. Miller built relationships across tackle shops, boat dealers and marine manufacturers and is credited inside the trade with helping to lay the groundwork for much of Long Island's recreational fishing and marine industry as it operates today.
The third was Christopher Ramos, owner of Pelagic Outfitters in Lindenhurst with a second location in Massapequa. Ramos, who Broderick said he had seen personally not long before the passing, was remembered across social media as a hardworking and well-liked figure in the local fishing scene.
"Chris, Al, and Stu, you will be remembered forever in the fishing communities for all the hard work and dedication you did," Broderick said. "Rest in peace and tight lines to you all."
From there, the forecast moved to the regulatory news anglers had been waiting on. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation formally confirmed the 2026 black sea bass schedule.
"May 16th will be the opening date for the black sea bass season here in New York," Broderick said. "It's going to be going at 16 inch minimum size. That season will run to August 31st at three fish per person at 16, and then from September 1st to December 31st the bag increases to six fish a person."
The Saturday opener puts New York on the same calendar as Massachusetts and Connecticut, which also open on May 16, and ahead of Rhode Island, which opens on May 22. For Long Island bottom anglers, that puts the bridge structure inside the bays, the wreck pieces along the south shore, and the inshore lumps east of the inlets all back in play.
The weekend's other destination event is Suffolk Marine's Regulator open house in Babylon, running May 15, 16 and 17 with a new 35 Regulator on display alongside a 31 in the water, a 25 and a 23.
"We're going to have food here. We're going to have discounts on the boats," Suffolk Marine's Mike Hayes said. "You can really see what this ride's all about."
The around-the-map reports added the colour that anglers actually fish from. On the east end, Ray Sebek lifted a 37-inch surf-caught striper off the back side of Shinnecock on a six-inch paddle tail, with steady fish reported through to Moriches Inlet. Allan Ye showed a limit of scup on the Brooklyn Girl out of Orient Point. On the south shore, Veto from State Bait Fishing landed a beach striper on a 7-inch Joe's cotton candy soft bait. Frank Gobenor weighed a 31-inch slot striper from Argyle Bay at 10 pounds 11 ounces.
The Canyon Runner offshore desk closed the report with the read that interests every Hudson Canyon angler heading out this weekend. A rotating Gulf Stream plume has pushed north over the Washington and Baltimore canyons for five days, with surface temps holding at 68 to 69 degrees on the edge and the Hudson producing incidental bluefin shots on tile fishing drops.
"All the eyes are on this water," the Canyon Runner host said. "If this water can keep pushing north, you're going to see a lot bigger migration of bluefin up in here."
For Long Island anglers, the weekend list is heavy: a Saturday black sea bass opener at 16 inches, a striper run finally lifting, a Regulator open house in Babylon, and three names to carry on the water - Lorenzetti, Miller, and Ramos.