The Long Island Metro edition of The Fisherman Magazine's May 14 video forecast opened in a way the weekly report rarely does. Host Matt Broderick set aside the lure walkthrough and the tournament calendar to deliver three obituaries from inside the New York fishing community, all in the space of a single week.
The loss anglers will feel first is Captain Al Lorenzetti, a long-running contributor to the magazine's weekly video forecasts who fished alongside his father from childhood and built a lifetime of knowledge on the Great South Bay. Lorenzetti passed away on May 12.
"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, hosting clients from celebrities Kevin James and Stanley Tucci to a long list of finance and 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 is 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 within the trade with helping lay the groundwork for much of Long Island's modern recreational fishing and marine industry.
The third is 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."
The forecast then moved to the regulatory news that anglers had been waiting on. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has formally confirmed the black sea bass schedule for 2026.
"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's May 22 opener. For Long Island bottom fishermen, the structure menu is already set up - bridge structure, wreck pieces inside the bays, and the inshore lumps along the south shore.
Broderick also flagged Suffolk Marine in Babylon as the weekend's destination event. The dealer is hosting an open-house Regulator showcase on May 15, 16 and 17, with a brand new 35, a 31 in the water, a 25 and a 23 all available to walk through, plus dealer pricing across the weekend.
"We're going to have food here. We're going to have discounts on the boats," Suffolk Marine's Mike Hayes said standing on the deck of the new 35 Regulator. "You can really see what this ride's all about. Come down to see us at Suff Marine."
The forecast's around-the-map segment delivered the kind of post-spawn south shore striper reports anglers have been waiting for. On the east end, Ray Sebek lifted a 37-inch surf-caught bass off the back side of Shinnecock on a six-inch paddle tail, with steady fish reported from there to Moriches Inlet. Allan Ye showed off a cooler of scup limited on the Brooklyn Girl out of Orient Point.
The offshore picture, supplied by the Canyon Runner offshore desk, reads warm. A rotating Gulf Stream plume has pushed north over the Washington and Baltimore canyons for five days, surface temperatures are running 68 to 69 degrees on the edge, and the Hudson Canyon is 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. You're going to see bluefin on the edge and yellowfin out in this water."
For Long Island anglers, the weekend is heavy: a Saturday black sea bass opener at 16 inches, a striper run finally lifting on the south shore, a Regulator open house in Babylon, and three names to remember on the water - Lorenzetti, Miller, and Ramos.