Point Pleasant Elks Announce Winners of 17th Annual Linda Van Duyn Memorial Fluke Tournament

The Point Pleasant Elks BPOE #1698 are announcing winners in the Elks 17th Annual Linda Van Duyn Memorial Fluke Tournament.

The tournament, run by the Elks Lodge on Arnold Avenue, was recently re-named in honor of Linda Van Duyn, who passed away last year.

She was the Elks' first woman member, and wife of Arnie Van Duyn, who has been running the tournament for many years, said Scot Famous, Elks' Exalted Ruler.

Bob Pursel, tournament publicity chairman, noted the dedicated participation in the tournament, despite record-breaking heat.

"Through the heat of what could be the hottest day of the year, the fishermen moved their boats out of the inlet at 6 a.m. Saturday to start the Point Pleasant Elks 17th Annual Fluke Fishing Tournament," said Pursel.

"They floated out into the ocean and dropped their lines in anticipation of catching that large fluke that would win them a prize in this year's tournament."

The winners of this year's tournament in the power boat division were:

Peter Fanizzi of Union Beach, with a fish weighing 11.9 lbs; second place, William Zebrowski, Wall, whose fish weighed 11.3 lbs. He also won the prize for being an active Elk member.

Third place, Wayne Hurley, Plumsted, with a 10 pound fish; fourth place, Lou DeRosa, Toms River, 9 pound fish; fifth place, Bob Madej, Iselin, 8.9 pound fish; sixth place, Dave Arbeitman, Point Pleasant, 8.8 pound fish; seventh place, Ed Braunsdorf, Brick, with an 8.1 pound fish.

The youth prize went to 11-year-old Ryan Marut of Toms River.

The winners in the kayak division were: first place, Bill Kiluk, 22-inch fluke; second place, Chris Shoplock, 20-inch fluke; third place, Frank Healy, with a 19.5-inch fluke.

The first place Calcutta longest fluke winner was Capt. John Kravchak with a 27-inch fluke and first place Calcutta for three longest fluke combined were Larry Newman and Gary Ward with a total 61.5 inches.

"While the fishermen were enjoying themselves out on the water, the members of the Lodge were sweltering in the heat either at the weight stations waiting for the fishermen to return or back at the Lodge preparing for the picnic later in the day," Pursel said.

The hometowns for kayak and Calcutta division winners were unavailable.

The tournament accepted entries up until July 22nd and had qualified anglers competing with each other to catch the biggest fish, by weight, for the cash prizes in the powerboat division.

There were 190 boats that registered for the tournament.

The Kayak Division, which had kayak product for prizes, had about 30 entries. This was the third year of the Kayak Division and this year was based on a catch and photograph format.

"Even with the weather being very hot, most of the fishermen and their families returned to the lodge after fishing to enjoy a picnic and get the results of the day's activities," Pursel said. "Keep your eyes on the lookout for the 2012 Tournament which will be held at the end of July."

For more information, see the fishing tournament page of the Elks website.