Around 9 a.m., all of the competing boats puttered from Chelsea Piers, on Manhattan's West Side, into the Hudson River and waited for the official start of the tourney. There was five-man crew on our boat, a 26-foot Regulator center console with twin 250-hp outboards: Joe Cermele, associate editor of fieldandstream.com; angler Scott Doty; Captain Chris Kolodziej; Captain Tony Gangone; and me. Once every boat was in the Hudson, tournament director Frank Crescitelli announced the go-ahead over the VHF, and it was full-throttle to the fishing grounds.