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By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
There’s a new trend on Wall Street, and it has nothing to do with buying or selling stocks.
As per a recent article in Crain’s NY, charter fishing in the Hamptons has become the new hottest craze for Wall Street professionals. Will Cornacchia, who worked in investment-grade credit sales at Goldman Sachs Group before moving to Montauk, has been busy for the past 2.5 years managing the Montauk Anglers Club. His fishing excursions, featuring a day out on a boat fishing on the waters of East Hamptons in New York, have gained popularity with his former peers. Daniel Regina, a high-yield-bond broker at BGC Partners, is one such customer. Regina has embarked on close to a dozen Montauk Angler fishing expeditions in the past few years. On one such trip in September, he said: “We caught a bunch of fish — stripers [striped bass], bluefish, sea bass. Then we came back to the marina and they cooked the fish up for us, and we watched Monday Night Football.”
Business is booming also at a fishing tournament in Freeport. Chris Squeri, co-owner and tournament director at the Atlantic Yacht Haven marina, says he’s definitely noticed a change in the demographics of people enrolling in the Montauk Canyon Challenge. “We’ve grown about 50% in the number of boats for the tournament over the last five years; last year it was 60 boats, this year we’re expecting 75 to 80. You’re seeing more Wall Street types and hedge fund guys, along with Joe Fisherman.”
Similarly, Deane Lambros, a partner at Canyon Runner in Jersey Shore in New Jersey said they have seen increased interest from Wall Street workers. The company specializes in chartered boat trips across the Northeast as well as the mid-Atlantic, and memberships include boating and fishing tutorials and consultations. “Around the tristate area, there’s a demographic of business people looking for experiences,” said Lambros. Canyon Runner memberships have increased some 20 percent annually over the past few years, now boasting over 400 members, he told Crain’s.
Regina explains that one factor that helped the trend gain steam is that the boats are now high-powerful and more convenient. Trips that used to take 12 hours, now take less than six hours. “It’s definitely become more accessible,” says Regina, who lives in Montauk. “The boats have faster engines; you get out to the fish a lot quicker than you used to.”
Another factor that helped fishing boats lure the Wall Street industry is that Starlink has became more accessible since about 2022. It used to be that the ocean was a dead zone for calls, but now people can take work calls even in the most remote locations.
“With Blade or another helicopter [operator], you can quickly get out east and go out fishing for the day,” says Lambros. “And with Starlink, you can conduct your business out there, too.”
Per Crain’s, another interesting change that has made fishing more enticing is that big game fish—including Tuna— are swimming closer to the shore. “Historically, in the northeast — in New York, Rhode Island and New Jersey — you’d have to run 70, 80, 100 miles to get to the waters where tuna migrate,” says Cornacchia. “Now it’s 20 to 25 miles.” The changes in the tuna migration can be attributed to the restrictions on catching small forage fish..
