Brotherhood Outdoors

Third generation Union electrician and sportsman Joe Proscia counts himself a lucky guy who’s had a very fortunate life. He learned about work and the great outdoors from his father and grandfather.

  "My Union has provided a great life for me and my family, a solid middle-class life with good pay and benefits and, for that, I’m truly grateful," Proscia said.

  Proscia is a member of IBEW Local 3 in New York City, which has 33,000 members and its very own Sportsmen’s Club that he helped found. Club members get together for outings throughout the year. They’ve gone to Alaska, Costa Rica and other great hunting and fishing destinations, but one of their favorite activities is their annual striped bass tournament held off Montauk Point on the eastern end of Long Island. 

  The tournament draws upwards of 200 IBEW anglers annually. That’s where TV Host Tom Ackerman joined Proscia and his Union brothers and sisters to film an episode of Brotherhood Outdoors and share their mutual love of pursuing stripers…one of the America’s most popular game fish.

  Ackerman has been chasing stripers since he was 10-years-old, and he’s even been a professional striper fishing guide in his home state of Maine.  Ackerman knows stripers and likes nothing better than to catch them on top with a fly rod. Proscia is a big bass hunter and likes to get down where the big ones hang out, using traditional gear. Most big stripers, weighing 30 pounds or more, are females, and New York State’s record, a 76 pounder, was caught at Montauk in 1981.

  Both masters at good natured ribbings, Proscia and Ackerman each worked like crazy during the tournament to convince fellow team members that his fishing technique was the best, most exciting and most productive.  Proscia, who had never fly fished for stripers, found Ackerman’s way of fishing to be a little awkward at first and admitted to being "pretty tough" on the gear.  He snapped off flies and lost his first few fish, but with so many hungry and cooperative fish up on top, Proscia finally discovered first-hand why Ackerman loves his fly rods and the excitement of catching eight and 10-pound stripers on the surface.

  Of course, Proscia couldn’t keep from reminding Ackerman that the big stripers weren’t on the top and that he had to try trolling down deep, using wire line.

  So what happened when "Top-water Tom" grabbed one of "Wire-line Joe’s" big bass rods? What happened when the biggest striper Ackerman ever hooked jumped and broke his line just as the mate was slipping a net under her? Tune in to Sportsman Channel at 8 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, March 8 to see for yourself.