Local journalist — and friend to the North Fork Sun — Angela Colangelo was recognized last weekend with two Excellence in Craft awards at the annual New York State Outdoor Writers Association conference in Niagara Falls.
Colangelo’s feature “Making the Bait,” a rich portrait of Cutchogue fishing plug-maker Larry Welcome, took first prize. Her story “Starry Nights,” an illuminating journey into the inner workings of Southold’s Custer Institute and Observatory, earned third place. Both pieces appeared in Northforker magazine last year.
Currently the Digital Editor at Times Review Media Group in Mattituck, Colangelo joined the writers’ association just two years ago, encouraged by longtime friend and fellow outdoor journalist Chris Paparo — better known to many by his popular FishGuyPhotos Instagram account.
“Not too many women writers get their start writing about fishing,” Colangelo said, reflecting on her earliest bylines. Her first published story appeared in Fisherman magazine in the early 2000s, where she also managed the publication’s social media presence — a role through which she first connected with Paparo. The two stayed in touch over the years via Instagram and his GeekTalks series at Ubergeek Brewing in Riverhead.
“Chris and I had spoken a few times about me joining the Outdoor Writers’ group, and I finally did last year,” Colangelo said. “I entered the Excellence in Craft contest for the first time this year because I really loved writing those two articles.”
Her first-prize-winning profile of Larry Welcome sprang from a chance encounter at an outdoor expo. She was working a booth with her late mentor, Fisherman senior editor Fred Golofaro, when Welcome — alone at the neighboring table — needed a break.
“I watched his booth for him,” Colangelo recalled. “He gave me his famous lure, a white bottle darter, as a thank you.” Though she had since hung up her surfcasting waders, she passed the lure on to a friend who still fished regularly. “He landed his best catch on it,” she said. “While reporting the article, I found out my friend is just one of many surfcasters who can say that.”
Her second award-winning piece, “Starry Nights,” reflected her deep affection for the night sky and her long-held curiosity about the Custer Observatory.
“I love talking to people who know things I don’t, so Custer is a great spot for me to learn,” she said. “Stopping to watch sky events — meteor showers, comets, even just sunsets and sunrises — makes me pause. Just sit here with your eyes open and be wowed. But getting to ask questions and actually know what I’m looking at definitely helps.”
A devoted birder with a soft spot for waterfowl, Colangelo was especially delighted by the prize that accompanied her first-place finish: an intricately hand-carved canvasback duck decoy by award-winning craftsman Bill Suitor.
“I didn’t know that first prize was a hand-carved duck decoy,” she said, grinning. “Had I known, I would’ve entered more than two articles.”
