Frost Fish

[Billfish715]

For all of you youngsters out there, here's a bit of fishing lore you may have missed. For all of you old timers, I hope this takes you back to a place that will make you say," I remember that."

In another thread I mentioned something about Frost Fish and sand eels and the Long Branch Fishing Pier. Enjoy the article and the memories.

https://www.surfcastersjournal.com/the-midnight-rambler-remembering-frost-fish/

[NoLimit]

Great article - its a shame that so many never experienced ling and whiting fishing in the winter. In some respects, it was more popular than summer fishing.

[Capt. Lou]

Is don't even remember going for ling in summer except for tuna bait . Winter it was cod , whiting & fall n winter mackerel runs .
Whiting would get washed on the beach chasing bait in late fall , some nites u could pick em' up,off the beach they were so thick .
LBP was also,a hot spot for weakfishing in the fall on the nite tides , it was a solid fishery in the fifties , as was summer king fishing in the deal area surf .
The pier produced a variety of species throughout the season and in fall it really shined .
Those days in the fifties an area off the off SH known as the cedars was the ling hot spot in spring , u could load burlap,bags with them as u could fall n winter whiting fishery . Whiting so thick in site of AT u could catch them baiting your hook with a strip,of red cloth and catch all u wanted !
What we enjoy today is a very poor facsimile of the great NY bight fishery we enjoyed some 50 - 60 yrs ago .
Tuna we regularly took at 17 and BA & Farms . Giants were in same vicinity later in season usually after Labor Day .
Cod were caught at SR's , 17 and Cholera banks regularly . Funny in those early days most fluke were taken along the beach and in inshore channels in huge numbers . We use to tin can on the Belford flats and load the boat with flatties
Flounder fishing in spring was un reel taking 20-40 on the tide in SR was normal
as was in most rivers up and down the coast .
U can thank the 200 mile limit and the lack of fisheries enforcement that allowed our commercial,vessels to,literally clean out out ground fishery up,and down the coast , this is what we're left with practically nothing 😡

[zhitoman]

I was catching plenty of ling this past November and December of a pier in Brooklyn. I could've probably caught a bucket or two if I fished the whole night. So I have no idea what you guys are talking about. Ling is here in huge numbers. Smaller variety though.

[jerseyhunter]

I couldn't have said it any better Capt. Lou

[Reel Class]

I was catching plenty of ling this past November and December of a pier in Brooklyn. I could've probably caught a bucket or two if I fished the whole night. So I have no idea what you guys are talking about. Ling is here in huge numbers. Smaller variety though.

There's a good chance those ling you were catching were squirrel hake or maybe even tommy cod.

[Reel Class]

Great article. I remember as a very young kid in the late 70's my neighbors down the street coming to our house with buckets of BIG whiting mixed with some mackerel. This was after thanksgiving and the bluefish had chased them right on the beach and they just were left there. People would go up and literally pick them out of the sand much like how bunker get washed up on the beach after a blitz.

We've been seeing some whiting the last few years during spring seabass season. Some trips, on certain spots, we see no more than a few and they're usually spikes but we had a couple this past spring that were actually OK sized, but compared to the fish we used to see, these were small.

The last time I was on a whiting TRIP was in 1994 on the NK3. We went up to the Farms and we did OK. That particular trip was in late april/early may. In my memory, that was the last year that there was a viable fishery especially for the magic hour boats targeting whiting. In the 80's, fishing was still good and all the boats did either half-night whiting trips or magic hour trips.

[joetheplumber]

hi wow use to fish coney inland peir years ago early 60 ths all whithing you wanted at night plus stripers were 16 inch to keep great fishing in 60 ths only bad thing about 60 ths was 1966 got Drafed in army bad times OK going to sportmans show saturday suffern take care every body Good luck fishing this year

[Capt. Debbie]

People tend to exaggerate a bit as they get older with the good old days stuff.

I'm 61 and remember fishing off a Ambrose when it was actually a four legged tower with a building atop it, I remember night whiting off Long Branch Pier in Januaries and don't remember anyone getting tuna off of Sandy Hook. Memories.... Perhaps a few hundred years ago? LOL

I was catching plenty of ling this past November and December of a pier in Brooklyn. I could've probably caught a bucket or two if I fished the whole night. So I have no idea what you guys are talking about. Ling is here in huge numbers. Smaller variety though.

[zhitoman]

There's a good chance those ling you were catching were squirrel hake or maybe even tommy cod.
Nope, spotted hake. A lot of them. This was going on for two month non stop.

[gypsy]

Long Branch Pier, what memories, as a kid going out all night with my uncles and dad. Always an adventure, Whiting fishing mainly in the winter, freezing my butt off, running inside to warm up, get a hot chocolate, run back out. Never knew what king of fish would show up, guys would throw the angler fish on the pier and let the seagulls eat them, one night a stray dog came onto the pier and carried one off. That is one memory I'll have forever, the way that fat fish hung in the dogs mouth as he ran off with it. My father told me of the days of frost fishing along the NJ coast. Sounds unreasonable but no reason to doubt it. Said the whiting would get thrown up onto the sand and freeze to it, just walk along the waterline and pick them up. We also would get everyone in the car on a Sunday in the winter, head to Belmar and wait for the party boats to come in, the fisherman would put fish on the dock that they wanted to sell to pay their fare and keep the rest. We would usually get a cod, or whiting from these guys, go home and have a fish fry. We didn't have a lot of time for fishing when you live on a small farm, so this is how we would get fresh fish, now they are no longer allowed to sell their catch, don't know why . As Bob Hope would sing Thanks For the Memories

[courbeco]

I remember these days.....Especially the Magic Hour and Night Whiting boats from Belmar.....Baseball bat sized whiting. I would check the boats every night leading up the trip....All was good until the Belford and Pt. Pleasant Co-Ops wiped them out from the NY Bight area.......:(

[Ry609]

Really cool article! Coming from a young buck, it's sad that I had no clue this fishery ever even existed or why people even wanted to fish for them. I'm guessing they taste good? I was born in the wrong era.

[bulletbob]

Really cool article! Coming from a young buck, it's sad that I had no clue this fishery ever even existed or why people even wanted to fish for them. I'm guessing they taste good? I was born in the wrong era.

Very good to eat.. Better than most.
Ling are well known for being sweet and mild, just a bit soft, and don't freeze real well.. Whiting were white sweet and mild as well, and firmer than Ling.. a smoked Whiting is the best eating smoked fish of all time in my opinion.. I like smoked salmon, but IMHO, smoked Whiting are better.. I sure do miss them...
Sad part is, we had that fishing year after year, decade after decade, and then it was gone...bob

[Charlie B]

Yes smoked whiting are very good. I see them in stores now but haven't bought any in years. I don't want to support the draggers...Charlie

[NoLimit]

Really cool article! Coming from a young buck, it's sad that I had no clue this fishery ever even existed or why people even wanted to fish for them. I'm guessing they taste good? I was born in the wrong era.
Yes they taste good - ling is the best but you have to keep them cold and eat them fresh. However the striper fishing we have now is far better than back then. The porgy fishing has been better too. I would probably give up both for a return of winter flounder and fluke like we used to have.

[zhitoman]

Ling is here in big numbers

[Reel Class]

Ling is here in big numbers

Nice catch man. As I assumed and said earlier they were likely squirrel aka spotted hake and that’s what those are. Very tasty so as long as they are large enough to fillet!

[june181901]

My buddy and I would drive from Bayonne to Princess Bay on Staten Island and fish on the Viking. Bring home couple of burlap sacksful and give them out at Slim's Cafe in Bayonne to the patrons.

[tautog]

Ling is here in big numbers

squirrels...usually too small to bother with but you get big ones mixed in with small stripers night fishing off the sand in late fall and early winter.

[Jigman13]

Ling is here in big numbers

They're good tuna bait. Had them while tile fishing this fall. Managed to keep them alive in a bucket until it was time to start chunking. Dropped down 100-125ft and whammo! Beefy yellows!

[Capt. Debbie]

I used to troll in back of the draggers off shore. YFT's hitting the spill over from their nets.

That was summer time though.




They're good tuna bait. Had them while tile fishing this fall. Managed to keep them alive in a bucket until it was time to start chunking. Dropped down 100-125ft and whammo! Beefy yellows!

[NJ bob]

I remember the old party boats in Atlantic Highlands, my dad And I fishing on the Ranger which was his favorite boat and captain everyone filling up the burlap bags with whiting ling maybe a cod or two and macks .Some of my best memories as a kid growing up in the 60s and 70s
thanks for the post

[fishark531]

If anyone wants to not dwell on the past and catch Big Whiting, Haddock and Ling I just booked a charter on Eastmans on 9/7 it is on the board