First Party Boat

[Flukemeister1]

What was the first party boat you sailed on? Mine was the old Miss Belmar. Back when Captain Shinn was running the pink and green PT boat.
The next one was the Miss Moore. My dad and my uncle took me cod fishing. I scared them to death on the ride home. They couldn't find me. I was a little kid up in the wheel house driving the boat. Great stuff.

[Grateful Dad]

Super Cat out of AH, it was a magic hour whiting trip. I remember freezing my ass off and filling a burlap bag with baseball bat whiting.:D

[courbeco]

Same here, the ol' pink Miss Belmar with a young Bob Nash. After that I became a Falcon (Atlantic Highlands) regular with Al, Mary, Skip and Jim Wirth.:)

[bunker dunker]

jubilee in point in 1966.were the gambler is now.there were 4 party boats there then.

[birddog]

Miss Take II out of Highlands for fluke.

[Bluefish]

Claire 11, Bronx River, NY

[Solemate]

Delmar AH

[Captain Rich]

Palace Fleet 1960's, Hoboken head boats run by the Billeti family. They had a bottom fishing boat and a bluefish boat.

[Topeka Boy]

Tambo out of Canarsie 1960.:cool:

[cigar Bob]

Marie-S out of Neptune before Capt. Walt moved to Belmar and became big Marie S, then Marie S II. $4 for half day and he passed out free hot dogs.

[Reelron]

What was the first party boat you sailed on? Mine was the old Miss Belmar. Back when Captain Shinn was running the pink and green PT boat.
The next one was the Miss Moore. My dad and my uncle took me cod fishing. I scared them to death on the ride home. They couldn't find me. I was a little kid up in the wheel house driving the boat. Great stuff.

My Dad used to mate on the Miss Belmar & the Sea Jet for the Shinns, on weekends. But the first Party boat he took me on was The Black Pearl, when ir ran out of the creek, in Keansburg. I believe that was around 1957?

[Capt. Lou]

Bel Boy Perth Amboy 110' ex sub chaser ! Mid 50's sailed on her religiously every week end with my grandfather !

[duranautic al]

Super Cat, atlantic highlands w/gram and gramps!

[Tuna Tales]

Spray III

Belmar, NJ

Capt. John De Rose

12-26-84

Whiting and Ling. 3 pm to 9 pm. We did well not too far offshore...and since to this day I remember the exact date you can probably guess I had a great time!

It is a dam shame what happened to this fishery...enough said.


Joe T.

[Fisherman120]

In 2000 when I was 5 I went on the Atlantis Princess out of Staten Island for fluke. I caught the first fish/keeper in the boat 2 minutes into the first drift, hooked ever since :)

[bigal427]

Miss Tambo my father use to take me for ling and whiting. Made some mackerel trips on that one too. Back in the 60's

[Pennsy Guy]

Atlantic City '43 or '44 during the war. I was 6-7, no idea the names of Capt or PB. Just remember a couple guys were worried we'd get torpedoed. After many, many moons, the Queen Mary out of PPB.

[Gerry Zagorski]

In the early 70s, night bluefish trip on the Cock Robin.

[Bates]

First with Dad was Bobby II then Gertrude H out of Belmar and the Palace II from Hoboken. My Dad was on the Bobby II when it was hit by the freighter and lost its bow. The guy who was fishing next to him was killed.

[hh52]

The ranger and the miss manasquan 1959?

[NoLimit]

The Atomic out of AH in 59? I remember old timers with bamboo rods and linen line and a 33 gallon garbage can full of fluke

[tombanjo]

Rainbow out of Sheepshead Bay late 50's early 60's. Dad used to take us out twice a year.

[Jpell15]

Went to Belmar with my dad but none of the boats were sailing. Luckily some people at the dock told us to go to Brielle. We never heard of the place but ended up on the paramount and had a great day fishing

[shtriton207]

satellite in atl highlands 1/2 day fluke

[BCinerie]

1977 gambler all day blue fishing using Bengal bananas! Richie was the mate!

[Striper80]

The Bucky out of Elizabeth in the 80's.

[Duffman]

Palace II Hoboken 1975. I remember the old timers fishing with handlines at the time!

Could not wait for my father to get home on Fridays with the Daily News so I could read Jerry Kenny's column and see all the party boat listings.

[Dave A]

The Happy from AH in Aug 1959...believe it or not it was 1/2 day mackerel:)

[Reel Class]

Norma-K III very late 70's half day fluke fishing with my dad and uncle. I remember it was slow but we still went home with about 10 fluke. (with no minimum size we kept what we WANTED - gee that makes sense huh?) I also distinctly remember some guy catching a monster kingfish (I was like 4 and a half) - it was a monster!

We did a trip or two every summer on the Norma-K OR Shamrock (the old steel hulled one - the one before he got the Lydia) until I was like 7. Also hit the Dauntless a few times in that span.

[Bucktail Bob]

Check out this link. Great photos of party boats from past to present.

Brings back a lot of good memories.


http://www.mels-place.com/mmm/Party-Boats/index.htm

[Bucktail Bob]

OOPS! Link didn't copy correctly.

Try this.

http://www.mels-place.com/mmm/Party-Boats/index.html

[Fin Reaper]

Shamrock (2?) in the late 60's out of PP

[SplitShot]

My dad took me bluefishing on the Queen Mary in PP... and I recently re-wrapped the rods we used and they look brand new and kept as a good memory :)

[Rottilover]

The Palace 2 out of Hoboken, NJ in 1984. Night Bluefishing. I remember watching the Gumba's playing poker downstairs on the ride out. The diesel smell down there was unreal. My little league coach who I went with won the pool by livelining a Ling he just caught. I was using frozen smelts that I bought from Pathmark. We were fishing 17 Fathoms. Amazing what you could remember 30 years ago!!

[Take a kid fishing]

The Happy for fluke out of AH.

[Striper80]

OOPS! Link didn't copy correctly.

Try this.

http://www.mels-place.com/mmm/Party-Boats/index.html

Spent quite bit of time checking out all the pics on there, pretty cool.

[Detour66]

Viking Fleet ....Montauk ....Codfish.....age 8 with my Grandpa!

[RussH]

Would have been the mid 80's, maybe 86 on a rickety wooden boat out of Captree called the Gillen. I think it's still there owned by the same family. Maybe I'll take my kid in a few years. :D

[anchor joe]

Jubilee out of Point Pleasant 1962, fished the afternoon trip every Monday. Family went to beach and they drop me off to fish. Loved:):):):) every minute of it.

[Blackfish Doug]

Me & my brother fished on the Carrie D 2 for the first time & was hooked on it ever since I think it was July 1959.

[AndyS]

The Piper out of Point Pleasant. And yes, free hot dogs and a little plastic trophy on the Big Marie S out of Belmar. Bingle Bananas on the Miss Belmar :)

[Skolmann]

Black Whale out of Beach Haven on LBI in the mid 70's for fluke.

[june181901]

Viking out of Princess Bay in Staten Island. Easy access from Bayonne. Captain/owner was Andy Kondracki. Occasionally a lobster boat would come by and sell some lobsters they didn't want to bring ashore. Added to the burlap bags filled with ling and whiting out by the Ambrose lightship. Mid 50s.

[billfish16]

Big Marie S, 1970 "ish"

[Jigman13]

Lazy bones outta Montauk in either 1990 or 1991. Was 8 or 9 yrs old. First fluke trip on a party boat. I remember it like it was yesterday. Peace soup thick fog off the point. Dead calm conditions but the tide was moving nicely. A pod of dolphins were corralling tinkers off the bow where I was with my dad. I caught a bunch and dropped them down per my dads directions and we were nailing fluke and knucklehead sea bass on them. It was mid summer...Hot as hell. But a great day!

[Madgriffer]

Mine was the Sea Fox out of Atlantic Highlands in the early 80's. My Grandfather took me out for ling and whiting. Great memories. We fished his boat when is was in the water, but in the winter he would take me on a head boat.

[bender]

Gambler..1/2 day fluke.1994.
ironically, I will be on the same vessel in a few hours :D

[Capt Sal]

Belmar 1957. Now i really feel old?

[TerriMc223]

I first fished on one of the Norma K boats out of Point Beach.
I have fond memories as a kid fishing at the Manasquan inlet catching blowfish fluke, sea robins,etc. The highlight of the day at the inlet was watching the parade of half day boats either heading out to sea or coming in from the ocean.

I also remember fishing on the Paramount out of Bogan's Basin in Brielle.
Does anyone remember that there used to be a photographer there? He would take a picture of everyone crowded at the tails on the boat at the dock and he would have the developed pictures (probably 8 x 10 glossies) for sale by the time we got back.
Great memories! :)

[Flukemeister1]

Great memories. Thanks for your responses. So many boats that have come and gone. Many I have heard of or fished on and many I have not.
Amazing how many of those old boats served our country during the war.
To them and their captains I say thanks for your service.

[jakesdad]

Sal, I feel your pain, 1955, The 45ft. Marie-S from the old Avon Basin.

Good memories, I have spent many hours over the past years looking at all the old boats on Mels Place. How many I fished on back in the late 50's and 60's.

[Muldune]

Ideal 1 1970 with Capt Doug McIntosh Cod fishing when I was sea sick and caught the biggest cod of the trip also remember pot belly stoves in the cabin with an old timer named Steve cooking Blackfish with onions and kielbasa

[Mark215]

Can't really remember but has to be either the Capt. Joe II or the little 45ft Skipper. Those are the boats my grandfather would liked to fish on.

[weaky]

Capt Bill Van, 4'11" of pure fisherman.

[hartattack]

Miss Point Lookout (Long Beach), Starstream (Freeport) . . LawnGuyland !

[CaptMarc]

Reliable out of Atlantic highlands. 1977. Capt. Black. It was a one step up to the wheelhouse. At 7 years old, I was driving the boat back towards the marina, sitting on a wooden stool.

[CapeHawk]

Ogle II Cape May...1971...caught a couple of cod. Any guess as to who was the mate; he was on break from college?

[blindalfred]

I'm an old fart but came late to party boat fishing when my sons were young. First boat was the Misty Morn with a bunch of other Telco and Public Service guys for magic hour fluke. Capt. Gary Bouchard, a real gentleman, sundown on the bay coming back, the boys happy, good times.

[Taxman]

Was either the Big maria S, yup, the hot dog was a highlight or The Shamrock

[courbeco]

Capt Bill Van, 4'11" of pure fisherman.

Haha....Fished many times with the "Weasel" on all three of his boats. He was a good guy and a great Capt.:)

[jerseyhunter]

Was the Miss Belmar also with Capt. Al Shinn, Cod fishing. Early 60's. I believe one of the mates at the time was Sparkey, can't remember his last name though we were talking about him this am.

[tjd24]

The Teal & Miss Moore from Great Kills Harbor, S.I.,N.Y.

[coltsfan61]

My first party boat was the Palace outta Hoboken nj.
In for Blackfish, I was 12 years old.
I remember using fiddlers for bait.
I caught two lol.
I was hooked ever since

[KevinH]

carolyn Ann III LBI 1997. Won the pool with a 5 pound fluke at the last whistle

[Bottom Feeder]

Sea Fox out of AH

Dave Carraro was the mate and we became good friends.
At that time he was studying for his Capt. License and in Pilot School.
He also was on the U.S Ski team and always tried to recruit me.

After a couple of Years I bought my own boat and lost touch.
I ran into him on the Bay once as I was fishing I heard someone call out my name and when I turned he was on the Boat next to me as a private boat Capt. the name was POISON IVY A decent size triple fly bridge type and never seen him again after that until I watched "WICKED TUNA" one Day and instantly recognized him.

We now chat on Facebook,

[NJ219bands]

Half day fluke in the afternoon on the old Shamrock with Captain Jack Bogan from Point Pleasant, NJ, for $5. Captain Jack rescued people from a sinking boat off NJ in the old days. A Roman Catholic Irish priest was a regular on the boat. In 1970 I won the pool 26 times with my double tandem smelt rigs and double tandem whole squid rigs. Lots of fishermen copied and took credit for my very successful fluke rigs but I think that no one ever won the pool more than 26 times in one summer. Captain Jack's son John was also an outstanding party boat captain.

[Flukemeister1]

In 1970 I won the pool 26 times with my double tandem smelt rigs and double tandem whole squid rigs. Lots of fishermen copied and took credit for my very successful fluke rigs but I think that no one ever won the pool more than 26 times in one summer. Captain Jack's son John was also an outstanding party boat captain.[/QUOTE]

I used to fish the old Sea King out of Belmar when I was younger. There was a regular on the boat his name was Jack Chapman. He won pools very regularly also. I learned an incredible amount from watching him fish but like you I just could not match what his experienced hands could do to catch fluke.

[Duffman]

Anyone recall what the fares were for various trips back in the 70's? All day, half day or nights?

I remember fishing the boats back then but no clue what the cost was....dad handled that.

[catsmeow]

My father took me fluke fishing on the Happy in the 50's. Nice to see some other old timers who fished on the Happy. Does anyone remember the mate's name ?

[courbeco]

Anyone recall what the fares were for various trips back in the 70's? All day, half day or nights?

I remember fishing the boats back then but no clue what the cost was....dad handled that.

I used to fish on the Falcon out of AH with my Dad in the early 70's. I believe an All Day Adult fare was ~$9.00. All Day Bluefishing fare on the Ol' Fishermen was ~15.00.

[Tpkc2]

Dolphin M out of Keyport, early 80's! Would go twice a week with my bro and friend Tom! I swear our parents used it as a baby sitter, and on slow days would drive the poor mates crazy!

[AndyS]

Dad would pay, I think it was 7 bucks for kids. And yes, the Capt. Bill Van ( all 5 foot of him :) )

[flyersnfluke]

The Miss Moore out of the old shoals dock on staten island (great kills harbor).

[bubbasdad]

The Lenny out of belmar, '85 or '86 I think...Bluefishing with my pop and uncle roger, 2 WWII navy vets..me and the 2 of them seemed like the only ones not seasick that day, lol

[Mike K]

1977, Captain Bill out of Barnegat Light. All day wreck, caught 3 Sea Bass and 4 Ling. Back then out of BL there was the Doris Mae, Miss Barnegat Light (very same boat still running today) Carolyn Ann (also still in the water), Marsha M, Thumper and White Star (I think).

[XXlyakattacker]

The Satellite Atlantic Highlands. First fluke to.

[alfish]

Took my new girlfriend on the The Reliable Atlantic Highlands I believe Captain Bill and Kevin Black ran the boat We caught
a cooler of Whiting and Ling that was 1973 Still have the girlfriend (wife) now

[tolvo]

Captain Gillen Captree L.I. early 2000

[O'Man]

Miss Take II with Capt. Jimmy. Sometimes his dad would come along. Stood near the port side bow regularly in the 80's.
Good season:
Flounder around St. Patrick's Day
Flounder-ling&the cedars
Jig Blues
Jig Blues-Weaks
Jig stripers

[billh]

1956 - Blue Dolphin every summer Wed. out of Belmar with family friend. Blue Dolphin and The Lenny were sister ships - WW II Sub Chasers.

[Capt. Debbie]

1968, the Lazy Bones out of AH for blues.

Then the Delmar for ling/whiting/Pollock and cod

[Home Depot George]

The Holiday out of Point Pleasant around 1975 won the pool with a 7# bonito. Then I was hooked , we owned a house on the beach and every morning during the summer my dad would drop me off at Rudy Frenvilles Dutchess he let me fish for free and I cleaned the boat at the end of the day. After that I worked for Mike Yuro doing night blues on the sea fox then Capt Danny Siech doing night trips on the Teal. I don't know how many people would agree but for a mate there's a huge difference between night and day trips. More then once we had the cops waiting at the dock when we returned especially on the Sea Fox that boat will always have a special place in my heart sad its not sailing anymore.

[Striper80]

The Holiday out of Point Pleasant around 1975 won the pool with a 7# bonito. Then I was hooked , we owned a house on the beach and every morning during the summer my dad would drop me off at Rudy Frenvilles Dutchess he let me fish for free and I cleaned the boat at the end of the day. After that I worked for Mike Yuro doing night blues on the sea fox then Capt Danny Siech doing night trips on the Teal. I don't know how many people would agree but for a mate there's a huge difference between night and day trips. More then once we had the cops waiting at the dock when we returned especially on the Sea Fox that boat will always have a special place in my heart sad its not sailing anymore.

The sea fox is still sailing, it's just the angler now.

[RussH]

Some would say the Sea Fox was saved and reborn. At least, I would. I do miss the heated handrails though!

[the directa]

Marie-S out of Neptune before Capt. Walt moved to Belmar and became big Marie S, then Marie S II. $4 for half day and he passed out free hot dogs.



The Mohawk out of Cape May 1963 Capt Eddie Craig

[blindalfred]

Miss Take II with Capt. Jimmy. Sometimes his dad would come along. Stood near the port side bow regularly in the 80's.
Good season:
Flounder around St. Patrick's Day
Flounder-ling&the cedars
Jig Blues
Jig Blues-Weaks
Jig stripers

Took my wife out to jig blues and Captain Whitey was on me all day to take her fish off and take care of her in general. She loved it, and him. Took her and my sons a number of times after that.

[philnichols]

The Starfish in the mid 50's. I believe it was out of SIC. It was a rough day and all the adults were playing cards in the smoke filled cabin. I got sick but still managed to catch a STARFISH! That was the first and last time for getting sick

[gomarfish]

Lady Lou II out of Sheepshead Bay

[alfluke]

Jo Ann with my dad cod fishing got sick but loved it back in the 50 s

[bulletbob]

Miss Take II , Captain Whitey early 70's for Blues/Weaks.. First blackfish were caught on the old Super Cat w capt Charlie Fossani.. He was a tad eccentric, and I remember one of his mates seemed to hate his guts, because he was always getting yelled at for no good reason.. Switched to the old 40 ft Skipper in the mid 70's w Capt Dom, and that was the end of fishing for blacks out of AH for me... Dom was a wonderful blackfish captain .. bob

[bolt]

My dad took me a few times on a captree boat but I forget the name..1958

[Don Jones]

My dad rarely fished but did take me out of Fortescue a couple of times maybe in the late 50's or early 60's. Remember the Bonanza I believe and a Debby Ann I think. He was a Sun Oil employee and one of those captains had a tie in some how with Sun. He passed away in 1976 at age 56 .......wished I could have fished more with him! Sadly, Fortescue fishing is not what it used to be since the weakies became scarce. I think I only fished there once more and I'm now 67! Still they say you always remember your first ;)