Frost Fish

[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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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

[zhitoman]

Originally Posted by Reel Class

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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