Miss Belmar Late 60s

[Billfish715]

Originally Posted by Brewlugger

This photo reminded me of the Miss Take II from Highlands ,Captains Whitey and Jimmy Morenz.

Do you mean this boat?

[Brewlugger]

Originally Posted by Billfish715

Do you mean this boat?

That's the one. So cool too see her again thank you. I fished on her in the 80s.

[jakesdad]

In response to the question about the Miss Belmar being shortened. In the 50's and 60's all party boats under 65 feet could be run by a captain and crew. Over 65 feet you also needed a safety officer.

When I started to fish and mate in Belmar in '61 there where 4 former military boats in the fleet, The Lenny, the Sea Swan, the Miss Belmar and what was originally the Bobby2. The Bobby was hit by a freighter and had its bow severely damaged but made it back to Belmar. Upon repair the Shinn's renamed it the Sea Jet. Was then sold and became the Sea Ranger, and Joe sold it to Glenn to become the Bluefin.

All these boats had been converted ASR (Air Sea Rescue) or PT (Patrol Torpedo) and all cut to under 65 feet. There were many more in Manasquan, I remember the Pennsy owned by the Bogans.

Regulations changed and eliminated the safety officer, and with that boats started to be built over 65 feet for the party bat fleet.

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by Billfish715

Do you mean this boat?

Oh man- the Miss Take II... I fished on her with capt Whitey... Great boat and cap... Not sure I ever saw him fluke fishing.. I seem to recall he was a Bluefish/weakfish boat in summer, more of a run and gun type of fishing following the birds closer inshore and chasing active 2-5 pound fish with metal jigs , as opposed to the boats further south that would tend to head out into deeper waters that were further off shore and chum at anchor, or drift when it was calm...I know they fished spring as well, but don't recall if they fished for Whiting/Ling or for flounder in the bay/river,, another nice memory of my days as a much younger man..

A cute story..
my wife and I and my dad went out for a "magic hour" trip on that boat.. Very slow evening.. anyway, wife hooks a blue and doesn't know what to do, she's not much on fishing.. I had set her drag, told her not to horse the fish and let him take line if he started to run.. Didn't think much about it and continued to fish... All of a sudden I realized she was too quiet.. Checked out what was going on. Rod was straight.no bend... Thought she lost it... However when I looked at the reel,it was spooled, with only a wrap or two left... She took the phrase "let him take line' to heart, opened the bail, and simply let the fish run halfway to the Mud Hole at lightening speed.. If I recall, I closed the bail, retrieved all the line, took about forever, and did get the fish in the boat, which I think was the only one we caught that evening.. Needless to say, she never did take much to fishing , she didn't care to learn.. She did do a little better when bottom fishing a few times before retiring from fishing totally, around 1980 or so..... bob

[Billfish715]

When I started to fish and mate in Belmar in '61 there where 4 former military boats in the fleet, The Lenny, the Sea Swan, the Miss Belmar and what was originally the Bobby2. The Bobby was hit by a freighter and had its bow severely damaged but made it back to Belmar. Upon repair the Shinn's renamed it the Sea Jet. Was then sold and became the Sea Ranger, and Joe sold it to Glenn to become The Bluefin. There were many more in Manasquan, I remember the Pennsy owned by the Bogans.[/QUOTE]

Does this bring back a memory or two?

[jakesdad]

I have looked many a time. A couple of the captains from that era are still around, and still fishing but we are all much older.

All the new boats of the early and mid 60’s where all 55 to 64 feet. Like the Miss Take a lot of Price built boats started to replace the original 45 footer. In Belmar the 3 Price boats where the Ranger! Rambler and Chief 2. Sea Swan 2 later in the 60’s. The other new boats where the Spray 3 and Optimist Queen. Both similar to the new Jamaica of the day.

[Billfish715]

The newer boats were bigger, faster and more comfortable. Add in advanced electronics, galleys and air conditioning and more and more older boats were not financially able to stay in business. The larger boats picked up the customers from those boats and moved on. The number of anglers in most ports continued at a level as in the past. There were fewer boats but because of their size, the loss of the fares from two smaller boats was absorbed by the new boats. Fewer boats but the same number of fishermen.

Boats go farther faster but there are also fewer marinas or ports that have no more fishing party boats. Think about places that once had party boats but no more. I know there were or may still be boats in Keyport, Hoboken, Jersey City, Elizabeth, South Amboy, Morgan. Think about how Private docks and marinas have increased in number and size. There will always be a need for party boats but the number of private captains seems to be much more than ever.