New Long Branch Fishing Pier

[Detour66]

This is great! There are lots of rocks off of Long Branch that hold fish.

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by bulletbob

Outside of the Whiting/Ling, I'm not sure I would describe the fishing there as incredible... There were fluke/blues, other things like kingfish ,blowfish, a porgy once in a while, and believe it or not in those days no one really fished much for blackfish at the pier.. It was often picky during the warm months, with a lot of sea robins, dogs, skates etc, The winter Ling and Whiting made that pier famous,.. outside of that, I dunno, you could do as well or better at a good jetty.

Even when the ling/whiting were in solid you had to be out at the end of the pier preferably in a corner spot most nights... those fish were seldom along the sides in any great numbers..
Still, I think its a great thing that there will be a new a new pier to fish from in Long Branch.. hopefully, it will be a little more kid friendly and easier to fish from than the original was.. It certainly can't hurt the town thats for sure.. It will bring revenue to local business for certain.. I hope its reasonably priced , thats important these days. Working families not making big money can use a break from the crazy prices they have to pay for everything. bob

Bob,

Going to disagree with you on this one. Fluke fishing was phenomenal off that pier. One day in the fall there were 15 fish landed over 8 lbs. with 6 of those over 10. I personally have caught 4 fish over 8lb, one over 9 and lost a fish in the mesh basket they used which easily went 12 plus. Someone had dead fishing line wrapped around the basket and after I got the fish in the basket, the guy helping me lift the basket didn't realize the line was on the basket, line caught onto one of the pilings, basket flipped and the biggest fluke I've ever seen up until that time was gone. Black fishing was limited to high tides but if you cast underneath the pier during the high tides around the pilings there were big blackfish to catch. Weak fishing when we had anchovy runs along the coast was sensational at night. Ling and whiting I agree were the headliner but there was great fishing for many species on the pier. The hot spot was the front but there were many caught on the sides especially next to the automatic chum grinder they had on the north side. And when fishing was slow, the bar / restaurant had the best clam chowder I think I've ever tasted. Would be good to see another ocean pier in that area and I think the fishing opportunities will be just as good as the original pier.

Bill

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by Detour66

This is great! There are lots of rocks off of Long Branch that hold fish.

And those same fish will come in at different times to the pier if its extends far enough into the ocean for the reasons stated earlier. That's what made the old pier so good, it was around great structure and attracted a ton of forage.

[hammer4reel]

Hopefully it’s built better than the one in Ocean grove which is now barricaded off

[duranautic al]

sorry bulletbob...you are 100 percent wrong on this one..a fisherman did NOT have to be at the end of the pier in a corner to catch ling/whiting...once again your pessimism has overridden your memory

[Fishin Dude]

Artists image looks a lot nicer than the fishing pier they just built across Lake Carasaljo in Lakewood.

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by duranautic al

sorry bulletbob...you are 100 percent wrong on this one..a fisherman did NOT have to be at the end of the pier in a corner to catch ling/whiting...once again your pessimism has overridden your memory

Ok, the sides were terrific... All the guys crowded the end of the pier, especially the northeast corner just for the companionship...

Look I was there. I lived not far from the pier in the early 80's...

it was long ago but my memory isn't that bad yet.. the guys at the sides of the pier never saw the numbers the guys fishing the end saw, especially the NE corner which was THE hot spot... There were fish there along the sides, but the majority of the fish were caught on on a fairly long cast off the end , and it was always like that..
The end was ALWAYS crowded, and most guys typically fished along the sides only if they could not find a spot on the end of the pier. Why even bother fishing the sides??.. You might as well just fish off the jetty the was right along side the pier on the north side, and save the entrance fee...

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by Broad Bill

Bob,

Going to disagree with you on this one. Fluke fishing was phenomenal off that pier. One day in the fall there were 15 fish landed over 8 lbs. with 6 of those over 10. I personally have caught 4 fish over 8lb, one over 9 and lost a fish in the mesh basket they used which easily went 12 plus. Someone had dead fishing line wrapped around the basket and after I got the fish in the basket, the guy helping me lift the basket didn't realize the line was on the basket, line caught onto one of the pilings, basket flipped and the biggest fluke I've ever seen up until that time was gone. Black fishing was limited to high tides but if you cast underneath the pier during the high tides around the pilings there were big blackfish to catch. Weak fishing when we had anchovy runs along the coast was sensational at night. Ling and whiting I agree were the headliner but there was great fishing for many species on the pier. The hot spot was the front but there were many caught on the sides especially next to the automatic chum grinder they had on the north side. And when fishing was slow, the bar / restaurant had the best clam chowder I think I've ever tasted. Would be good to see another ocean pier in that area and I think the fishing opportunities will be just as good as the original pier.

Bill

I won't argue, never saw days as you describe, but of course that doesn't mean much.. I will say however, that a LOT of fishing on the NJ shore was as you described back in those days... The pier was good, but so were an awful lot of other places during those years..

[bulletbob]

Did some research- the new pier is going to be 172 feet shorter than the old one, which is pretty substantial.. I was hoping it would be as long or longer, but you know what they say about a gift horse........

[Togfather2530]

Originally Posted by Broad Bill

That is great news! Shocking but great! With all the money New Jersey recreational anglers pour into state and federal coffers, it about time a decent pier is in the plans to promote a legacy recreational activity. If it's draws fish anywhere near how the old pier did, it'll be an incredible success story. That area, proximity to structure in deeper water, lights at night attracting bait fish, crabs, lobsters attracted to the pilings and blackfish attracted to the crustaceans, it was a fisherman's dream. Some of the best fluke fishing I've ever seen came off that pier, especially in the fall when schools of big fluke came inshore for the beginning of the mullet run to store up energy before beginning their long journey off shore. I'd bet if we see sand eels return in numbers, you'll reestablish a night ling fishery as well with maybe a token whiting thrown in the mix. The ling / whiting fishery every night if you had a high tide was literally off the charts with triple headers coming up routinely. As soon as it got dark, sand eels would flood in and ling and whiting would follow. It was like clockwork. Plus it was a relatively cheap way for a family or anyone to spend a day at the shore with a chance of catching dinner or a fish of a lifetime. People who never knew the old pier have no idea how incredibly great it was. Good to see someone finally made the decision and financial commitment to replace it, never thought we'd ever see that happen certainly in my lifetime. Kudo's to the state and Long Branch for making this commitment. Job well done!

Living in the past reminiscing, I get it. The fishing isn’t comparable today.