Glory Days Let's Hear Em

[june181901]

Fishing on the Viking 2 out of Princess Bay. I'd come home on leave and my buddy and I would go there from Bayonne. We'd fill two burlap bags with whiting and ling, bring them back to Slim's Cafe in Bayonne and hand them out to the guys who hung around there. Also recall on those trips the boats from Belford selling lobsters for .50 cents as they would pull along side the Viking.Winter of '65 was the last time we did that.

[Capt Sal]

Shorts?

[bassnblues]

Catching ling in sandy hook bay behind officers row.

Porgys in the shrews by the rumson bridge.

[AndyS]

I would rather not dwell on the past and how great fishing used to be, but instead look to the future and what we can do save some for future generations.

[emcjim]

Sept., 1966 bluefin tuna at 17 fathoms and the Farms.

Started on the Teal w/ the late Capt. Fred Moore. Caught our live bait w/ gold hooks on the bottom. Mostly tinker mackerel, w/ some ling & whiting mixed in. Live-lined live bait in the chum slick. That was the start for me. Rainy weekday in mid-Sept. Nice catch of 20-to-35# "schoolies".

The following weekend, 2 of us in my 16' Boston Whaler at the Farms in a partyboat bluefish fleet. A tub in the small cockpit to keep the bait alive. 2 skipjack, 2 25# tuna, and 2 50-55# tuna. Probably got noticed on the Miss Belmar when they passed close to us returning home. We held up the 2 big ones. No size limits, bag limits -- sold the fish at Carlson's Fishery for $0.06/lb.

Next trip on the Whaler a week later also at the Farms. 2 of us caught 11 bluefin, 25-to-35#. Cloudy day, filled the cockpit. Again Carlson's offered $0.06/lb, but this time gutted. Remember a trying to get a live-lined tinker mackerel away from the boat, but it kept diving under the outboard motor. Replaced the tinker w/ a ling which also tried to dive under the motor, but was not fast enough. A flash in the water, and the tuna was on -- right at the boat.

Labor Day weekend, 1969. Again 2 of us on the Whaler. Huge fleet strung out at the edge of the Mud Hole from 17 to the Farms. We moved the the South end of the fleet, so we might have been on the Farms or close to it. Bill got a false albie, and I got a fish on that I played for 1-1/4 hours. We somehow got the tuna into the boat at 7:20PM. It was longer than the cockpit was wide. Head went up the side on one side and the tail went up the other side. Arrived at the AH ramp in the dark. Someone asked "Tuna, at the point of the hook?". I said, "From the point of the hook, ran about 14 miles at 140". Don't know if he believed me, or even knew what I meant by 140 (magnetic course). No GPS, no Loran, no sonar, just a compass.

The younger readers might find it hard to believe those bluefin tuna stories, as inshore bluefins are scarce, and have been for a long time. But I have a good memory (even at age 81) and all of the above is true.

[Reel Class]

Originally Posted by frugalfisherman

Nobody mentioned blowfish. Fishing of the railroad bridge between Brielle and PP you could catch all you wanted in the early 60's. Of course now there are no trespassing signs.

Bruce, there are still tons of blowfish around there just aren't many in the river. Barnegat Bay was absolutely loaded for 2 months last summer. We even caught lots of them in some of the creeks where the crabs are. I'm not sure why there aren't many in the river anymore though.

[Reel Class]

EMCJIM you also made me remember something else...

It was late September of 1990 and my dad and I hopped on the Norma-K II for an afternoon bluefish trip. We chugged out to the Manasquan Ridge, dropped the hook in and started chumming. JUMBO blues were coming up in minutes and we were all getting our asses kicked with 15-20# GATORS. Breaking them off, fighting them, etc. Bonito and albies were in the mix, and believe it or not, a few small schoolie bluefin tuna even made it to the boat. We were 6 miles off the beach, slaughtering these things and even had a couple tuna - amazing. This was around the time the mud hole tuna bite was slowing so it was really cool. I was 14 at the time and was amazed THEN. Great memories.

[TerriMc223]

Snapper fishing off the Main Street bridge in Manasquan's Watson's creek with a bobber and spearing which we "seined" with a beach towel by the Kidde beach back in the 60's. Always loved fishing for blowfish or whatever off the rocks at the Manasquan Inlet. I would time it to be there when the half day party boats would parade in and then out again. Loved watching all the boats!
Crabbing using a chicken neck tied to good string. Could feel the crab on there but had to pull the line in slowly and then one of the other kids would scoop them up with the net! using a crab trap was just not as much fun.

[Capt Sal]

When we went fluking 40 years ago we kept much smaller fish with no bag limit.I have been fluke fishing for over 60 years and have caught "ONE" fluke over ten pounds.If we had an 18'' limit back then the catch would have been drastically reduced!If we could keep 17'' fluke now the catch would increase.

[bassnblues]

Originally Posted by Capt Sal

When we went fluking 40 years ago we kept much smaller fish with no bag limit.I have been fluke fishing for over 60 years and have caught "ONE" fluke over ten pounds.If we had an 18'' limit back then the catch would have been drastically reduced!If we could keep 17'' fluke now the catch would increase.

When I started, everyone was complaining that NY instituted a 14” size limit. Nj was a few years behind.