LI shore Memories and Old-time fishermen from the past...

[DarkSkies]

This was inspired when a friend sent me a clip of old video for the NJ shore. I thought there had to be a lot of cool older clips and pics out there from LI as well.

Let's see what ya got, shake those cobwebs out! :lookhappy: :wow:

[DarkSkies]

This was done by the talented fishing video maker (much more talented than me, at least ;)) Shark Hart.

Pics are from a lot of different places, but quite a few are from LI and areas close to that. I thought I would post it up here.

Great compilation, btw, Shark. :clapping: :thumbsup:

So let's hear some remembrances or stories, or see some pics of what LI shore areas used to be like.

d-2tIN-A-tE

[dogfish]

:thumbsup: Nice work on the video, Sharkhart. Here's a Montauk old time video.
3zIoVXcCgGE

[nitestrikes]

Jones old postcard

8034

[nitestrikes]

Dilberts Big Ben in Brentwood?


The 1960 Dilbert's Big Ben Super Market. The first super market to fully implement the Raymond Loewy design theories.

Location - Brentwood, New York
Date opened - 8/17/1960
Size - 21,000 sq. ft.
Parking capacity - 200 cars
Grocery shelving - 450 linear feet
Number of checkouts - 8
Full-time employees - 54
Part-time employees - 62
Weekly volume - $60,000.00

8035

[BassBuddah]

Dilberts Big Ben in Brentwood?


The 1960 Dilbert's Big Ben Super Market. The first super market to fully implement the Raymond Loewy design theories.

Location - Brentwood, New York
Date opened - 8/17/1960
Size - 21,000 sq. ft.
Parking capacity - 200 cars
Grocery shelving - 450 linear feet
Number of checkouts - 8
Full-time employees - 54
Part-time employees - 62
Weekly volume - $60,000.00

8035

I love that station wagon. My uncle had one like it when we were kids. It was filled with fishing gear. We used to call it the bunker mobile, yes it smelled like bunker all the time.

Old long beach pictures.

[7deadlyplugs]

coney, I wonder if they had sideshow on the beach back then.

[DarkSkies]

I decided to add another dimension to this thread. During the last few days I've met so many old timers and got to listen to them reminiscing how things used to be. In many instances what they are relating is new to me. I soak it up like a sponge, I really enjoy it. :)

So I'll periodically be putting up snapshots of some old time fishermen in this thread along with some cool fishing stories. :fishing:

Some of them will be well-known, others maybe you never heard of them. I can promise you I will try to get the funniest or most unusual stories from them, in my usual folksy style.

I hope you people enjoy it. If you have any older fishing friends or relatives you feel should be featured here in this thread, feel free to PM me or e-mail me and I'll see what I can do. :thumbsup:

[DarkSkies]

I met some family members of this guy on Saturday in NJ. Joe and his son. :HappyWave:

Heard some great stories about Danny Auriemma, and I wanted to share them with you people. He was an avid Montauk fisherman, and I was honored to hear about some of the old fishin ways. :thumbsup:

Making your surf gear: some memories...

"Back then they didn't have korkers. You had to make your own rock climbing shoes if you wanted to fish the rocks at Montauk. Danny would take old sneakers or golf shoes and modify them. He and his buddies would take the rubber from studded tires and glue these tough strips to the bottom of sneakers or old sturdy shoes.

They would then swim out to the rocks, and fish from them. They were "skishing"before the term was even invented!

They would use bucktails a lot at Montauk. The other popular presentation would be needlefish. Nothing but needlefish! They didn't need fancy paint and design back then. A sealed plug with a coat of paint, white or black, was all they needed, and they caught tons of fish on them!"

[baitstealer]

Montauk fishing is always a thrill. I have heard that years ago it was always an amazing place to go. I don't get out there too often now. I would be great to hear the stories Dark. Thanks for taking the time to put them up.

[crosseyedbass]

coney, I wonder if they had sideshow on the beach back then.

Cool place, I remember it. Anyone remember the chick with the tattoos on her head?:kooky:

[stripercrazy]

coney, I wonder if they had sideshow on the beach back then.


Cool place, I remember it. Anyone remember the chick with the tattoos on her head?:kooky:

I do, and the guy that had his whole head tattooed, ears, lips, and everything with all the piercings. Freaky.:eek: They used to have a tattoo contest every year around Labor Day.
Here are some pics I found, one isn't old but it's Jones on a sneaker, pretty cool. The other one looks like it could fit in this thread.

8347

8348

[BassBuddah]

Looks like you have a good start here Dark for some positive stories. I have been waiting for you to fill them in, what's the holdup?:HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

You're right, BB, I've fallen behind. :embarassed: Trying to piece together some more stories. In some of them I've contacted people for more info and am still waiting for people to get back to me. If you or anyone else has someone you think I should interview, let me know via PM or e-mail.

I'll be hitting some of the LI fishing shows and flea markets this winter, so I'll be around up there. You got my #. Get in touch even if ya just want to grab a coffee. :HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

I have known Mike for awhile now. We used to swap fishin stories when he came to visit his daughter in NJ.

I was really interested in a lot of his stories because he was fishin before and after the Striped bass Moratorium, and remembers how things were. That's a unique perspective a lot of younger anglers don't have, and I appreciate being able to listen to Mike, and his recollections. :HappyWave:

8640


Mike Flannery....Story and background
Mike moved to Babylon, LI in his early 30's. He married his wife Selma prior to that, when he was 22, and they have been married for 45 years.

They had 2 daughters, one of whom was a Valedictorian at Babylon High school. Mike has worked at hard physical labor his whole life. Around the time he got married, he got a job with the Suffolk County water authority. He dug holes for water mains and hydrants, a physically demanding job.

I believe he did some fresh water fishin when he was a kid. He started fishing the salt when he was around 30, and has been saltwater fishing for about 36 years. He's 67 now.

[DarkSkies]

Mike spent a lot of time fishing the Fire Island beach areas, bridges, and inlet.

8641

He remembers one time catching a few fat winter flounder in the beginnning of winter (back when you were allowed to fish for them). He had 4 fat flounder up to 1 1/2 lbs on bloodworms.

Along comes Fred Gardineer, reporter for the now defunct Babylon Leader. After he shows Fred the catch, he writes a story for the paper about it.

[DarkSkies]

Fluke...Mike liked to fish for flounder, fluke, as well as striped bass.

8642


*Charles Nappi holds the current LI record for fluke: Fluke*22-7Charles Nappi, Hicksville, NY09/15/75


Mike remembers before that, the record was held by someone who caught it at Oak Beach, LI, sometime in the 1950's or 1960's.

Bluefish/Striped Bass...
He used to catch a lot of shorts, and released them. Keepers were few and far between. His favorite place to fish was the back of the inlet, and the inlet, after crossing under the Robert Moses bridge.

8644


Biggest Bass:
32# :wow: caught in the late spring surf at Gilgo at 5:30AM one year. :thumbsup:

8643

Memories fishing under the Robert Moses bridge:
He used to fish under there with clam bellies, and remembers that was another place where bass were abundant, by the Coast Guard Station, but they were mostly shorts. After he retired, he and his fishin buddy went out a lot on the buddy's 33' Grady White, I/O Mercruiser motor, and fished that inlet every chance they got.

[DarkSkies]

Mike liked simple gear. Back then things were uncomplicated. You threw either bait, tins, or bucktails and pork rind.

He remembers they used teasers with the tins, but they weren't as ornate as the ones the guys use today. He caught plenty of fish on a tin with a white bucktail on a hook 18" above the tin.

Favorite setups:
He used either a Luxor or 302 Mitchell reel on a 9' stick. He could throw a mile with that. He took the bail off, and left the roller on.

[DarkSkies]

8645


Biggest bluefish story:
He had a water main digging job at Northport by Lilco. There was a cove there that had bait all summer. He thinks it was the Faulton housing development. A Sand & Gravel Co owned the area he was working in. His story:




"We saw guys fishing in the canal/cove after work. The water was boiling! I saw 2 guys in a boat catching jumbo blues, 15-18lbs!
8646

8647

I went there the next day after work with my rod, reel, and some tins. Bunker up to 2 pounds were jumping out of the water, it was crazy! I threw my metal into the mix and ended up with a 15 1/2# bluefish, along with a lot of smaller ones.

It was a great afternoon of fishing. We caught bluefish until our arms were tired.

Other than that, I mostly fished the SS spots, Babylon and Fire Island. "

[DarkSkies]

The Moratorium:

"It was very annoying because it was ridiculous. When the minimum went to 36", almost no one caught a keeper"


What are the biggest changes you have noticed in fishing?

"The fact that they are always making the limits more restrictive"

[DarkSkies]

Most unusual fish:

"We used to catch "dogfish" but not as they are known today. They had whiskers and teeth."

[Any guys on the LI forum remember catching fish like that? Can anyone help with an ID?]




Blowfish:
"I wish I had known in the 60's that they were so good to eat. We didn't know back then, they were a nuisance to us, so we always threw them back. "


Weakfish, how to catch them:

"Years ago, in the 1980's, the most productive lure for the weakfish was called a "Salty Dog". It was a ledhead with a rubber end. The best color was pink, we also used white and yellow. "

"We used to go to a secret location near Babylon for bait. One throw of the cast net and you would have plenty of peanut bunker. We would only get a few at a time and keep them alive in a bucket. Live peanut bunker were deadly for weakies. I lost my first weakfish from a pier because I didn't know they had such a soft mouth, I found out quick! My biggest weakfish was between 4-5lbs. They weren't huge back then, but there were a lot of them. "

[DarkSkies]

8648


Funniest or most embarassing fishing story:

The big bass that got away...
"We were fishing near FI inlet one day, on the inside, by the CG station. We got skunked, and were feeling beat.

As we were moving the boat, I saw a 25 pound bass swimming in the water, about 2 feet down. I yelled at my friend to turn the boat around, as the bass seemed to be swimming slow.

As we got closer, we could see in the clear water a line was attached to a fishing rod, and the bass was pulling it. We realized that bass had pulled that rod out of a boat when the owner wasn't paying attention!

I took the gaff and tried to catch the line. We came so close! I had the line up in my hands, and we were maneuvering to where the bass was. My friend was real excited, he kept barking instructions at me as he maneuvered the boat. There was a wave that came by, and at that moment the bass got off the hook, I dropped the line as I went to reach for the bass, only inches away. :eek:

With a flip of its tail that bass said goodbye to us! I succeeded in losing both the bass and the rod. :embarassed: Boy was my friend mad, he was yelling and screaming. It was both our faults, and he eventually got over it. We remained friends and fished together until I moved to upstate NY. "

[DarkSkies]

5

[DarkSkies]

6

[DarkSkies]

http://www.longislandtraditions.org/southshore/communities/westernsuffolk/westernsuffolk.html



Fire Island


The history of Fire Island is a long and complicated one, beginning with its Native American settlements. Local indigenous peoples harvested shellfish and finfish including migrating whales, traditions that were shared and passed on to new European immigrants who settled in Bay Shore, Moriches, and other shoreline communities.

To protect regional commerce the newly formed federal government authorized the construction of the island’s first lighthouse in 1826, which was later replaced in 1857 by the current structure. In addition several life saving stations were also constructed. Nearby, David Sammis built a chowder house east of the Fire Island Lighthouse, later expanding it into the Surf Hotel.

Eventually the Surf Hotel would accommodate 400 guests, until it burned down in 1917. In 1908, New York State also created a park, the Fire Island Park, where Robert Moses Park now stands. Shortly thereafter out-of-town residents began building modest and elaborate summer cottages along the barrier beach, made possible by convenient train and ferry service to the scenic beaches. Local residents worked as ferry operators, hotel staff, store owners and other seasonal positions.

The oldest communities are Cherry Grove (1795) which began as a traditional fishing post, Kismet (1855), Fire Island Pines (1868), Ocean Beach (1908), and Saltaire (1910). To learn more about Ocean Beach, click here (http://www.longislandtraditions.org/southshore/communities/westernsuffolk/oceanbeach.pdf). This article is from the Fire Island Tide (http://www.fireislandtide.net/).
Families and groups regularly summered at the seashore, until 1954, when the creation of the Robert Moses Causeway led to day trip visitors to the island’s western end.

In 1954, a permanent bridge to Smith Point County Park was completed on the eastern end of Fire Island. To help prevent further development, the federal government designated Fire Island National Seashore (FINS) in 1964, shortly after a state proposal to extend Ocean Parkway failed.

The establishment of the Seashore was supported by Fire Island residents and homeowners, still concerned that an expansion of the parkway would wipe out the existing communities on the barrier island. Its enabling legislation called for the conservation of wildlife while also permitting “hunting, fishing, and shellfishing on lands and waters.” Its 2006 management plan also calls for the park to “address mutual interests in the quality of life of community residents, including matters such as compatible economic development and resource and environmental protection” while also adhering to the underlying principles that NPS policies “must ensure that conservation will be predominant when there is a conflict between the protection of resources and their use.”

Living on Fire Island


With the creation of the Robert Moses Causeway, some Long Island families built permanent year round homes on Fire Island, particularly in the western part of the island.

According to the 2000 census there were approximately 500 people who lived on the barrier beach. There are no paved roads through the interior of the island. Motorized off-road vehicle use is restricted, and the number of permits is specified by Fire Island National Seashore driving regulation. During the summer season, cars are prohibited, with transportation and delivery services provided by local ferries. Before Memorial Day and after Labor Day most communities allow residents to obtain beach driving permits. Local school age children attend classes in Bay Shore.

According to a recent cultural resource survey, Lonelyville is one of the island’s oldest and most private settlements. It started as a fishing village in the 1880s, established by the Fire Island Fishing Company, and a major pier and railhead were built. Originally, the rail was to extend across the entire bay. While this never happened, boats transported fish to the mainland. All of this was destroyed in the 1938 Hurricane.

Lonelyville also began to develop as a summer resort in the early 20th century when lots went up for sale. But the community grew slowly, composed of only 23 houses in the 1950s. Today, most homes are vintage beach cottages, some dating back to the 1900s.

Working on Great South Bay


For hundreds of years, fishers have harvested various species of finfish and shellfish, for subsistence, commercial, and recreational use. During the 19th century and early 20th century, Great South Bay was one of the largest shellfishing producing regions in the country.

However there have been historical changes in the bay that have greatly reduced the fisher’s ability to earn a living and also impacted the estuary’s health. They include the 1938 hurricane which covered oyster and clam beds, the closing of inlets which changed the bay’s water quality, water pollution including runoff from fertilizers and other pollutants, bulkheading, and land development. In recent years baymen have faced numerous local, state, and federal regulations which have severely impacted their way of life.

Contemporary Issues


Since the establishment of the park there has been tension between baymen, homeowners, and park officials over the management of natural and cultural resources. Controversies over beach replenishment, inlet openings, hunting, and harvesting practices are just some of the issues unique to Fire Island National Seashore and their neighbors.

Unlike other National Parks, FINS must work with dozens of communities, town, state, and other federal agencies to accomplish its goals. Often their goals conflict with traditional and historical uses, such as vector control, deer management, or beach access to year-round residents.

At FINS, only recreational hunting, fishing, and shellfishing are authorized, although, historically, commercial harvests have taken place before and after establishment of the Seashore. More recently FINS has banned horseshoe crab harvesting by area baymen in its surrounding waters. To learn more about the Fire Island National Seashore and its current management plan click here (http://www.nps.gov/fiis/parkmgmt/generalmanagementplan.htm).

[DarkSkies]

Sunday madness! :kooky:

I just finished Mike Flannery and Dan Auriemma's stories, in case anyone wanted to go back a few pages and read them.

I'm still waiting for some more info about Dan, maybe I can fill it in if his relatives get back to me. Enjoy, guys and girls. :HappyWave:

[BassBuddah]

Enjoyed that. Dark you write exceptionally well, great thread. :clapping:

[rockhopper]

:cool:Cool thread!

[blitzhunter]

8648


Funniest or most embarassing fishing story:

The big bass that got away...
"We were fishing near FI inlet one day, on the inside, by the CG station. We got skunked, and were feeling beat.

As we were moving the boat, I saw a 25 pound bass swimming in the water, about 2 feet down. I yelled at my friend to turn the boat around, as the bass seemed to be swimming slow.

As we got closer, we could see in the clear water a line was attached to a fishing rod, and the bass was pulling it. We realized that bass had pulled that rod out of a boat when the owner wasn't paying attention!

I took the gaff and tried to catch the line. We came so close! I had the line up in my hands, and we were maneuvering to where the bass was. My friend was real excited, he kept barking instructions at me as he maneuvered the boat. There was a wave that came by, and at that moment the bass got off the hook, I dropped the line as I went to reach for the bass, only inches away. :eek:

With a flip of its tail that bass said goodbye to us! I succeeded in losing both the bass and the rod. :embarassed: Boy was my friend mad, he was yelling and screaming. It was both our faults, and he eventually got over it. We remained friends and fished together until I moved to upstate NY. "


This sounds like something I would do, great stories, thanks for posting up.

[DarkSkies]

As related by Finchaser:


Codfish in LI and Mass:
"We used to drive up to Captree Inlet, and Montauk, to go on cod trips up there. When the bite was on, we went wherever we heard it was best to catch fish. We were young and didn't care about anything else but fishing. We had great times.

We would drive to the parking lot at Captree or Montauk, and sleep in our station wagons. They were the "beach buggies" of the 60's and 70's, where we kept all out gear and sleeping stuff.


We would bundle up and sleep through the night to get a coveted seat on the stern for the morning roll-out. The mates would come by and knock on the car windows to wake us up as they came to work in the early AM.


There was no griping or moaning about the cold. We did it because we loved to fish."




LI party boats we used to fish on:

Speedy 8 - Captree
Viking Star - Montauk

[paco33]

old fishing pics


8952

8953

8954

8955

[DarkSkies]

This was originally posted by Hookedonbass last year.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=3109


I was going through the threads and thought I would post it up here. Thanks Hooked. :HappyWave:


striper fishing (1950's)
AZDmNv5FVRQ

[dogfish]

Yup back then all that was needed was one stick and a few tins. Sweet tin squid.

[surfwalker]

Have looked at these pictures and vids many times over, they are great.

Happy Trails

[williehookem]

and you didn't have to worry about getting mugged back then either!:wheeeee:

[nitestrikes]

Altenkirch & Son

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=9465&d=1264451862

[plugginpete]

Weakfish, how to catch them:

"Years ago, in the 1980's, the most productive lure for the weakfish was called a "Salty Dog". It was a ledhead with a rubber end. The best color was pink, we also used white and yellow. "



I think they were called bait tails. There was one older one called the Tri-fin Whiptail. I believe the generic ones were called bait tails.
9506

9507

9508

[DarkSkies]

As originally posted on page 2 in this thread:
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=5237&page=2



I have known Mike for awhile now. We used to swap fishin stories when he came to visit his daughter in NJ.
I was really interested in a lot of his stories because he was fishin before and after the Striped bass Moratorium, and remembers how things were. That's a unique perspective a lot of younger anglers don't have, and I appreciate being able to listen to Mike, and his recollections. :HappyWave:
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=8640&thumb=1&d=1260741905 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=8640&d=1260741905)
Mike Flannery....Story and background
Mike moved to Babylon, LI in his early 30's. He married his wife Selma prior to that, when he was 22, and they have been married for 45 years.

They had 2 daughters, one of whom was a Valedictorian at Babylon High school. Mike has worked at hard physical labor his whole life. Around the time he got married, he got a job with the Suffolk County water authority. He dug holes for water mains and hydrants, a physically demanding job.

I believe he did some fresh water fishin when he was a kid. He started fishing the salt when he was around 30, and has been saltwater fishing for about 36 years. He's 67 now.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=8644&thumb=1&d=1260746718 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=8644&d=1260746718)



Mike Flannery is gone....
I just got the call from his daughter. I saw him last week, noticed some drastic changes in his health. He was a strong tough guy, with a body conditioned to withstand pain and punishment from years of digging ditches and physical labor to give his children a better life than he had.

He had been diagnosed with cancer. I knew that a few months ago, and initially there was some hope for him to beat it. At first they were fighting it with some treatment. When they didn't offer him chemo, he knew something was terribly wrong.

Last week he told me he was dying. It was tough to hear this guy who used to tower over other people tell me he knew he was dying, and what can you do. :don't know why:

He suffered tremendously this past week with the pain. Finally, God, in his mercy, took him this morning.

My deepest condolences to his family. I'm having a little trouble typing these words.

Mike, I know you're in a better place now. I hope to be fishin with ya someday. I have to believe that's possible, to move on from this. See ya on the other side, Mike. :(

[7deadlyplugs]

Hey very sorry to hear about Mike Flannery.
I posted the pic of Al Bentsen on another thread and wanted to post it here. I wish I could have met him, and the eels he rigged are something I hope to be trying to do this year by myself. Al caught many cows to his credit. :thumbsup:

9756

9757



He caught this 51.8lb slob at Point lookout in 1973.
9753

[DarkSkies]

I met Tom today at the Freeport LI show. What first caught my eye was his hat. That hat is a shrine to the history of fishing, and he wears it every chance he gets.

Tom was nice enough to let me interview him as he reminisced about the old days of fishing. The man has years of experience, I could have listened to him for hours. :fishing:


9916

9917

[DarkSkies]

Party boat fishin double decker style:

"I started fishing when I was 7, and and have been fishing for 81 years, because I'm 88 now.

I remember being 7 and my Dad taking me cod fishing in January. We started fishing on the original Palace, does anyone remember that?

She used to leave from Hoboken, make one stop at the Brooklyn Battery to pick up other fishermen, and out to sea we went.

She was a double decker. You could fish on the bottom level, but the fare was higher. Those were tough times then in the 1930's. People were poor with the Depression. If you fished on the bottom, you would sometimes get hit with the sinkers from the guys on the top. When you fished on the top, sometimes the guys on the bottom would cut your line and put your fish in their bag. You had to pay attention, times were hard back then.

Then, they got the Palace II, captained by Ed Biletti, Jr. That was a better boat, more comfortable.

1940's
In the 1940's, we would cod fish on a boat out of Sheepshead bay captained by Laddy Martin, the Rocket II.

Update on Laddie Martin.
He is now living in California in a nursing home. From the 1920's to the late 1960's, the Martin's have been captains of fishing boats from Sheepshead Bay. The following are their names and boats:

Jacob Martin 'Sachem' and 'Geralda'
Jacob "Chubby" Martin, jr 'Geralda'
David "Laddie" Martin,jr. "Glory," "Rocket I" and "Rocket II"
David Martin, Sr. "Roaring Forty" and "Geralda"

The fishing was fantastic back then, cod were everywhere. We could get into them by fishing anywhere in the bay to 10 miles off. There were millions of them. They were so big, if you didn't catch a 30# cod you didn't have a chance at winning the pool."

9920

9921

[DarkSkies]

9437738


"I used to go fishing with a bunch of guys from Corona Queens, the neighborhood where I lived in the 1940's.

We were all good friends, and 6 out of 7 times we would win the pool. We had our own fishing club, no name that I can remember, but we all loved to fish.

I want to tell you something about fishing back then. A lot of people think we wasted fish or caught too many. We were all poor and struggling. All fish caught were used and eaten, every last one of them. We made codfish soup with the heads, and gave fish to the women in the neighborhood who lost their husbands in the war. Everyone ate fish, and we survived that way.

Capt Laddie Martin was one of the first captains responsible for starting the tuna trips in the 1960's. No one fished for them with a rod and reel until that point. I only remember going on a few tuna trips. Mostly I fished for cod and bottom fish because we needed them for food.

[DarkSkies]

(I found out Tom was in the service and thanked him for his service to our country. He looked at me and said: "Hey you don't have to thank me, it was no big deal. I did what I had to do. I consider myself one of the lucky ones. A lot of guys in my outfit didn't come back alive.") Wow. :thumbsup::thumbsup:


"I was in the 82nd Airborne, and saw action in the war. A lot of my friends didn't make it back.
I came back, went to work, got married in 1948. We got divorced, and I met the love of my life in 1962, her name was Elizabeth. She was my best friend, and I still miss her. She died 20 years ago, on 5/28/90.



9437982


All my friends fishing and otherwise died off over the years. I buried my last fishing buddy last year. It is very sad getting older and outliving your friends.

But, I made new friends. I joined the NYSF club and have a whole bunch of new friends now. I mostly still fish for cod and bottom fish, but I have been out on striped bass trips too.

I fish with Capt Bob Rochetta, one of the best striper captains on the East Coast. I have a great time with these new friends.

I take each day as it comes."

9922

[DarkSkies]

Tom Lo Verso of Reels Unlimited
I first started talkin to Tom because of his hat. He was at the door directing traffic into the auditorium.

His hat would stand out for a country mile. :wow:

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=9828&thumb=1&d=1266153490 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=9828&d=1266153490)


Anything related to fishing you could imagine is on that hat.
It took him 20 years to create it exactly the way he wanted it.
It's definitely one of a kind.

He's been offered $500 for it, but says it's not for sale, ever. :thumbsup:






About Tom and Reels Unlimited.
From what I understand, he and a friend find reels, repair and sell them. They may also repair and service reels as well. He's been fishing for 81 years, so I think he may know a thing or 2 about reels.

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=9829&thumb=1&d=1266153490 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=9829&d=1266153490)

Feel free to contact Tom at his e-mail if you have questions about getting a reel fixed:

TOMSREELS@gmail.com (TOMSREELS@gmail.com)

Right now his PC isn't working, so give it a few weeks before you contact him and expect an answer.

[nitestrikes]

That was an interesting story about Tom, thanks for putting that up.

[plugginpete]

Really enjoyed that DS, good job.:clapping:

[7deadlyplugs]

I saw that guy with the hat and never would have guessed he had all those stories to tell. thanks, dark.

[7deadlyplugs]

10250

[VSdreams]

I didn't know where to post this, Darkskies, so feel free to move it if you want. In Al Ristori's column on July2, he wrote a paragraph about Percy Wentworth. The guy lives on SI, makes some amazing cast nets, and has been building them for about 50 years. A friend bought one from him. He went to pick it up, and Percy wouldn't let him leave until he had the technique down, gave him 1/2 hour of free lessons. Great guy, so I think he deserves to be mentioned. Here is the story of his catch.:clapping::clapping:

Percy celebrates 76th birthday with a striper

"Master cast net builder Percy Wentworth of Staten Island celebrated his 76th birthday today in appropriate fashion. According to Capt. Bob Kita, Wentworth not only quickly netted all the bunkers they needed on his Irma out of Tottenville Marina, but then proceeded to catch a 31-pound striper off Sandy Hook. Kita added bass of 10 and 15 pounds. Wentworth has been the area's leading netmaker for many years, and he constantly proves to all the young bucks that an "old man" can throw his nets just as effectively."

[bluesdude71]

Good stories, congrats to Percy and the others. I hope I have half the energy they do, and that I can make it to my 70's.

[plugginpete]

Great thread. Primo pic of Al B.

[plugginpete]

he's still one of the best cast net makers around

[BassBuddah]

Met Percy many years ago. His enthusiasm for what he did was inspiring.

[williehookem]

Good stuff thanks for sharing.