RIP Capt Bob Pisano

I saw his death mentioned online in several places. Thought Capt Al Ristori did a fantastic write up of this man. Never met him, would have liked to. RIP

By Al Ristori
on January 07, 2016 at 2:47 PM
Capt. Bob Pisano was the "greatest", but never boasted about his accomplishments such as one state record giant tuna after another, as he mentored future generations of tuna enthusiasts. Pisano passed on to celestial fishing grounds on New Year's Eve at 83 with his his wife Candi at his side, as she had been for 32 years, in their Neptune City home. Despite failing kidneys, Pisano declined dialysis and opted to fade away at home in hospice care and among the many nautical carvings he'd done over the years as his friends stopped by to recount the glory days of Shore tuna fishing.

A visitation and memorial service will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at O'Brien Funeral Home, 2028 Rt. 35, Wall 07719.


Pisano was born in Newark., but grew up in North Bergen. He was the Service Manager at Regal Oldsmobile in Union City before going into charter fishing full time. After starting with a smaller boat in Belmar, he ran his Ol' Salty charter boats for everything from bluefish to canyon fishing before going into boatbuilding with Runaway Boats in Point Pleasant. He eventually built a Runaway, the Tuna Hunter, that he and Capt. Gary Cannel used to fish for giants commercially all along the coast.

Pisano was a perfectionist, and hard on his mates -- but Chris Di Stefano and Phil Dulanie went on to become famed skippers on their own. The former was aboard for one of the most memorable days (Sept. 11,1980) in Pisano's career. A giant tuna run had just developed in the Mud Hole, and Pisano had boated a 400-pounder the day before through the tuna door of the 36-foot Runaway rather than having to hoist it in on a gin pole as was traditionally done. I kidded Bob that the door wouldn't allow him to boat a "decent" giant as it was cut in under the stern covering board. That turned out to be the case when Roy Parsons (who worked with him at Runaway) caught a fat giant.

While Pisano was re-rigging the 130-pound Fin-Nor lever drag that it was caught on, he fished a borrowed 14/0 Penn Senator. Even though there had been no other hook-ups in the fleet, I was soon fast to a giant on that star drag reel which had to be doused with water to keep the drag from burning up during the long runs. Pisano's friend had put the top Dacron on tight, but as that disappeared I saw the line start cutting into the backing that was soft. Di Stefano backed the boat down hard to take the pressure off and let me get some line back while the unfazed Pisano tore the cover of his matches into strips he placed sideways under the line I was reeling in so as to spread the pressure and keep it from digging in for a sure break-off.


As it turned out, we had two giants that wouldn't fit through the door -- and had to tow both in through a rough southwest sea by utilizing the anchor line. Parson's giant weighed 963 pounds at Hoffman's Anchorage in Brielle to top the state record that Pisano already held, until mine went 1022 pounds. Exactly a year later, Pisano put Parsons into a giant just 8 pounds, six ounces larger that still holds the state record.


Unlike most pros, Pisano was glad to share his expertise with all willing to learn. Jay Amberg of Sea Girt used to fish with his father-in-law on a boat out of Barnegat Light. Though they did well with other big game species , they had no luck with giant tuna until he heard Pisano talking on the VHF radio one day and called him. Not really expecting him to answer, they actually got a call back with the loran C numbers and instructions on how to fish that resulted in a giant being boated.

Pisano not only developed chunking techniques for giant tuna, but put in the time to search them out. He'd urge others to check different areas in the Mud Hole so the fleet could concentrate on the elusive giants, and was the first to work out the trolling techniques that produced migrating giants offshore very early in the season where they'd never been fished before. Yet, he was also a conservationist, urging the National Marine Fisheries Service to reduce the pressure on the largest female bluefins that are the future of the fishery.

There was a soft side to Pisano, who carefully released hook baits that survived the day, and also wasn't upset at birds stealing his chunks because "They have to eat too".

http://www.nj.com/shore/blogs/fishin...rt_river_index

Rip

I saw him just prior

RIP