Sandy Hook - back in time

[jigfreak]

Things are nothing like they used to be. Does anyone remember fishing from the Sea Bright wall? Those were the days.

Thanks for ruining my day bucket.
I haven't fished the hook in ages. Mostly because it has gone downhill. The cuts and points are nowhere like they used to be. Check out this pic I found on the net. SH in the 80's. Looks nothing like that now, but it used to.

Attachment 17726

[finchaser]

I

[DarkSkies]

Sandy Hook memories.....

August for me used to be a very exciting month....
When I fished fresh water a lot and snuck into many of the state's reservoirs to fish....the action would slow in August....and I would gravitate toward the saltwater bays and rivers.....

We're going back decades, when I exclusively fished bait in the salt.
I remember going to Sandy Hook....
When the "Real" Hook was there and extended out (about) 100' feet more than it does today....The channel was right at your feet.....one half-cast and you were in 30' of water....
No fancy lures or plugs needed.....

Just a seine net to seine the abundant spearing.....no fancy bucktails.....just a simple weight with dropper loop above....hook a few fresh spearing from the contractor's apron you had around your waist.....a few jig strokes in the channel....and you were into a multitude of fish....schoolie bass, small blues, weakfish, and fluke, with 1 in 10 being a keeper......

If some get irritated with my ranting here about the current state of the fishery...
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...of-the-fishery
....This is my recollection of how things used to be....15-20 years ago....
When it really didn't seem that hard to catch fish....most of us weren't concerned whether there were a lot of them or not...because of the abundance in front of us.......
This was not only possible....but easy....as long as you had fresh spearing......

These fish were there in large amounts.....none of us had to expend too much effort to catch them....(Try catching all those species now...in the middle of a hot August day..)..from any NJ surfline.......an almost impossible feat, given the current state of things.....

I bring these memories up....
to try to share with some of the newer anglers out there....why some of us are so passionate (or Grouchy) when we talk about the way things they used to be....

And to try to give the newer folks out there....
1. A sense of why we fight so hard for the access we are losing....

Yes, it is much different than what I remember 15-20 years ago....or even 5-8 years ago....
I hope some of you people out there....can get some understanding from some of the memories we're sharing here....

[cowherder]

Great thread guys thanks for sharing.

[surfrob]

two distinctive Sandy Hook memories for me:

1. was fishing on one of the groins that used be be prominent near the first lot, pre-"replenishment", with a friend. was brand new to the salt, fishing squid for "fluke" using a 3 way and 2 oz pyramid sinker. Friend casting one side of the end, me on the other. I went to cast and planted that pyramid square in the middle of his back on the forward cast. He has the scar to this day, is still my friend, but for some strange reason never wanted to fish with me again. Just put your time in, they said, put your time in....

2. had an old pontiac (Poor Old Newyawkers Thought It's A Cadillac) station wagon, loaded with the wife and kids... day on the beach, fishing, whatever.
turn the key when ready to leave and engine goes "whrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr', never turned over but spun like a top. Only time I had a timing *chain* break on me.

ok, carry on. Fishing, ah yes. Wait, what?

[storminsteve]

two distinctive Sandy Hook memories for me:

1. I went to cast and planted that pyramid square in the middle of his back on the forward cast. He has the scar to this day, is still my friend, but for some strange reason never wanted to fish with me again.

Ouch! I know a sinker would hurt, but a bud would eventually forgive you. Does he fish anymore at all? Or just not with you? As for the pontiac station wagon I rememer when I was a kid I would see a lot of them in the summer and at the beach. No more. Can't remember the last time I saw a station wagon. That must have been pretty cool.

[surfrob]

My buddy actually doesn't fish any longer for a variety of reasons, health being one. He continued to fish, and I continued to fish, just (I should have added...) not together on the end of a jetty

Yeah, the old wagons were a trip but for the most part supplanted by the minivans that were "invented" (or perhaps "popularized", if I recall)
by Ford (not including the VW microbus LOL).

This old pontiac had the back seat that folded down for storage, or popped up and faced rear, had the rear electric window that lowered.
Kids use to love riding back there. Of course, now considered too dangerous (and compared to the passenger compartments of today's
cars, it was)

[DarkSkies]

From the finchaser fishing hole thread...
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...r-fishing-hole
The jetties and inlets were all they needed to catch some fish....
Many a night they would be out there for the duration.......

He and his pals also fished all up and down the Coast.....
Many NJ places included....among them Sandy Hook to Island Beach.

The following are some of the spots that some of these Old Farts have fished in their travels, at one time or another.....
You can see the old Sandy Hook long jetty, oceanside, in the bottom pic.

[ledhead36]

Video of some of the officers row houses and the surrounding coves


another one, heads up the audio is really lame

[baitstealer]

Was on the net today and found this, pirates creed-
I was born on the crest of a wave and rocked in the cradle of the deep. Me mother was a mermaid and me father was King Neptune. I can only sleep when bunked by a bulkhead. I'm a shipmate, matey, so I never swill me grog wit no lubber. I'll fight the devil himself to slip the noose 'n keep me secrets till me bones is in Davy Jone's locker. I's hard is is, I am, I are! When I spits I spit tar.

[storminsteve]

Cool vids thank you for sharing.

[Monty]

Wondering around out there at the Hook around 4:00 AM with a crazy friend and looked in here.... a few bats inside.