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

[DarkSkies]

Met these 2 characters today in Point Pleasant. They had stories from fishin that pier you wouldn't believe!





I was honored to hear their fishing stories and how things were 40 years ago. I'll fill this post and the pics in when I can. In the meantime, here's a fishing nugget:

What was the biggest crab ever caught in NJ?

22", claw to claw (that's how they measured em back then), caught by Louie, in the 1950's.
The story - he caught it in the bay around 1955. It was the largest crab anyone had ever seen. Instead of eating it, Louie kept it in his freezer. Whenever anyone asked him about that crab, he would pull it out of the freezer and show it to them.

When they first told me this story, it seemed hard to believe. Then I realized the "claw to claw" thing, and I'm thinking this crab could have been at least 12" across the shell, or bigger, for it to "tape out" at 22". No matter how you look at it, that was an impressive crab, and could have been a record if he documented it back then.

Current NJ record crab:
Crab, blue8 1/2"pt.to pt1995William DoolManahawkin

Thr "world record" crab was caught in Va, and is around 11".


Long Branch cast of characters from the LB fishing pier:
Little Johnny
Shop Rite Eddie
Matty
Cigar Tony
Eddie the Hammer