^FYI: For those who know him, the guys who hang out at Leonardo and the Hook, Angelo is doing a little better now, I just talked to him the other day. He's not fishin much, but at least he's OK.



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A Shark River Sharpie -
Met a guy the other day as he was taking his wife to the Dr. We started talking about kayaks and kayaking. Turns out he's a kayak fanatic, and long-time fisherman.
He's also one of the oldest members of the Shark River Fishing Club, and shared some stories with me.





The story of Ben Stanek and the 60# bass that got away:
Here's the story as he related it to me. I'll try to post pics and some other stuff when I get the chance to interview him. Even without that it's quite a story, here goes...

It was August 8, 1958. He was fishing on one of the jetties in the Long Branch area, late at night. The jetty he fished off of was near the Long Branch Fishing pier and is no longer there.

Ben was fishing eels, and he was tired. He had gone quite a while without a fish. Any fishermen out there can identify with this, sometimes your mind wanders...
And his mind was wandering, a little, when he got hit by a monster bass. It nailed his eel and took off. Ben fished every chance he could, and was no stranger to catching large bass. But this one was different, this one was a huge cow, he could feel the weight as she pulled drag, and he tried to turn her.

Finally he did, and got her near the jetty. She made one more small run, but he got her in close to the jetty rocks.

Just when he went to leader her in, his line broke. He got to see the fish, and estimated it was 60lbs minimum. Some fishermen are prone to exaggeration, this is a given. But Ben had caught quite a few big fish in his lifetime, and never one this big. He was sure in his heart, after seeing the fish, that she was a 60 or better.

So there you have it folks, the story of the big one that got away. He went back for a few nights after trying to find a fish that big, but he never did. The memory of that fish will always be with him.

Ben says he regrets losing that fish, as they were giving a new Cadillac away in a promotion to the angler catching the biggest bass. When he brought the fish in, all he could think of was how it would be to drive that sweet Cadillac.

Big fish don't just break your line, sometimes they break your heart (and your Cadillac dreams) as well...


(Note: this was also reported in the Newark Evening News by Henry Schaeffer, and later written about by John Geiser.


I'll try to bring more details up when I go down to interview him.