One fluke

[steplift20]

My best memory’s were from that era. The fishing on that pier with my family. Catching tinker mackerel we would take the F train from the lower east side and it was the last stop. We would walk to the pier me and my mom. She would take me there cause I loved to fish and still do. I just don’t like getting up early anymore. To this day I still don’t know what that fish was
Bluefish ? Maybe striped bas maybe. I do remember it hooked up right where the jetty would end. And i know there was striped bass caught. The first time I seen a striped bass I was saying. Wow that’s big. But I was only maybe 10 at the time.
It’s great talking to someone who was fishing that pier too. Maybe we were on the pier the same time. I’m 70 now so it was a long time ago but seems l8ke yesterday

 

[steplift20]

If that was a bluefish at maybe ten years old. I would have jumped over the pier into the water
The biggest fish I ever caught off the pier was a herring. If you got a herring while jigging tinker mackerel we you were the boss lol. I remember fishing next to the shack on the pier. It stuck out a little and I liked the corner but the fish I caught was on the side. My dad would take me there at night after work. I don’t know how he did it. He was a hard worker.
The steeplechase ? I remember that. What about th3 parachute jump? It’s still there. That’s like the Ambrose light house we called it the iron horse. That’s what it looked l8k3 from the water that’s gone but the parachute jump is still there.
Yeah those were good times. What abou5 Coney Island the beach? I remember the guy walking on the sand yelling ice cold sodas and something else he said I just can’t think of it now. I will remember I got it? Hot knishes,cold sodas.maybe it was ice cream. I can’t believe it was hot knishes but that sounds like what I remember

 

[Giorgio]

I never caught a thing off the pier - They were selling hot pretzels and Mom's knishes - When I would walk from my house to Canarsie Pier, their was this old Jewish guy right on the corner selling Mom's knishes and hot pretzels for 5 cents - I always got a pretzel with plenty of salt - No mustard, I saved it for later - He would dip the pretzel in the salt that he had in a plate on his little cart - The 3 Coney Island Icons besides Nathan's The Parachute Jump - The Cyclone and The Wonder Wheel - There were rumors that the wanted to reopen the Parachute Jump When you drive past it on the Belt at night it all lit up in different colors

 

[steplift20]

Your,re right those are the three icons. Nathan’s of course was at the top but it wasn’t a ride I’m surprised you never caught anything off the pier. We /I did good. The best memories of that pier was when the mackerels came in. We got over 300 , how do I know? I counted them. 318 mackerel. In our bathtub. I think e dry one in our building was eating mackerel. Herring was a bonus.

 

[Giorgio]

My memories of Coney Island are great- Steeplechase was unbelievable at the time - When you first went in - You had to walk over this place where they blew air up the girls/women's skirts - We would stand out side and watch - Then they had the horses - My favorite - The also had a salt water pool - Mackerel fishing was a yearly thing for me - As soon as the party boats in Sheepshead, said the Macks were in, we were there -Fished off the The Brooklyn, Tampa or the Helen H - Never off the Ranger - Didn't like the mates - Then I started my Mack trips off the Golden Eagle in Belmar, because the Macks were not coming in close any longer or in the Spring any longer - More of a Winter or late fall run - The pictures are from the Golden Eagle and that was just 1 cooler - The fish were much smaller than the old time Boston's - We gave a lot of the fish to my friend Pete - He would use them for chum and shark bait when we went out on his boat - As I said before, we gave the rest to the boat and they donated it to the shelters - When the Herring showed up I would go to the Cross Bay Bridge (North Channel) - Get a big piece of cardboard and climb under the bridge - On the screened walkway, put down the cardboard and catch Herring - I didn't eat them - I lived In East New York after Canarsie, in the Pink Houses - We had this nice Jewish lady who lived next door - I would give her the Herring and she would pickle it - My mother loved it - Being Sicilian, my mother ate every thing

 

[steplift20]

Whoa hold on a sec. That steeple chase ride, am I seeing correctly. People sitting on a mechanical horses. Not for me I thought you were talking about the cyclone ? I don’t remember seeing that steeple chase ride. Funny that you mention cross bay bridge. I fished there too. I remember there was a coffee shop at the end of the highway. I remember one time I went there with my mom and dad I dropped a small silver spoon over the side. I caught a snapper immediately. I said to myself. Wow this is going to be a great day That was the only fish I caught that day. Funny how I remember that . I even took my son there when I got married and I have a picture of him standing on a box to look over the side while fishing. I’m sure you too remember walking on the beach area and seeing horse shoe crabs on the beach. The weirdest crabs I ever seen.
Giorgio. I’m disappointed
myself today. ( it’s Sunday) I didn’t go fishing. I was to tired. Im ashamed to say that but I was very tired to get up. My wife had a yard sale. Friday and Saturday. And after doing all 5hat stuff. I didn5 get up in the morning. And Friday we went to bingo ( yeah I said it. I didn’t want to go ) but I did. We got home around midnight. But next week I’m going ..
I bet we cross paths back in the day. We fishing 5he same places. I fished on the Hellen H the super Ranger.

 

[Blue_Runner]

Whoa hold on a sec. That steeple chase ride, am I seeing correctly. People sitting on a mechanical horses. Not for me I thought you were talking about the cyclone ? I don’t remember seeing that steeple chase ride. Funny that you mention cross bay bridge. I fished there too. I remember there was a coffee shop at the end of the highway. I remember one time I went there with my mom and dad I dropped a small silver spoon over the side. I caught a snapper immediately. I said to myself. Wow this is going to be a great day That was the only fish I caught that day. Funny how I remember that . I even took my son there when I got married and I have a picture of him standing on a box to look over the side while fishing. I’m sure you too remember walking on the beach area and seeing horse shoe crabs on the beach. The weirdest crabs I ever seen.
Giorgio. I’m disappointed
myself today. ( it’s Sunday) I didn’t go fishing. I was to tired. Im ashamed to say that but I was very tired to get up. My wife had a yard sale. Friday and Saturday. And after doing all 5hat stuff. I didn5 get up in the morning. And Friday we went to bingo ( yeah I said it. I didn’t want to go ) but I did. We got home around midnight. But next week I’m going ..
I bet we cross paths back in the day. We fishing 5he same places. I fished on the Hellen H the super Ranger.

Hey Georgio I started off saltwater fishing on the piers in SC using tree rigs fishing for Spanish macks. It was the early 90's, I'm not even sure if they made tree rigs commercially back then? I would grab a few coffee straws from Hardees, either white with red strip or red with white stripe and make my own tree rigs. Caught a lot of spanish and other species.

 

[Giorgio]

Blue, sure they did - We used them for our Boston Mackerel - In the 60's - We'd put on about seven hooks with a diamond jig at the end.
Step, I would wade in the water and snapper fish - That little coffee shop was right at the end of the bridge - At one time they rented row boats
My father and I would rent one for $5 and go flounder fishing - That area is the beginning of the Pumpkin Patch - A great Flounder spot - Another great Flounder spot was the Raunt Channel in Broad Channel - I had my first boat docked there in Adams Marina on 19thrd, I was 16 - That channel ran from there, right out to the MPB by Floyd Bennett - Still holds big flounder - Caught those a few years back - My uncle had a house boat right in the creek on 19thrd - He was one of the few Bay Men left - Busters the Mercury place is still there - When he was a kid my uncle gave him bait and traps - There was a creek going from the Raunt cutting through the marsh and coming out by the Broad Channel Bridge - That was called the
Cow Patch - I tried to get through there at almost low tide and my friend and I had to pull the boat through - Couldn't get to that area with out the patch unless you went all the way to the MPB and went that way

 

[steplift20]

That coffee shop was the first stop we made. Me and my dad. I never thought about fishing for flounder there but now that you mentioned it. That would be a great spot. I always wondered if there was big fish there? I as happy as a little kid to catch snappers. I caught porgy’s too. Sand porgy’s hey Blue that’s what we used for mackerel. We use 5o make our own. You can buy the just like Giorgio said. 7 at a time. I was on a party boat for mackerel and had 7 teasers on my line. Thinking back in the day. That’s what we used . Well we caught big Boston mackerel and more then on3 on a hook they broke my line. So what I used was a metal jig. One at a time. In Coney Island I guess they were tinker mackerel but these were Boston mackerel. A big difference. So now I know. The differance. Took me 65 years to figure that out lol. I’m telling you Giorgio we must have cross paths at some time cause we fished the same area. I’m 70 now so I’m thinking back then I must have been 10. Or 12. Those were good times. I would like to go back to cross bay bridge and fish and Coney Island pier too but I live to far from ny now. And I don’t want to pay for the tolls. To much money. yeah those were the days. I wish I could go back in time for just one day. But this is good too

 

[Giorgio]

Step, I don't think we might've crossed paths - I'm 82 - I made my own Mackerel rigs also - But I learned the hard way - Don't put on more than 4, plus your Diamond jig - Like you said - The line would break, because you had to try and swing them over the rail - The Boston's were big back then - Not like today - Today some could pass for Tinker's - I would get the hooks and by different colors of the surgical tubing - My father knew all the Flounder spots in the bay - He fished the bay his whole life - He remembered when the bay froze completely over and they would walk from Canarsie to Rockaway - I use you hit the Canarsie flats and at dead low tide - Bring the pitch fork and dig for my own blood worms - Some thing else you can't do today - One of the best Flounder spots was - The Silver Hole in Broad Channel - You'd have to get there real early - Before the party boats, because once they got there it was hard to find a spot - When they showed up they didn't care where they anchored - So many boats had to move because - When they dropped their anchor they would almost hit the private boats - Speaking of Rockaway - Do you remember Rocakway's Playland - A miniature Coney Island just like Palisades Park in New Jersey - When we moved to East New York, Playland was so easy to get to than Coney Island - It was fun - But nothing could ever beat Coney Island - The rides and all the different kinds of food - The first stop getting off the train in Coney Island was the bathroom then buying a bag of elephant nuts and a HOT pretzel - That's what we called them instead of peanuts.

 

[steplift20]

I have to ask. Why can’t you dig for blood worms? I never did but it sounds like fun. With 5he price for worms today that sounds like a great idea
I would like to find a spot to get fiddler crabs. You can’t get them anymore at least in nj.
You’re 12 years older than me. That’s pretty close. When you were getting off the pier I was getting on with my parents. It’s a gat memory talking about that time. The pier,the hot dogs especially the chicken chowmein sandwich on a bun from Coney Island. I told some guys who work in town about that and they thought I was joking. And you remember that too. That’s great. And the mackerel being caught off the pier and the coffee shop too. The cross bay bridge. That brings me back and it’s so nice talking about those great times. I use to make my own mackerel lures to. Very easy and fun to do. Bu5 when I went on the party boat for mackerel I was thinking about Coney Island. Catching 7 at a time. And more then 2 on a hook broke my lin3 so an only used a metal jig. One at a time and had fun catching them I remember my dad would take the belt pkwy and get off in Coney Island. Not sure of the exit buy I do remember. There was a stand where they would sell water melons huge water melons for a dollar. These were hug3 not like the small seedless one they sell today. Just wondering. Do you remember that stand ? It was on your way to Coney Island , very close. I would lov3 to get a brown bag of coney island Nathan’s fries. L8ke you said. Only salt from that big metal salt shaker and no ketchup.
Real quick. What I do now is I order chicken chowmein from a Chinese take out by my house and put it on a hamburger bun. Taste great
I heard of playland in rockaway but we never went there.