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Commemorative Thread - "Gone, but not Forgotten"

13K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  Jimmy Z 
#1 ·
I got this idea from an newspaper article written about the passing away of an 80 year old fishermen that Reports posted in the Hudson forum. It always saddens me to hear about the passing of these fishing old-timers. They carry so much knowledge to their graves.

Originally, I posted a story in that thread about Chaddy, a person who taught me much of what I now know about boating in the area of Maine I currently striper fish. But, the more I thought about it, the more I figured that it might be neat to create this commemorative thread where we pick someone who has passed away that has helped us achieve a fishing related goal.

Maybe if we get enough stories, Jim will turn this thread into a sticky, sort of a headstone. I swear, as I get older, I'm getting more sentimental. Anyway, here's my story. I'd love to read yours.

I got to know Chaddy, a Maine lobsterman, when we first moved there. He was an old-timer even then. I went out with him many times after we were introduced, helping him bait his traps and band the caught lobbies. In exchange he taught me what I needed to know about boating in the area, since he'd been lobstering the Saco/Biddeford area for over 40 years. The half dozen lobbies he'd throw my way as thanks for helping him were nice to, but that's not why I did it.

I remember meeting him early one foggy morning on the dock at our prearranged time. I asked whether he was heading out in this soup. He said, absolutely, there's no wind with calm seas and pulling traps will be easy. I said, Yea, but can you find them...you don't even have GPS? He just looked at me and said, get in the skiff and start rowing to the boat. We pulled 8 strings of traps (200) that morning in the thickest pea soup I've ever boated in. Only once did he have difficulty finding one of his strings. So he headed to where he knew Wood Island was. Once he caught sight of the Island he spun the boat and found that lost string in minutes...he just needed to get his bearings.

When we got back to the dock all the other lobstermen were there drinking coffee complaining about the fog while we hoisted 250 keepers from the boat to the dock. They were all jabbing him for going out in the fog. He just said, "you boys with all your electronic gizmos afraid of a little fog. Hell this ain't nothing....in fact, I let Tony here captain the boat and he had no problem." Of course he was lying but he left them guessing.

Chaddy died two winters ago. I considered him the last of the old-timer lobstermen in my area. I think about him quite often as I run my boat through areas where he had placed his traps. It was an honor and privilege to mate for him. And when I see his old boat now motoring the area with a fresh coat of paint, all decked out with the latest in radar and GPS electronics, and it's new captain, I remember what he said to those other lobstermen that foggy morning years ago, "you boys with all your electronic gizmos afraid of a little fog". I smile and wave, while at the same time, I'm conjuring up a picture, in my minds eye, of Chaddy at the helm.

Gone, but not forgotten.
 
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#3 ·
Thanks Roc. Can't wait to read yours.

I hope we have a few more stories from some other forum members as well, wanting to celebrate/honor their departed fishing heroes or buddy that you use to fish with. Doesn't even have to be a story.....can be just a picture.....anything you feel comfortable with.

Chaddy is getting a little lonely by himself in this thread. :cheers:

In fact I'll add another. Chaddy meet Tom (aka Logic).

Logic was my college room mate for 3 years, at 2 different colleges. For all 4 undergraduate college years and beyond, we were a team. We caught our first stripers off the jetty our freshmen year. After we both transferred to a school in Jersey, he introduced me to one of his Jersey buddies who took us fluke fishing from his boat many times.

When I had finished school and settled in an apartment in Boston with my first real job and future wife, I asked Logic, who was still living in Jersey and between jobs at the time, if he wanted to seek employment in the Boston area. He gave it a shot for about 8 months.

When Logic arrived, I was already heavily involved in Large Mouth Bass fishing. So to escape the city on weekends during the summer, we'd all head to the cranberry bogs of Wareham, where I had summered and fished as a kid. I remember the 3 of us fishing one hot Saturday afternoon from my first Jon boat on Mill pond. None of us had gotten a bite in several hours. So Logic put on some strange lure. I don't even remember what it was, but we were kidding him about it as he was tying it on. Within 10 minutes he had landed the biggest bass any of us had ever caught up to that time, and it was a small mouth to boot. We were all laughing so hard as he reeled that thing to the boat, I'm surprised we actually boated it.

A little frustrated with his job and future prospects in Boston, Logic returned to Jersey after experiencing the Blizzard of 78. That following spring, he was fishing with some friends from a canoe on the Delaware Water Gap when the canoe he was in capsized in some rapids. Logic must have hit his head on a rock and by the time the others could find him, he was dead.

28 years later I still think of him quite often and wish he could be striper fishing with me in Maine. BTW, where we now have our house in Maine and currently striper fish, is the same area where together, Logic and I both caught our first stripers ever.

Gone but not forgotten.
 
#4 ·
For some of us staten Island guys it was "Old Man Fred"
The old man was good ole Fred Espanak who operated Freds Bait and Tackle shop on Amboy road in Princess Bay, Staten Island.
It was a trip on the west shore expressway but always worth it. He always had and a story, fresh bunker and 7/0 snelled hooks with 3 foot leaders at the ready.
His wife Asie wrote a fishing column for the staten Island advance back in the day. She at one time (maybe still) held the unofficial S.I. record for a striper nailing a 64 pounder in the early 80's. Fred would brag on asie all the time. She caught it livelining a bunker from a boat in the raritan Bay.
Freds favoite mantra was "never leave the beach if the wind is in your face" and " if you dont catch something in 20 minutes move". Fred died this past spring, he was 88 years old.

Asie and Fred in the early days.
 
#5 ·
I was going to do this one for my 2000 th post, I'm one late...

this is in memory of an old friend and fishing buddy Al Vancauteren, better known as Moose.

Moose was a big man, over 300lbs,we must have looked a sight, me a skinny short pre-teenager tagging along and pushing him up hills that he was in no shape to navigate on his own.....

Moose and my dad were drinking buddies,something he would never do in my presence,moose was an artist and did rare reverse paintings on glass, moose had only one reason to fish.... to fill the bucket.....

On days that my dad had to work, I tagged along with moose on fishing forays, horndpout were his favorite fish, he considered large mouth bass and trout "junkfish" (but he still ate them, I suspect having a size and bag limit had something to do with it)

He also loved eels (hmmm maybe thats where I got it from) he pickled them, something he learned as a young boy in his native Belgum one rainy night we were catching horndpout and I brought a huge eel to the boat, being about 11 or 12,I was terrified and quickly cut the line, boy was he mad, he called me a "hacker" (his favorite word for me or anyone who made a mistake) and ranted for an hour about the tasty meal I had just "released"
Moose taught me everything I know about icefishing, it was amazing how a man that big, could be all bundled up and still walk across the ice...

One of the many and most important things I learned from this crafty old man was patience and how to fish shallow water, one time while icefishing I was playing a fish and I kept looking around for another flag, a cuff upside the head and a stern voice said " pay attention to the one ya got,if ya should get lucky enough to git anutha one , my legs and arms aint broke!"....

His best lesson on shallow water came while flounder fishing, we rowed out to the edge of a mud flat and he began to chum(long before it was a common practice) I started protesting that there wasnt enough water,and we should move deeper, he sat up, instructed me to "keep chummin" scratched his grey chin wiskers, spat out the remains of the camel ciggarette that seemd always to be burned down to the end and said" Joey boy, how much water does a flounder need?" My reward for my doubting one of the best fisherman i have ever known.... I got to clean the 5 gallon bucket full of flounders myself....


That was many ,many, many years ago,but the lessons I learned from that old gentleman still control my behaviour today...I still think about him, and some day hope I can have the influence on others that he had on me.....


Moose never married, he died painting a picture of a sunset one cold winters eve,after repairing a bamboo fly rod I suspect it was of the last one he ever saw.....
 
#9 ·
I think that fish she caught was a 64 lb. I believe she does still hold the world record for women. I miss Fred too. God, I used to hate the way he seperated the sandworms. He always kept the snakes on the side and you had to ask for them special. 50 cents a dozen more, but they were worth every penny. I caught quite a few big bass with those worms. With those, you never needed eels.
 
#10 ·
My father is one of those old timers as well, still around. When I was growing up, my dad had a charter boat, in Sheepshead Bay. So I got to fish alot when I was a youth. I remember a fishing buddy of his that was always out fishing with us, a lure maker as well, Charlie Russo. I developed a passion for being on, near, or around the water. It was part of my life, it still is. The knowledge learned from my dad, and his fishing buddies.
When I go back to the Parkway marina, where I spent many a weekend as a boy, I look around at what has changed, and I think back on the times that have past. I get a nice peaceful feeling inside, knowing the things that have past were good, and good for the soul.thumbsup.gif
 
#11 ·
great stories guys, i think we all have that "old timer" who passed on something that we will always remember. for me i have a few whom i look up to. first my uncle curt phelps,(ckphelps's father) he is very passionate about fishing and hunting, he is the one who set the striper hook into my heart, he is also one of the largemouth masters in my view. the infamous roccus, he is one of a kind, and when he gives advise, take it, hes no joke. when it comes to BIG BASS hes the man, this past summer i was lucky to score a spot on rocs boat for a night trip, even though the fishing was a little tough that night for me, joe brought to the boat a few of the biggest bass i have ever seen in person, i just about shat myself. i am still in awe at his die hard passion for fishing, from sun down till sun up...friggin real hardcore. he taught me a few things about fishing which i will never forget. then the last i dont even know, i met him at the cape one morning, we got to talkin. this guy was a local who spent a good hour showing me a thing or two about the canal, i never got his name, but i am greatful, he saved me a lot of potentially lost tackle.
 
#12 ·
I just found George Carlson has passed away.

Made a call to see if I could get some plugs and got the news.

Some may remember him from decades at Race Point. Or have made the trip up from Montauk to Mass, in February for plugs. Or from I dunno where.

I only met him a few times at his home, where his shop was. Well into his 80's he was still making the Thursday trip to P-town to fish most weeks during the season.

The first time I met him he asked how many I wanted. I said $100 worth. I got the tour. He asked where I'd be using them, I said the canal. He nodded. I told him I belonged to the Canal Sportsman's Club, He said"oh"

He disapeared into his bedroom, rifled through the draw in his Bedtable, and came back with a laminated card. "Quit that club in 1960" he says. 40 years later and it was still right where he left it.

Maybe you bought a plug or 20 from the back of his Scout. I dunno, thought someone might wanna know.
 
#14 ·
Some of you Staten Island guys may remember Freds bait and tackle.
Well look at this find in the net archives. Heres old man Freds tackle shop still in cyberspace. With a picture of my good friend Bobby Cahill on the cover with Fred.
http://www.screamingreel.com/bait/10a.html
Robs in Europe for two weeks when he gets back he wants to take his boat from GKs to M.
Rob was a part time capt. on the atlantic princess for a while. Hes been slowed by a car accident.

If you search that site you'll see old man Scags too. paddys old man was a good guy.
Paddy jr well uh. lol No comment.
http://www.screamingreel.com/bait/10c.html



 
#15 ·
JimmyZ said:
My father is one of those old timers as well, still around. When I was growing up, my dad had a charter boat, in Sheepshead Bay. So I got to fish alot when I was a youth. I remember a fishing buddy of his that was always out fishing with us, a lure maker as well, Charlie Russo.
Jim i just noticed the name there. Charles Russo. His famous lure was the flaptail made in the late 50's. Very valuable coin on those. His lures were stamped Chas Russo.
Heres a pick of this flaptails.
 

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#16 ·
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The good Capt. Don Cameron, has passed away this evening. I don't know all the details, but he had been battling cancer for a few months now. He was a God fearing man, and the best there was in SoCo, R.I.
He left his wife, and I know of one step son.
I will truly miss his hearty laugh, and his kindness. The good Lord took him home, tonight. He will be missed.
__________________
He had 3 step sons,.......................
May God show mercy on him........................
I had not been in the shop for over 10 years, last time I saw him was right before he emptied the Dunn's Corners shop. He had not found religion at that time, that came later, when he came back from Alaska. He certainly knew Stripers, and willingly shared all he knew with all that wanted to hear.
He certainly lived an interesting, full life. I spent many winter mornings with him and 1 of his step sons in a duck blind on the Pawcatuck, and made many hikes out to a difficult area to fish in the fall. We had some good times back then, Me and The Cap'..........................................
Rest in Peace Don Quote by Gunny Sniper

Last night Captain Don passed away. We had known he was sick and that he would likely pass away soon, but I had no idea it would be this soon. Rest in peace my friend. You have touched so many of our lives. I had the opportunity to know you for a short time, but I would like to thank you for the time you spent with me. I will miss your smiling face when I come in to complain that the eels you sold me were "defective." To see the twinkle in your eye when I tell you about the big one that got away. I will miss seeing you out on Quonnie beaches each and every morning, faithful as the sun rising, to cast a pencil during the fall run. I am glad you got in a good last season walking the beach. I will miss you, and believe me Don, I have shed a tear for your passing. An empty place is left in my heart. I wish I could see you again. Quote by TIGER


He was the source of last years eels for the Father's Day Eve.
Knew he was having this problem,,, Never thought it was going to end this way.
Yes, he will be deeply missed for many reasons.
I'll be watching the paper for date and time of ......

One for the good Captain,,,
Quote from FLOATSUM
 
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