Since 1960, Hi-Mar Striper Club members have been making a difference statewide.
If you’ve fished the Raritan Bay, odds are you’ve heard of the Hi-Mar Striper Club. Whether you know a member, have fished side by side with one, or perhaps competed in one of our tournaments, you’ve probably wondered, what is the Hi-Mar all about? As the youngest member of the club I’ve found it impressive that the club is celebrating its 65th anniversary this year and I started asking these same questions to some of the longest active Hi-Mar members and legacy.
To set the scene, Johnny Sciortino owned the Highlands Marina where all the fishing action took place in late 50s. There were about a dozen six-pack charter captains and about five head boats. You had the original Fisherman operated by Ron Santee Sr., the Sea Horse II run by Ed Bunting, Sr, Jack Early’s Flying Saucer, and the Lazy Bones captained by Red Ziollinger.
Some of the charter boats included Otto Ruett’s First Timer, Bob Beatty’s Hit-N-Run, Renzo run by Vinnie and Joseph Renzo, the Aud-a-Bob with Bob Quackenback at the helm, Tony Moro’s Dam Bot, the Jer Vin run by Jerry Cirello, Sr., Mario Scardingo’s Mi-Jo, the Freddy C with Freddy Coles, Sr. at the helm, and Louie Facenda’s Windward, to name a few. The marina also had a cocktail lounge where everyone got together in the afternoon to tell their fishing tales.
| FISHERMAN’S FLEA MARKET |
| On Saturday, February 8 from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. the Hi-Mar Fishing Club will host their annual Hi-Mar Fisherman’s Flea Market at Port Monmouth VFW Post 2179, 1 Veterans Lane in Port Monmouth. Admission is $5; kids 15 and under free. Includes free access to seminars and a chance at door prizes. If you’re interested in becoming a member, or just want to learn more about the Hi-Mar Striper Club, you can also visit their website at www.hi-mar.com. Find the club on Instagram @himar_striperclub. |
When I asked Phil Sciortino, Jr. of the Tackle Box about his grandfather’s legacy he stated “my dad, Phil Sr. Grew up at the Highlands Marina and mated for one of the founding members, Otto Ruett on his boat First Timer where if you caught your first striper with him you had to buy the captain a bottle of booze!” Phil, Jr. said that’s where his father honed his striper skills to become one of the greatest of his time “with multiple 50 pounders caught in one day” as the younger Sciortino recalled.
“In 1960, Sciortino, Ruet, Beatty, Coles, Moro, Cirello, Quackenback, and the Renzo Brothers came together to create our organization, they were the founding members of the club,” said Capt. Bobby Moro whose father ran Dam Bot. “The Hi-Mar derives from an abbreviation of Highlands Marina, and they would meet monthly for club meetings at the bar inside the Highlands Marina,” said Capt. Moro, adding “With these gentlemen leading the way in Jersey striper fishing and charter trips, popularity grew amongst other anglers who became friends, clients, etc., and wanted to join the club.”
Moro noted that membership grew to about 35 members, explaining how competition amongst the members soon grew fierce. “Most of the contests were sponsored by Schaefer Beer Co. (the drink of choice during that time),” he added.
The Bunker Boats
One of our older active members in particular, Len Fantasia of the Wave Dancer, has quite the story to tell. Fantasia joined Hi-Mar in the late 70s through Capt. Bobby Moro for whom he used to deck as a mate, and stated how the objective of the club back then was to end the year with enough money to pay off the VFW for the first month’s rent for monthly meetings. The club was a social fishing club, which eventually evolved into what it is today – putting on tournaments, flea markets, charter trips for children, charter trips for Veterans, and giving back to the community. Our first big tournament was the two-day striper tournament in honor of Bob Kamienski, who was president of the club for years, a tournament that still happens every year.
In the mid-1980s, Len Fantasia became deeply involved in advocating for the preservation of menhaden in the Raritan Bay. At that time, bunker populations were becoming alarmingly scarce due to the reduction industry, aka Omega Protein, operating inside of state waters. At the time, Len had to travel to Great Kills to find bunker, as they were being rapidly depleted from the Raritan Bay. In 1988, with the support of the Jersey Coast Anglers Association (JCAA) and their legislative representative, Tom Fote, Fantasia attended the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council (part of the ASMFC) meeting to address this growing crisis.
Reporting directly on the state of bunker populations, Len helped implement critical regulations to balance the interests of local fishermen and the environment. Mom-and-pop fishing operations were grandfathered in, allowing them to continue local bait fishing for menhaden, provided they stayed within six-tenths of a mile from the shore. Meanwhile, larger reduction boats, which were the main culprits in depleting bunker populations, were mandated to stay at least 1.2 nautical miles offshore. These boats were also required to display a “B” designation to distinguish them from smaller operations to easily identify them while out on the water or from shore, to catch any bad actors not following the law.
These measures led to an increase in bunker populations along the New Jersey coast, but the problem persisted. As the bunker population was being depleted further to the south, commercial operations continued moving northward, deploying intimidating tactics to drive recreational anglers away from prime fishing spots. During these challenging times, Fantasia met Greg Hall, a local tackle shop employee, who shared a petition to ban reduction boats entirely. Inspired by Greg’s passion, Fantasia and a few other Hi-Mar members partnered with the JCAA to launch the Menhaden Project, an initiative to save the menhaden fishery.
Focused on gathering widespread support in the fishing community, those involved in the Menhaden Project began visiting fishing clubs and tackle shows, while attending boat shows and statewide meetings, collecting signatures and contact information. The effort to address the bunker reduction fishery ramped up in the late 1990s with the Menhaden Project and JCAA building a coalition that also included the rallying efforts of the Salty Dogs and the political support of the Recreational Fishing Alliance.
On January 6, 2002, New Jersey Governor Donald DiFrancesco signed the Menhaden Bill into law, a landmark political victory that pushed bunker reduction boats 3 miles offshore, creating a “safe corridor” for bunker inside our state waters. There’s been subtle tweaking from a regulatory perspective since then, along with stricter quotas on those reduction boats operating in federal waters beyond 3 miles, but the overall outcome was transformative for our fishery in the state of New Jersey. With bunker populations rebounding, the ecological benefits became undeniable. Whales, porpoises, tuna, and striped bass returned to our area in thriving numbers, showcasing the importance of a healthy menhaden population.
Fantasia would go on to win JCAA’s Sportsperson of the Year in 2004, and together with fellow Hi-Mar members like captains Robby Barradale and Gene Nigro, a vital fishery was not only conserved but revitalized on behalf of the entire marine ecosystem. Their work is a testament to the power of grassroots advocacy and collaboration between various stakeholders, something that anglers of today might consider in terms of borrowing pages from the play book.
Membership Advantages
When former Hi-Mar member Ryan Taffet was asked to recall his time as a member in the club prior to moving down to Florida he said it was the camaraderie and shared passion that defines the club. “When I once polled the membership, the overwhelming majority expressed that they joined for one primary reason, education. Above all else, members sought to learn how to become better anglers in the area.” According to Taffet, this focus on knowledge-sharing has always been the heart of the Hi-Mar Fishing Club, fostering a supportive environment for anglers of all skill levels.
“During my time as a member, it wasn’t just a club, it was family,” said Taffet, adding “A family who looked after each other’s boats, invited each other fishing, hopped in the car and drove down to the AC Boat Show together, showed up to meetings early and stayed late, shared tips and tricks including fish recipes, cracked a lot of jokes, attended each other’s funerals, weddings, and birthdays, and even took a minute to debate the serious issues.” He recalled how the club also had a small dedicated group of offshore tuna anglers who also helped with pointers to make that fishery more accessible for smaller boats and smaller budgets, “so it was not just limited to stripers or inshore,” he added.
Over the years, the club has been fortunate to have many local legends amongst its membership, affiliates, and supporters. Names like Gene Grahman, Bob Kamienski, Jay Cosgrove of Bahrs Landing, Big Ed who worked the tournament scales at Bahrs Landing, and the crew from Julian’s Bait & Tackle. There has also been the Sciortino family at the Tackle Box, Pete from Atlantic Bait and Tackle, as well as Chuck “TYMAN” Many and countless others who left a lasting impression on our club through their contributions. Each has brought a unique perspective, wealth of knowledge, and a passion that enriched the club and our members.
Hi-Mar members also helped innovate many highly effective striped bass catching techniques employed coastwide today, from live bait to working plugs and spoons. Members have helped pioneer some of the standard techniques of our time, from worming for striped bass, to livelining bunker, and chunking Flynn’s Knoll, not to mention nighttime plug trolling in the Sandy Hook Rips, and targeting bass on fly and light tackle gear.
Hi-Mar Striper Club has always been about more than just fishing; conservation is at our core, but it’s also a place to build lasting relationships and a true sense of community. Members support each other in both fishing and our everyday lives. I personally joined this club when I first moved to New Jersey and some of these guys who were strangers when I walked into my first meeting are some of my best friends today. Now as I look back on the couple of years I’ve spent as a member in the club, going from a relative nobody to becoming Social Media Director, followed by Sportsman of the Year in 2023 and ultimately joining the Hi-Mar Board of Directors as secretary – with tons of tournaments, awards dinners, flea markets, fishing outings, lifetime catches made – I realize it’s not really about the fish we’re chasing, but it’s the memories we make, the knowledge we share, the friendships we build, and the legacy that we continue.
