Bob Hahn was born in central New Jersey and lived and fished the coast for most of his life. His passion for striped bass fishing began as soon as he could hold a rod in his hand, and both he and his brother, Lenny, were drawn to the sea. Bob liked to tell the story of when his father first took him fishing. “This is how you do it son,” his father said as he let go of the rod after casting.
Bob began crafting wooden lure from kits he would receive as a child every year at Christmas. As a young man he would get up at 5 a.m. over 200 days a year to fish an hour or two in the gray morning at first light, testing the unique swimming action of his lures. He lived in the same home for over 40 years where he raised a family and knew everyone in the community.
Eventaully, Bob’s love love of fishing and his creativity led him to design his own surfster-style fishing lure. When Bob took his first plug to the beach, a local fisherman witness the effectiveness of the lure and bought one from Bob right on the spot. Word-of-mouth quickly grew the business and his lures became sought-after and respected as one of the finest wooden lures for catching stripers. From 1986 until 2008 the product line grew from that lone surfster to over 15 different models. Anglers would line up at Betty and Nick’s and buy four or five at a time.
Bob’s later years were spent in the warm climate of Florida, where he fished and soaked up the sun’s last rays for him. After cremation, he is to be buried – at sea, naturally – here off the Jersey coast.
