The FLAMINGO III HISTORY
The Flamingo has been in the public
fishing business since 1947. It was started by Captain John
Sr.
and his son
Captain Walter. They were in the charter boat business till
1955, during which time they had several charter boats, one of which was the
Margo (seen left). In the charter boat
business they had an excellent reputation for Striped Bass, Bluefish,
Albacore, Bonita and Tuna. It was this team's success in the charter boat
business that launched them into the party boat business. Upon entering the
party boat business, they kept to what they new best and pursued the top
water species mentioned before. It was also a time (1955-1980’s) that
winter fishing was quite prolific with Cod, Pollack, Whiting, Ling, Hake and
Mackerel. The original Flamingo (right pic) started "way back when"
and has been on the fore front of fishing innovations and still is today as
these practiced techniques are still employed with great success..
Captain John Sr
.
(left
pic) got
into the charter boat business in 1947. It kind of started many years
beforehand, when being an avid fisherman himself; he would get charter
groups together to take on other charter boats. One of his favorite boats
was the Tambo out of Brielle, New Jersey, which was captained by Captain
Candy Keefe. By organizing trips and experiencing usually weekly fishing
trips, not only did he have the fishing bug, but he wanted to get into the
charter boat business with his other fishing buddy, Walter, his son. Captain
Walter, who tagged along with his father on most of the fishing trips, loved
it also. At age 16, Walter (right pic) and his father John, became captains when they
purchased their first charter boat. At that time you didn’t have USCG
Captain’s license, but all you needed was a motor boat license. The USCG
Captain’s licenses did not come out until the early 1950’s.
Captain’s John Sr.
and Walter were co-captains until
they entered the party boat business in 1955 with
the
Flamingo
II (right pic). At that time Walter became the sole captain and Captain John
did his usual telephone work with customers and still getting groups of
fisherman together. Captain Walter excelled in all different types of
fishing (mentioned earlier) and fishing techniques. In 1963 Captain Walter experimented and started the art
of Diamond Jigging, which was never done
before
for Striped Bass, Bluefish, Albacore, Bonita, and Tuna. In the late 1960’s
to the late 1970’s, the Flamingo II had an excellent reputation
in the fall of the year for Tuna. In those days the same type and size of
Tuna that you would go to the Hudson Canyon and further today were within 20
miles of home port everyday. Also, in the late 1990’s with the resurgence
of Striped Bass, the Flamingo was the first in the area to
pursue Striped Bass at night. The methods, as well as the many types of
baits such as, Eels, Sandworms, Bunkers and Clams were all experimented here
first.
Captain Bob, like his father got the fishing bug at the
early age of 7 (left pic). Going to school during most
of
the year,
he has since from then to now spent every summer on the water. Besides fishing
with his father, he would mate in his younger years for many notable charter
captains in the day, for many species, especially Striped Bass. Although his
father and grandfather’s main reputation, while in the charter boat business
was Striped Bass in the Party Boat business it was for many other species.
(Go back to previous history). Captain Bob finished high school and even has
a four year college degree, but his true love was fishing. At the age of
21, which was the earliest you could get your captain’s license, he did so
and started in 1977 splitting captain’s duties with is father. Captain Bob
took over the weekend night bluefish trips (for 14 years) and split weekday
fishing trips with his father.
At the time Captain Bob started, it was a time of
mixing the old styles and techniques to a new way. These
changes were
prompted by mainly the advance of marine electronics. New helpful machines
like radars, lorans, VHF radios, and new fish finders, all changed the
fishing game completely. Also major changes in fishing gear such as high
speed reels, sensitive and strong fishing lines, flexible and strong fishing
rods and new lures, all sparked for a new and greater range of fishing
techniques. When it comes to top water fishing, Captain Bob employs
all of these together and redefines the art of diamond jigging daily, and he
is the only one around to do so daily. So if you are looking for lure
fishing, the Flamingo III has been the one party boat you have
missed for too many years.
SATISFYING THE FISHING PUBLIC FOR OVER 50 YEARS
To this day, the Flamingo is the only
boat in the area to specialize in Diamond Jigging. Started by Captain
Walter in the 1960’s, those methods and quite a few new ones are used daily
by third generation Captain Bob Wiegand. There is no better a reputation
around for catching top water species in the New York area other than with
the Flamingo.
- Telephone
-
718-763-8745
HOURS TO CALL – 9 A.M. to 9 PM – Please no later – we get up
early to go fishing.
-
- Postal address:
Capt. Walter Wiegand
Flamingo III
2265 E. 72 St.
Brooklyn, NY 11234
-
- Electronic mail
- General Information: Capt.
Bob@Flamingo3.com
Sales:
Customer Support:
Webmaster:
rich@thefishingline.com
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