June 10, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In honor of National Fishing and Boating Week, Mike Pentony, Regional Administrator for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, shares his fondness for recreational fishing.

What is your earliest fishing memory?

I grew up at the Jersey Shore, so fishing was all around me as a kid. My earliest fishing memory was entering a fishing contest when I was probably 6 years old. We fished in this little pond in Manasquan, New Jersey, and I won the contest for my age group. (Probably because I was the only kid who actually caught a fish.)

After we moved from Manasquan over to Point Pleasant, I spent a lot of time fishing at the Manasquan Inlet. My friends and I would ride our bikes to fish at the Point Pleasant Canal. With just a simple spoon, we could do pretty well fishing for bluefish, which I would bring home and my mom would grill up with tomatoes, lemon, and bacon. I also had a few crab traps and we’d ride our bikes down to the river beach, hop a fence, and catch a few blue crabs to bring home for dinner.

Learn more about his fishing memories in our web story.