Tony Poltrack, Fisherman

My dad loved to fish. I never had the opportunity to ask when he started, but I did see a few photos of him as a teenager with a pole in his hand.  I like this photo of him taken by my Mom in 1944. It almost appears that he is on mountain top rather than somewhere in Washington State.

I went fishing before being born

My parents were married in 1945, My father did not have a car, but he had a boat for fishing. My parents would take a bus to the boat mooring in Stamford, CT. My first fishing trips were taken in utero as my Mom rowed out into the Long Island Sound.

Learning From the Master

It didn't take long before I found myself holding a fishing pole for a series of family photos. My other role was acting as a measuring tape to show the size of several large (and delicious) striped bass that my dad would catch in Long Island Sound.

Fishing Trips

My Dad would go fishing on Saturday with his cousin or co-workers. His boat was moored at a dock in Stamford but he kept his Evinrude outboard motor at home. I assume he did this so no one would steal it. It was impressive to watch him lug it down to the boat. After the fishing trip he would run it at home in a metal garbage can with fresh water to flush out the salt water.

You Are Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

Sometime in the mid 1950s My Dad got a much larger Wolverine wooden boat that could accommodate the entire family.  We would fish for flounder which were quite tasty. However I always asked my dad to bait the hooks after watching the fangs emerge from the sandworms. His technique was to shove the hook past the fangs.

The boat needed yearly maintenance so my Dad decided to fiberglass the hull.  One spring he carefully applied layers of fiberglass tape over resin. For some unknown reason he kept the resin in the refrigerator. It was kept right next to my open can of Hershey's chocolate syrup. The whole refrigerator had a chemical smell.

The boat would handle very well with the extra weight from its enhanced hull.  Later in the 196os he got a fiberglass boat with a more powerful outboard that could tow someone on water skies but it didn't have the character of the old  wooden one.

The Apple Falls FAR from the Tree

I don't have much interest in fishing. My Dad was the fisherman, I was not. I did enjoy the time with him in the boat, but after a few hours I was ready for dry land. I also was not very talented. It is apparent in this photo taken in the early 1960s with my cousin Jim. Guess who caught more fish?

Tony the Rigger

Smelt are small fish found in the saltwater mouths of rivers in New England.  The are fried and eaten whole and my Dad loved them. He designed a fishing rig with three hooks separated with spreaders. The arrangement would present the bait at three different depths. The design was so successful, he made hundreds of these things at night as he watched TV. He marketed them to bait shops in the area as "Tony the Rigger". The rigs even got a write up in a fishing column.

He liked to design his own fishing gear. The cellar workshop was full of hooks,  natural rubber surgical tubing (for striped bass), glitter and plastic homemade lures. He melted lead on the stove to make sinkers. I can only imagine what the lead fumes did to my brain along with the fumes of the  refrigerator resin.

Retirement and Grandchildren

After my Dad retired he did some freshwater fly fishing. However he continued to fish in Long Island Sound. At this time my parents lived in Fairfield, CT and my father would fish off the jetty at Jennings beach. He was able to teach his grandchildren a few fishing tips. They were better at it than their father.

I worked at Digital Equipment Corporation in Merrimack, NH in the 1980s. The complex had two large man-made ponds. Once a year they would have a fishing derby for the children of employees. I knew exactly who to invite for expert help.