Our History
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. In the charter boat business they had an excellent reputation for Striped Bass, Bluefish, Albacore, Bonita an
d 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 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. 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 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. 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. 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.
