By ED SALVAS
The Asbury Park Fishing Club’s annual fishing show has found a new home when it returns to the city Sun., March 20. The club’s 29th show will take place at the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel because its home for many years, Convention Hall, has been declared unsafe and is closed, along with the Paramount Theatre.
The show was canceled last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic and plans to return this year were dealt a blow by the Convention Hall closing.
Asbury Park Mayor John Moor and City Manager Donna Vieiro approached the Berkeley Hotel for help and hotel management quickly agreed.
“They saved the day,” Club President Joe Pallotto said.
Berkeley’s Albie Manzo said the club will have use of all four second-floor ballrooms for the show which has attracted between 1,800 and 2,500 attendees in past years. Manzo said they are very happy a deal was worked out, saying the Fishing Club members are a great group of people.
“We are very happy we could keep this long-running event going,” Manzo said.
The Asbury Park Fishing Club is the oldest saltwater fishing club in the U. S., established in 1902. The current membership is 150, ranging in age from 13 to 80, the youngest being the grandson of a member+.
The annual fishing market is so popular that anglers from all over line up early in the morning before the doors open, according to Pallotto who has been a club member for 57 years and has run the club for 34 years. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.. Admission is $5, children under 12 get in free. There will be 110 vendors this year selling rods and reels and lures. Hand-made wooden “plugs” are the most popular lures and are in great demand.
In March 2021 the Asbury Park Fishing Club was featured in “On the Water,” a publication devoted to fishing.
” For all of its rich history, the Asbury Park Fishing Club continues to add to its storied reputation, and its Annual Fishing Show is a prime example. What started as a flea market for members to sell their extra and unused tackle has turned into one of the premier plug shows in the country. At the same time, the event raises much-needed funds for local Asbury Park charities.”
Follow the club at www.AsburyParkFishingClub.com and on Facebook.
