Whatcha Catch?

George Mello, 91, pulled five flounder from Swampscott Harbor on Thursday.

The World War II veteran — he fought on Okinawa in the Pacific Theater — has fished most his life.

He sent his first line into the water at The Willows in Salem as a 10-year-old boy.

Fish were plentiful in the 1930s, he said.

A fisherman could reel in more than 100 flounder in an outing and spend hours cleaning and filleting them.

The fish went on their dinner plates and those of friends and neighbors. 

But, like all things, the fishing has changed, he said.

Fishermen reel in far fewer fish these days.

Mello suspects it was the factory fishing vessels that knocked down fish populations.

Still, the Navy veteran enjoys his time by the water.

When he catches a few fish, he cleans and filets them, and has fish for dinner.