Charting a Course for Success
Miss Barnegat Light, a head boat originally built in 1940 has been in the Larson family since 1962. Two generations later, Karen Larson, alongside her brothers Keith, Karter and Kraig, runs Miss Barnegat Light Inc., a deep-sea fishing and cruise boat business out of Barnegat Light, NJ. Coastal Living LBI caught up with Karen Larson who gave us heads up on what it takes to operate a successful head boat business.
Q. Give us some background on the original Miss Barnegat Light.
A. My parents John and Marion Larson bought the original Miss Barnegat Light from my dad’s parents in 1962, which is when the business was started. The current Miss Barnegat Light is the third one which was built in 1974 by Breaux’s Bay Craft in Loreauville, LA. Miss Barnegat Light was my father’s pride and joy. He loved boats! Mother took care of the books and other details while my father was hands on the boat.
Q. How did you get your start working as a head boat owner?
A. When my father passed in 2003, I jumped in to help my mother continue the business until she passed in 2009.
Q. What is involved with running a head boat business?
A. My job is to run the books, maintain the website, handle advertising, and answer the phones which can be quite a chore in the summer. But I enjoy talking to people, especially nice ones. Answering the phone and emails can give me quite a laugh. I get emails asking me questions about our “stripper fishing.” What, can’t men spell or is this auto correct? Some customer questions are silly too, like “Are you parked on the bay or the ocean?” Or “Do you have horses?” That is ok. We all know not everyone knows the shore like we do.
Q. What does a typical workday look like for you?
A. Our days start at 6 AM until the boat finally ties up for the night at 9:30 PM during the summer hours. Fishing runs from 8AM to 1PM. Our dolphin cruises start at 5 PM. Evening cruises are at 7 PM. After every trip, the boat is cleaned up. So much more goes on behind the scenes during these trips. We are open from Memorial Day weekend until about mid-December when the last of the striper season ends. Captain Lenny, Captain Lou, and I work as a team to make sure all supplies are ordered and whatever else might have to be done to run these trips. Running this business is SAFETY FIRST.
Q. Introduce us to Captain Lenny and Captain Lou.
A. Capt. Lenny Elich has been captain since the late 1980s and has worked for us since he was 14 years old. He has been a dedicated worker for our family all his working life. And no captain on the Eastern seaboard keeps a boat as clean as Lenny does. He does the annual US Coast Guard inspections necessary for us to keep in business. He maintains the boat inside and out perfectly, does lots of engine work and all the other working details that must be attended to daily.
Capt. Lou Van Bergen is also our captain for the summer. He has worked for us since the 1990s when he was a young teenager. Lou is great with the kids on the evening cruise and the ecology tours. Lou is a science teacher up north and is also a marine biologist.
Q. Who are your customers?
A. Our customers come from all over. Philadelphia and New York areas are the most common. But customers from many other areas of the US visit us while on vacation here. We love our customers! Some are quite characters. But it is important to remember to just be nice to your customers and make sure they know how important they are to us.
Q. What fishing trips do you offer?
A. We offer summer fishing trips for fluke and sea bass daily in the summer from 8 AM to 1 PM. We have dolphin cruises at 5 PM for an hour and a half in the summer. We offer nightly evening cruises from 7 PM till 8:30 PM. We run ecology tours twice a week from 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM. Both adults and children love these tours. They are run by Capt. Lou who is a marine biologist and very knowledgeable about the local ecology. In November and December, we do striper trips. None of these trips require reservations.
In September and October, we offer offshore tuna trips. Each trip is thirty hours, and they are by reservation only.
Q. What challenges or frustrations do you face as the owner of a head boat business?
A. Frustration is mostly with the government (state and local) putting more restrictions on us, which leaves us with less customers. Barnegat Light used to have twelve head boats. Now there is only one, mostly because of government restrictions on fish sizes and counts.
Challenges are the weather, gas and oil prices, and the cost of emergency boat repairs, which don’t come cheap on a 100 ft. boat.
Q. What is it that keeps you doing what you are doing and what are your hopes for the future of Miss Barnegat Light?
A. I do what I do to keep my parents’ tradition alive. My hopes are to continue to satisfy our customers.
Q. Do you have a favorite seafood recipe?
A. Fish chowder! I make it with cod fish or tile but really you can use any fish you like.
Q. If you could share a bowl of fish chowder with any two people, dead or alive, who would you choose?
A. Lincoln and Churchill. Both have a great sense of humor.
Karen Larson’s Fish Chowder recipe is here
Pictured top image: Karen Larson and her brother Karter Larson on board the Miss Barnegat Light
Pictured third image: Scott Senior, First Mate
Images: Marjorie Amon
Contact Information
Miss Barnegat Light is located at 1801 Bayview Ave. Barnegat Light, NJ 08006
For more information call 609-494-2094 or visit the website www.missbarnegatlight.com
Instagram: @missbarnegatlight
Karen Larson’s Fish Chowder Recipe is here.