No need for fish tales in early Fort Lauderdale ... only a fish count

 

Deep Sea Fishing advertisement
Florida State Archives/Florida Memory circa 1930

 

By Jane Feehan

Visitors knew before Fort Lauderdale was officially established it offered great fishing.  Fishing yarns would be exchanged in the late 1890s and early 1900s at the Stranahan Trading Post on the New River and aboard the settlement's first party houseboat, the Wanderer.* 

In 1930, the Fort Lauderdale Daily News praised the city's fishing opportunities:

People fish everywhere in Fort Lauderdale--from any of its countless bridges, from city docks in the heart of the business section, from the jetties--and with equal success, property owners of waterfront homes have been known to make record catches ... standing in their own front yards.

There were few tales about the fish that got away because they didn't. The fish count was the story.

Amidst the city's growing fishing reputation, which included the tale of a whale**, deep sea fishing charters emerged as a viable and growing business during the 1930s. Advertisements for deep sea fishing on the "Cruiser Joy" first appeared in Fort Lauderdale in 1939.  

The vessel, docked at the Andrews Avenue Bridge, was owned and operated by Captain Darcy Willis. Several hours fishing aboard a boat for $2 with bait and tackle ... a bargain even then. Willis was already known as a sports fishing guide in Morehead City, North Carolina where he won a few fishing tournaments. His name and his next boat, Joy II, also appeared in local newspapers in 1940. News acccounts track his fishing exploits from Fort Lauderdale to the Saint Lucie River. He and his fishing passengers caught kingfish, amberjack, sailfish and at one time a reporter wrote, a 322-pound sunfish. By the late 1940s it appears Willis was operating once again in Morehead City. He seems to have droppd off the Fort Lauderdale radar after that. 

Another popular charter fishing boat of that decade, the Reel Lucky, owned and operated by Captain Reuben Munroe, garnered media attention in the late 1930s with news about several large "hauls" of fish. 

From informal fishing trips to charter fishing excursions, to rodeos that drew competing anglers during the 1930s (and today), fishing in Fort Lauderdale remains a popular pastime and sport. The fish, however do not remain as plentiful, but hope for a good catch springs eternal. 

* For more on the Wanderer, see:

 https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2020/12/a-tradition-begins-fort-lauderdales.html

** For the whale tale see:

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2015/09/whaling-off-fort-lauderdale-really.html

Sources: 

News and Obsever (Raleigh), Aug. 20, 1930

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Dec. 1, 1930

Fort Lauderdale News, March 25, 1935

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, March 4, 1939

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Feb. 22, 1940  

News and Observer, April 26, 1948

Tags: About Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale fishing, Fort Lauderdale history, History of Fort Lauderdale

Boats not required for the best in South Florida fishing

By Jane Feehan

I’ve visited all its fishing piers while growing up in South Florida. I've been as intrigued by the activities of anglers on the boards as by the surrounding blue waters. Recently, as a Florida historian, I saw an opportunity to quench my interest in angling while learning a bit more about this area’s topography by reading Steve Kantner’s Ultimate Guide to Fishing South Florida on Foot (published by Stackploe/Headwater and available on Amazon). This book provides all that—and more.

A disclaimer: I am not an angler nor will ever be. But Kantner’s knowledge of these subtropical environs—the Everglades, canals, lakes, spillways, beaches, jetties, docks, and their ecosystems—impresses anglers, tag-alongs and spectators like me.

Kantner's book is not only about the remote, secluded honey holes where he has guided both novice and expert fishing hopefuls but also about urban settings such as city of Oakland Park through which the natural Cherry Creek tributary runs. He considers this the “most pristine in-town waterway in all of South Florida.” Who knew. This is a must-read for anglers who call South Florida home.

The book also serves as a primer for anglers living near water in other parts of the state or country. He writes “the current is what triggers the action” and it’s the “wave action that serves as catalyst for shoreline fishing." That's useful information for land or sea anglers nearly anywhere. Kantner, who has a biology degree, reveals where the places are, how to get there, where to park, what to bring, the species that inhabit each, what time to catch them and how. His book is also a trove of information about flies, lures, and rigging, some of which he's invented or developed and bear his name.

There’s something for everyone who loves South Florida in this guide. It’s well written, informative, chock full of beautiful photos and more than anything, fascinating. Kantner cooks up a lot of what he catches. If only he could include his recipes in this tome ...


Tags: Fishing in South Florida, Steve Kantner, Landcaptain, Steve Landcaptain Kantner