POWELLS FIND ST. CROIX AND TARPON

Dave and Joyce were recently at their son's second home on the quiet east end of US Virgin Island of St. Croix.  Quiet, it was for R and R for Joyce.  I found small schools of 20 to 80# tarpon just off of some of the beaches within easy casting distance.  Changed my sons medium weight spinners to 30# braid and 40# fluoro leader rigged with # 5 circle hooks in DOA type soft bait fish and 4" crabs. Fished about 1 hour each evening and always hooked up.   Usually took about 1/2 hour to get them to the beach and release them.  The biggest was 60# and the smallest about 20#.  Photos are of a 40#’er and the east end of the island.  Teague Bay and Chenay Bay were the best spots, but they were at many beaches as the locals do not fish for tarpon.  In a couple of months the new owners (friends) of Chenay Bay resort will be offering our club members a 50% discount on cottages.  More on this when the deal is finalized.  Direct 3 hour flights from Miami make St. Croix a great beach fishing vacation.
 
(Contributed by Dave Powell)

So You Think You Can Fish!

Congratulations (again) to SSC Member Lorraine Francis for winning the International Women's Fishing Association (IWFA) Kay Rybovich Trophy for catching and releasing the greatest number of species for the year, 2012. Count 38! This is the 2nd time for her. She has also been the winner of the Ginny Sherwood trophy for accumulating the most weight points for a year. The Kay Rybovich, along with the Crowninshield and Sherwood trophies are to honor the members who founded the IWFA in 1955.

You may recall we reported on Lorraine in  February, 2010 for taking 1st place honors at the 2010 International Women's Billfish Tournament in Guatemala. Lorraine caught 21 pacific sailfish. She also was High Angler on day 2 releasing 10 sails. On day 3 she caught 8 fish on "Rum Line", formerly the "Outlaw" from Stuart.

Again, congratulations, Lorraine. Your represent yourself well and we are proud to recognize you as a member of the Stuart Sailfish Club and call you our friend.

Dennis Roseman Speaks Swordfish!

Nearly 40 people braved the wind and rain that wasn’t to attend our April 5^th general meeting. The weather forecasters made many think that it might be too nasty to be out.

Food and drink began at 6:00pm and the meeting came to order at 6:30 with a few announcements including Dave Powell’s reminder that he and Liz Cordier would be presenting the Club’s college scholarship awards to students from three Martin County High Schools this coming Tuesday, Thursday, and the following Thursday. Five students qualified this year by being in the upper third of their class and planning to enter college to study for careers in the marine sciences.

Then, meeting chairman, VJ Bell introduced our guest speaker for the evening, Dennis Roseman. Dennis is Captain of Blue Barron II, a commercial sword fishing boat, sister boat to Blue Barron owned by Tim Palmer.  Dennis talked on sword fishing, rigging techniques, and differences between day time and night time fishing. Many were surprised to learn that sword fishing is generally better around the full moon, unlike fishing for most other species.  As an aside, several of us take our fishing gear to Dennis for repair or rigging. He owns Offshore Tackle Repair, located at 2201 SE Indian St, Unit #3, Stuart, across the driveway from Chapman Marine Supply.  His number is 772-214-6731.

Following Dennis’s question and answer period, Jodi Mills won the 50/50 raffle that raises money for our scholarships. And two lucky recipients won drawings for two very nice shirts donated by Brent and Heather Kane, owners of Fish Heads Bait and Tackle. If you haven’t stopped in there to shop yet, you should. They are very well stocked with excellent gear, and they give Sailfish Club members 10% off.

The meeting closed at 7:45 with the announcement that the next meeting is May 3^rd.

Many thanks to VJ, for getting the meeting together, and Liz, Tish and their volunteers for meals and bar service, John Millroy for handling the PA system, and Butch Bayley and his staff for their space, tables, chairs, etc.

Capt. Wink Knows Fishing!

A standing room only crowd of sixty-five members and guests gathered to swap stories and listen as Captain Wink Doerzbacher described some of the changes in Treasure Coast fishing over the past several years. His comments addressed evolving technologies in electronics and gear, and fish populations that have led to modifying fishing techniques and methods. He included some thoughts about how to catch fish even during the traditionally slow months of summer.  For instance, he suggested rigging with wire leader even if fishing for dolphin so that a king fish or wahoo that would otherwise bite through mono might be brought to the boat.

Though the evening was cool, attendees enjoyed finger food and beverages in comfort, as the function was moved inside the vacant fly and light tackle shop. (Thank you, Butch!) Prior to introducing Wink, program director VJ Bell called on Brent and Heather Kane, owners of the newly opened Fish Heads that replaced Finest Kind, to introduce themselves and their store. They donated a nice spinning rod and reel as a door prize and announced a 10% in-store discount for Stuart Sailfish Club members. Attending representatives of Whiticar Boats also donated a set of Tervis Tumblers as another door prize. Many thanks to both of them.

Dave Powell described the Club’s scholarship program for graduating Martin County seniors who are going off to study for careers in marine and conservation industries. When a bowl passed around, generous donors contributed $424 toward the scholarship fund.

Great evening! A particular big thanks to Wink, VJ, Liz Cordier, and the volunteers who made the event a success. Mark your calendar for April 5, our next general meeting.

70 Year SSC Supporter, Curt Whiticar Turns 102 Today

Curt Whiticar, founder of Whiticar Boat Works in Stuart Florida turns 102 years old today.  This photo was taken yesterday when we had a party for Curt at the Boat Yard.

Curt was born on February 13, 1911 in New Jersey to Addison & Kate Whiticar.  Addison (Capt. Add) lived the hard life as a commercial fisherman year round in the sometimes harsh and cold New Jersey weather.  Curt was 6 years old when Capt. Add decided to start spending his winters in Florida in 1917.  As some of the original Snow Birds, the Whiticar family would spend winters in Florida commercial fishing and then summers in New Jersey.  Eventually they moved to Florida to live year round.

Wealthy tourists visiting Florida in the winter started to ask  Curt to take them fishing.  This new occupation along with dwindling price for fish, Curt acquired a larger boat around 1926 and became one of the pioneers in the new sport fishing industry in South Florida.

Curt graduated from high school in 1929 and shortly there after he began to study marine architecture.and in the early 30's started to build custom fishing boats. After building his first "big" boat in 1937, the 33 ft. Shearwater, Curt found that there was now a demand for his boat building talents.  He then built boats for his Uncle and Father as well as both brothers, Jack and Johnson.  The fleet of boats became to be known as the Whiticar Fleet and father Capt. Add and sons ran a reputable and successful sportfishing company out of Willoughby Creek in Stuart, Florida.

Later Curt phased out of Sportfishing and became a full time boat builder.  Sensing the need not only for boat construction but also boat repair,  Curt started Whiticar Boat Works in 1947 next door to where the Whiticar Fleet docked. As the business grew Curt enlisted his brother in law, John Dragseth and the two of them along with their sons John Whiticar and Jim Dragseth have grown the business into what it is today.

Curt's wife Elsa, passed away in 2009 but his family still consists of his son John and daughters Laura Kay Darvill and Joanne Talley along with many grand and some great grand children.

Curt's hobbies include Golf which he stopped playing at 100 but his love is oil painting.  He makes most of his own frames and has created over 1450 paintings.  Curt's secret for longevity is good genes, hard work, exercise, moderation, and an afternoon nap every day.

Contributed by John Whiticar