Sport Fishing and Hunting Exhibit

The Sport Fishing and Hunting Exhibit
The Port Aransas Preservation and Historical Association
welcomes you to the Port Aransas Museum, and to the
panels, objects, and displays of the sport fishing and
hunting exhibit. Here is an overview of the exhibit, and a
guideline for viewing it.
There is commercial fishing, and there is sport fishing. The
former is a marine industry geared to providing fish for
myriad commercial purposes. Sport fishing, on the other
hand, is about relaxation and fun—and sometimes even
competition. The long panel above shows the six domains of
sport fishing in this area.
Commercial fishing
Sport fishing
While commercial fishing has had—and
continues to have—a presence in Port
Aransas, sport fishing is unquestionably
king. Indeed, it is sport fishing that over a
century ago provided the impetus for
nothing less than tourism itself, the
economic life blood of Port Aransas.
The hunting aspect of the exhibit is about
recreational (v. commercial—"market") duck
hunting. Located in the central flyway, the
flats and marshes around Port Aransas are
the wintering grounds for untold rafts of
redhead, pintail, and bluebill ducks (and
others as well). That there is more "fishing"
than "hunting" in this exhibit, reflects the
greater economic and historical salience of
fishing to this community.
Market hunting
A future recreational duck hunter dreams big!
Our sport fishing and hunting histories, narrated and illustrated in chronological order, are presented in panels like this one. The panels begin to your immediate
right, then around the second corner (by the hallway), down the long wall, and end on the wall behind you.
A Fishing Paradise Found
The big revelation about Mustang Island fishing,
however, began in 1880 when mainlanders arrived to
construct the Aransas Pass jetties. These men noticed
huge schools of tarpon in the pass. Because it fights
so mightily when hooked, the tarpon is a prime sport
fish. Soon the jetty people were paying islanders to
row them to the pass to fish. "Fishing guide" became a
vocation on Mustang Island, and the growing relevance
of sport fishing to the local economy led to an 1886
hostelry being called the Tarpon Inn. A decade later,
the town itself took “Tarpon” for its name.
Timothy Vought was hired in 1875 to stay at the nearby
lighthouse and do repair work. On his days off, Timothy, an avid
fisherman, found himself in a virtual paradise: "I never saw fish
so thick." In fact, during his stay he took so many fish—mainly
redfish and black drum—that he wrote his wife, "Getting sick of
the sight of fish." Vought's words (see below) are the first known
descrip-tions of the extraordinary sport fishing in this area.
Constructing the jetties.
Stellar fishing was first revealed close to the
Lydia Ann lighthouse.
Constructing the jetties.
Tarpon Club on San José Island, 1901.
Excerpts from Timothy Vought’s letters.
Guide rowing party in the Aransas Pass
amid the jetty construction.
The reputation of Tarpon, Texas, spread.
Soon, a Mr. Ned Green came to fish the
local waters. The tarpon so awed this
wealthy New Yorker, that by 1899 he
had built a palatial structure on the tip
of San José Island, just across the
Aransas Pass from Tarpon. Green
dubbed his creation the Tarpon Club, a
member-ship venue where the standard
was set by culinary dishes to satisfy
even the keenest gourmet. Of course,
members hired islanders as fishing and
hunting (waterfowl) guides. The New
York Times published articles about the
Ta r p o n C l u b t h a t b r o u g h t e v e n
international attention to Mustang
Island and its little com-munity of
Tarpon. (The name “Port Aransas" was
adopted in 1910.)
Technology Aids the Guides
A rowing guide and his party
relax after landing a good
size tarpon.
Rowing or sailing parties to, and then around, the tarpon
grounds, a distance exceeding four miles, was a tedious and
laborious task for the guides. The advent of small
powerboats after the turn of the 20th century greatly
increased the efficiency of the guide business. Another
fishing asset wrought by technology was the drag equipped
reel. (Drag is tension on the fishing line needed to stop a
fish from pulling out all the line.) On a drag equipped reel,
line tension is increased or decreased simply by turning a
little wheel. Before that innova-tion, amount of drag was
physically managed by pressing one's thumb—protected by
a leather flap—against the spool of line, an imprecise and
fatiguing procedure.
Early on, there were few powerboats available. Here (c. 1910), Ed Cotter shows the smart
application of his powerboat by pulling 16 fishing boats to the tarpon grounds. (The
famous Tarpon Inn is in the background.}
Some guides even sailed parties to the
tarpon grounds at the end of the jetties.
The Port Aransas Boatmen
Tarpon fishing in the Aransas Pass, which eventually expanded to bay and offshore fishing, created a number of boatmen and guides. In 1932, these individuals came together as
the Port Aransas Boatmen’s Association to regulate the guide fee structure and to become involved in community projects. To finance such endeavors, the Boatmen organized
fishing tournaments, the most famous being the Tarpon Rodeo and later the Deep Sea Roundup.
A large and ambitious project was in 1949 when the Boatmen spearheaded the construction of the Community Center, which became the center of social life in Port Aransas—
much as it is today.
The Boatmen, now with the moniker Port Aransas Boatmen Inc., are still active. In addition to sponsoring the Deep Sea Roundup, they serve as consultants on the protection and
conservation of saltwater fishing. And they also continue to be an important community asset; indeed, some of the Boatmen whose forefathers built the Community Center were
involved in its massive 2009 renovation.
“Court” of a Tarpon Rodeo tournament.
Boatmen building the Community Center, 1949.
Tournament class sailfish flanked by two fine tarpon.
Those Fabulous Farley Boats
Charles Frederick—Fred—Farley was a master craftsman. Based in Alabama, Fred worked the Gulf coast in the early 1900s repairing, designing, and building any number
of things: wharves, lighthouses, utility boats…even ornate saloon bar tops. Fred’s brother Jim had moved to Port Aransas, from which he sent Fred word that the fishing
guides in this "world headquarters of tarpon fishing" were looking for well designed, fairly priced powerboats to practice their trade more proficiently. Sensing an economic
opportunity, Fred Farley came to town in 1915 to build boats.
Built initially from top-grade cypress
—and later select Honduran and
Philippine mahogany, the Farley and
Sons Boat Works turned out the
Cadillacs of coastal fishing boats. In
addition to the aesthetic Farley lines,
no boat handled this area's
incessantly choppy water better
than a Farley; and the Farley
freeboard—side height—was just
right to allow guides to boat their
catches safely and efficiently.
Guides wharf and the
omnipotent Farley boats.
Farley boats were built from sketches drawn on the
factory floor.
Farley boats were known for
smoothing out choppy water.
The most historic VIP to go
aboard a Farley boat was
Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Inside the Farley Boat Works.The sleek hull is of a craft built
for a member of the Borden dairy dynasty.
Farley boats were not “cookie cut” nor built from
traditional marine architectural plans. After
listening to the customer's specifications, Fred
Farley drew the corresponding craft on the floor of
the shop and then worked from that rendering—
the "computer" was in the heads of this skilled
craftsman and the people he trained. After six
decades of premier boat building, the Farley
operation ceased in 1975.
Tarpon Rodeo
Barney Farley’s
revolver started the
Tarpon Rodeo.
Barney Farley, a
Boatman, and
newspaper man,
to capitalize on
fishing.
Port Aransas businessman and
Fred Kinsolving, a Corpus
realized a way for Port Aransas
the great popularity of tarpon
The gunshot brought a “Keystone
cops” departure from the dock.
Barney and Fred organized and staged a
competitive tarpon fishing tournament based in
Port Aransas. The money from the competitors'
entry fees was used to fund community projects.
The Tarpon Rodeo tourna-ment began in 1932,
making it the first fishing tournament on the
Texas coast.
The tournament involved the whole town.
This tail walker, and the leaper below, show
why the tarpon, the “silver king,” is a premier
sport fish.
Regretfully, the tarpon began leaving
area waters some time after World War
II. There are various hypothesis of why
that happened, among them being
natural migration and the Mexicans
dynamiting close by tarpon waters to
gather fish as fodder for their fertilizer
plants.
So spotty did the once world class
tarpon fishing become, that the Tarpon
Rodeo was dissolved after the 1958
tournament. Happily, there has been a
recent resurgence of tarpon, the
fishing for which is now strictly on a
catch-and-release basis.
Just holding the Tarpon Rodeo tournament trophy brings a big smile.
President Roosevelt Comes to Port Aransas
In the heyday of the tarpon era, Franklin Delano Roosevelt came here to fish. While the President could have learned about
little Port A through the sports media, FDR had a much more personal connection to the town: His son Elliott had tarpon
fished here and gave his father a glowing report. In short order, the President, an avid fisherman, laid plans to fish the
waters of Port Aransas, Texas.
Elliott Roosevelt (left) had discovered
Port A’s world class tarpon fishing.
On 29 April 1937, the President and his party left New Orleans aboard the destroyer USS Moffet (escorted by another
destroyer, USS Decatur.) The President's ship arrived and stood off the Aransas Pass on May 1st. A boat was launched and
FDR and his party began fishing. Later in the afternoon, the presidential yacht USS Potomac, a converted Coast Guard
vessel, arrived, and the effects of the VIPs were transferred to her. (Potomac’s rear smoke stack was bogus, hiding the
mechanism of the elevator that permitted the wheelchair bound President to move between decks.)
USS Moffet
USS Decatur
Potomac anchored just northeast of Port Aransas. Off her bow and stern lie the
lighthouse and San José Island, respectively.
FDR Goes After the Fish
On the 2nd and 3rd of
M a y, 1 9 3 7 , t h e
President, fished by
local guides, went for
tarpon and kingfish by
the jetties. On the 4th,
Potomac cruised south
to Port Isabel for the
President to trout fish.
Potomac returned to Port
A the next day, and the
tarpon
fishing
recommenced.
FDR with one of his smaller tarpon. The men in the bow are Secret
Service agents.
Clockwise from seated FDR: Mathews,
Elliott, Farley, and the “big one.”
FDR boated a couple of
small tarpon (see
below left), but was
luckless on hooking the
bigger fish…that is
until the closing
moments of the trip.
On the last hour of the
last fishing day (May
8th}, the President tied into his big
tarpon. This happy and well
documented event occurred in
the company of Elliott and local
guides Teddy Mathews and
Barney Farley (aboard Teddy's
boat).
The fish was 5 feet 1 inch long,
and weighed 77 pounds. The
tarpon’s real distinction is
being such an immortalized
and “presidential” fish! At 10
o'c lock the next mor ning,
Potomac steamed FDR away
from his week of fishing the
Texas coast. A good time was
had by all!
And the press pulls up to capture the moment.
The FDR Legacy
Mr. Roosevelt's seven days off Port Aransas—Potomac anchored within sight of the
lighthouse—were not all about fishing; after all, he was one of our busiest presidents. When
not wetting a hook, FDR tended to governmental business; but certainly the most historic
message he sent from Port Aransas waters did not go to Washington...it went to Nazi
Germany. Regarding the May 6th Hindenburg disaster, FDR sent, "My deepest sympathies,"
to Chancellor Adolf Hitler.
A persistent myth is that Mr. Roosevelt stayed at the Tarpon Inn. Not true. In fact, so not to
reveal his wheelchair condition (FDR was crippled by polio), the President did not come
onto Mustang Island at all—but he briefly visited with townsfolk at the waterfront aboard
Teddy Mathews boat (sans wheelchair). FDR did go ashore on private San José Island for a
party in his honor hosted by oil man Sid Richardson, the island owner.
Franklin D. Roosevelt coming here was, of course, a publicity
gold mine for the town: the trip was covered by both Time
and Life. And while the effects of that are now long over, the
FDR 1937 fishing trip remains a red letter event in Port
Aransas history.
Tanned from his week of fishing, the President visits with folks at the Port A docks.
Privately owned San
Island fades into
northern horizon. (Port
south of the Aransas
waterway.)
José
the
A is
Pass
The most famous tarpon scale
displayed at the Tarpon Inn.
Deep Sea Roundup
Not all fishermen were intrigued with the tarpon. A number of sportsmen came to Port Aransas to fish for the exquisitely beautiful sailfish and the hard charging blue marlin, both
swimming in waters deeper and further offshore than the tarpon grounds.
To accommodate these deep sea fishermen, the Port Aransas Boatmen in 1941 instituted a competitive fishing tournament they named the Deep Sea Roundup (which ran
concurrently with the Tarpon Rodeo until it—the rodeo—was disbanded in 1958).
So successful did the Roundup become, that the Boatmen expanded the competition to include (among other categories) bay and surf fishing, as well as a category for young
anglers. Held in July, the Deep Sea Roundup is a, if not the, annual Port A event—not to mention being a fishing tournament of national prominence.
Future Deep Sea Roundup competitors.
Future Deep Sea Roundup competitors.
Ecstatic sailfish division winner.
Ecstatic sailfish division winner.
A tournament class sailfish. In the background is a
Sport Fisherman offshore boat.
A blue marlin at weigh in.
The Outboards Arrive
One of the consequences of the great technological advances of World War II was the more reliable outboard motor. That, coupled with lightweight aluminum and fiberglass hulls,
gave rise to a reasonably priced fishing machine that was easy to transport (by trailer), relatively simple and cheap to operate, and required minimal maintenance.
The outboard boat invasion hit Port Aransas in the
1950s, and it has not slowed down. "Invasion" is the
appropriate term for two reasons. Firstly, people
launching their own outboards in search of the fish
left local guides in their Farley boats sitting at the
dock, an economic downside for the Boat-men.
Secondly, the outboard boat draws so little water
that people began operating them in the shallow
bay flats where fish feed, loiter, and reproduce. The
propellers made a racket as they cut great swaths
through the delicate flats flora; and predictably, the
redfish and trout began to scatter. (The state has
now designated "no prop" zones, but enforcement
is, at best, difficult.)
What is missing in this 1960s Port A fishing image?
The fishing guide. The outboard boat left him on the
dock. How-ever with the increasing popularity of
fishing, the guide business has experienced a healthy
recovery.
Despite stiff opposition to outboard boats by some
townsfolk, it boiled down to simple economics: The
outboard crowd bought too much gas, bait, beer,
and ice to be turned away. In fact, outboards were
finally celebrated by the Port Aransas Outboard
Fishing Tournament, first held in 1975. Despite
being a certified challenge to shallow water fauna
and flora, the outboard motor boat is here to stay.
Scooped out keel and elevated motor let the
“tunnel drive” boat run in water a foot deep.
This is the type of boat that leaves a big
footprint in the shallow bay flats.
The boat launch slots of the city marina were designed expressly for launching and retrieving outboard motor boats.
Fish Stories
No fishing exhibit would be complete without a few fish stories. Let us start with one from Mr. Teddy
Mathews, Port Aransas fishing guide and bayman par excellence.
___In his 1930s field journal, Teddy wrote that after his party hooked a vigorously fighting six footer, “the
tarpon came directly toward the boat, leaped up across the stern and landed on top of Dr. Sutton, knocking him to
the deck, almost breaking his neck. The doctor suffered from this injury long thereafter.” (Dr. Sutton recovered
sufficiently to write a popular book on tarpon fishing.)
___September, 1955. In his 24 foot Farley boat, John Wootters and two of his friends (all from Houston)
are trolling for kingfish about a mile off the Port Aransas beach. Suddenly from the depths broaches a
huge creature that begins swimming right beside the boat. It is a shark, longer than the boat and having a
girth of six feet—the four foot dorsal fin is twice as high as the side of the boat. The men are gripped with
fear. John later writes, “It was an immense feeling of total helpless-ness. You have to understand what will seem
unbelievable, the creature’s eye was the size of my head! The shark kept knocking the boat—bash, bash, bash—
with that pointed snout, like he was testing its edibility. (In fact, two splintered hull planks had to be
replaced.) This fish could have easily swamped us with a tail slap. I knew we would not see tomorrow, so I told
my friends to pray, which they did...out loud.” Thankfully, the fish dove back to the depths without incident.
John had no camera aboard, but he had Harris County Judge T.S. Hopkins take his and his passengers’
eyewitness affidavits which he then sent to the American Museum of Natural History. The museum
declined to speculate on the species of shark that John and his friends had observed, but the Wootter fish
was entered as one of the largest fish reported in American waters. Unforgetably impressed by the
monster's pointed conical nose, John, an internationally celebrated offshore fisherman, was absolutely
sure that he had not witnessed a whale shark, the consensus candidate; rather, John swore to have seen
Carcharodon carcharias, a great white shark, a very rare event in the Gulf of Mexico...and right when you
thought it was safe to go back in the water!
___A wade fisherman watched a pair of dolphins swim toward him—he could see their dorsal fins
breaking the surface. All of a sudden, one began jumping in the air and doing all sorts of antics in front
of the fisherman. Fixated on this spectacle, the fellow did not notice the other dolphin dart in and jerk the
stringer full of specked trout right off his belt; whereupon the thief rejoined his companion, the pair
zooming away with their tasty heist. There was no doubt in the fisherman's mind that this coordinated
"detract and attack" hunting tactic showed evidence of an advanced mental capacity.
The fishing exhibit closes with a truism.
The fishin' is always good. It's the catchin' that comes and goes.
The high leaping tarpon
landed squarely in the boat.
The “antics” dolphin held
the fishermanʼs attention.
Waterfowl Hunting
In addition to premier sport fishing, Port Aransas offered superb waterfowl hunting. Thousands of acres of shallow water sustained a huge population of wintering ducks. Indeed,
when the fishing slowed in December, the town guides changed hats by putting away rod and reel and reaching for their decoys and 12 gauge shotguns.
The guide's drill was to tow the duck boat, a small dinghy, behind a powerboat. On arriving at the desired flats, the client transferred to the dinghy which the guide then rowed or
walked to the hide—the blind. (Decoys were typically set the preceding evening.) The hide was called a "boat blind" because the dinghy was pulled directly into it; that is, one hunted
out of the hidden boat itself.
Before daily kill limits, hunters took an extraordinary number of ducks in this area. A guide once recorded that in one day his client shot 157.
A guide picks up his decoys at day’s end. The
blind is in the background.
The images show the past and present of coastal waterfowl hunting.
The airboat has replaced the towed duck boat. Guides now whisk
their hunters from dock to blind in one step, and the hides are
floored platforms rather than pull-in boat blinds. The gentlemen at
the left hold a brace of twenty-one ducks, which current limit law
would not allow. Labrador retriever Susan Ford supervises her human
as he sets decoys on a fog shrouded morning at Mud Island. The
“dekes” are molded, store bought,forms; seventy years ago they were
hand carved wood blocks.
What has not changed over the ages is the thrill of watching a flight
of pintails drop toward the decoys, the wind whistling through their
wing feathers. An archetypical moment of the highest quality.