The Miami Beach Rod and Reel Club

The History of The Rod and Reel Club
By Peter Tyson

It all started back in 1929 when a small group of eight anglers met at the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce to see what could be done to organize a fishing club. Despite greatest expectations of its founders. By the end of 1929, the club had its own club house at the east end of Venetian Causeway, paying developer Carl Fisher $1 a year for the lease.

By 1934, it had incorporated, adopted by-laws that limited its membership to 400, and purchased the ultimate fishing club house, the former Club Lido on Hibiscus Island. The Clubhouse was something to behold a huge two story, multi-turreted, copper domed, Mediterranean fortress with four massive pillars flanking the impressive entrance.

The walls of today's Rod and Reel Club are filled with memorabilia. Below, the Club Lido in 1934; today it is the Rod and Reel Club!

At the Rod and Reel Club, stringent tackle rules were developed which formed the basis for IGFA, not surprising since several of IGFA's directors were members of the Rod and Reel Club. The Club's president in 1938, Edison Kipp, was one of the founders of the Metropolitan Miami Fishing Tournament and the clubhouse became its headquarters in 1935. The club's rules formed the basis of the various tackle categories in this successful tournament, which continues today.

In 1946 the Club sent a team to fish in the first ILTTA in Mexico. The team of Jack Bryson, Bert Harborn and Rob Walker startled everyone with the innovative light leaders they used. In 1948, 131 club records and 13 world records were established and the Rod and Reel Club hosted the 3rd Annual ILTTA tournament in Miami. Twenty-four teams and 61 anglers from around the country and the world participated. Now in its 56th year, the ILTTA tournament is still going strong and the Rod and Reel Club is duly represented by a team wherever the tournament is held. The past secretary of ILTTA is a member of the Rod and Reel Club.

1948 was also a year for angling rule changes. Lee Cuddy took seven months, since lie was out of commission after surgery for five, to win the angling championship that year. He established 17 club records in eight tackle classes, the majority in three (9 pound) and six (18 pound) thread divisions. Linen lines were of course being used in those days.

The Rod and Reel Club has always been in the forefront on conservation issues. In 1941 the Conservation Committee was created and during that year was successful in influencing the Florida Legislature to revise netting laws in Biscayne Bay In 1944, the Club publicly condemned the City of Miami for dumping raw sewage into the ocean off Miami Beach and in August of that year made a donation to help keep the Everglades National Park Association going until the end of the war. In 1948, the Conservation Committee was in the forefront of the effort to place snook on the protected gamefish list, prohibiting netting, selling, offering for sale or transportation for the purpose of selling, with daily bag limits. The Club also worked diligently for the final establishment of Everglades National Park.

The 1950s saw members traveling to foreign destinations for big game fishing. Julio Sanchez caught a 575-pound marlin in Bimini, his second heaviest of the season. The biggest was 612 pounds. Members Eddie Wall and Lou Marron traveled to Chile and Marron caught the world-record broadbill swordfish (1182 pounds) after a ticklish two-hour battle in which the triple strength 12/0 hook opened up! At the time, it was the heaviest fish of any kind caught on a rod and reel and today retains the world record. The impressive fish hangs above the podium in the clubhouse.

During the 1960s, members continued their innovations with light tackle and big fish. Dr. Webster Robinson caught a Pacific sail and the first striped marlin on fly tackle in Ecuador and Judge Bill Mehrtens soon followed suit. Locally, Al Pflueger Jr., Norman Duncan, John Emery, Jesse Webb, and others were experimenting with fast taper rods with stiff butt sections suitable for deep jigging. Huge fish were brought from the depths on ridiculously light lines.

World records continued to fall to Rod and Reel Club members in the 1970s, and more anglers were taking their fly rods into salt water. Two outstanding catches made by Jim Lopez in 1973 still top the record book: two yellowfin tuna, one 67 lb. 8 oz. The other 81 pounds, taken on fly tackle from a boat anchored in 200 feet of water at Challenger Bank near Bermuda.

The '70s were the decade of the broadbill swordfish off the Florida coast. Members Jesse and Jerry Webb were the first specifically to target and catch these great gamesters in 1976 when they boated two over 300 pounds one July night. In 1978 and 1979, the Rod and Reel club hosted broadbill tournaments.

Teams were sent to represent the Rod and Reel Club in tournaments in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Brazil, and South Africa. Closer to home, Rod and Reelers were evident in the prestigious Masters and Gold Cup tournaments held in Palm Beach.

In 1989, the venerable clubhouse on Hibiscus Island got a revamping. The "south end" project opened up the south side of the clubhouse to make the most of the waterfront view with floor to ceiling picture windows, a covered patio, and landscaping. The club's docks were also rebuilt so that members could once again utilize their unique facility to the fullest extent.

Club member Jesse Webb has and continues to serve on advisory panels to the State Department of Natural Resources and the Federal National Marine Fisheries Service. He and Bill Ward were instrumental in persuading the Federal Government to create the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Fish Management Councils.

Frank Mather, the famous Woods Hole Oceanographic Foundation scientist, a long time member, has been instrumental in efforts to protect the giant bluefin tuna and the world's stock of billfish from a well-organized fleet of longliners. He originated the tagging program to establish migratory patterns and to assess stocks of these great game fish.

What do the 1990s hold for the Rod and Reel Club? It is a future of seemingly limitless enthusiasm by a growing membership, continued innovation in fishing techniques, and a move towards stronger conservation measures. Already, we are enjoying the benefits of actions of the past with increased catches of snook and redfish. Our members are in the forefront today in the move for better management of baitfish and offshore pelagic and bottom species. There has been great support for the fish hatchery programs carried out at the University of Miami Rosentstiel School.

Our members continue to travel abroad, taking with them fellowship sportsmanship as well as valuable knowledge on fishing techniques and conservation to share with those they meet.

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Captain Peter Tyson

A native of Miami, Florida, Peter Tyson grew up around the water and particularly, fishing. During high school years he worked on area fishing boats, earned his Captain's license and skippered a 50' charter boat at age 18. While receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology (BS) at the University of Miami and pursuing a Masters at FAU (vertebrate physiology), he continued to operate charter boats in Florida and private fishing boats and yachts in Florida, the Bahamas, and Caribbean. He still operates boats for friends and clients and enjoys fishing the flats and offshore from his own boats.

He is Chairman of the annual Texaco Blue Water Challenge, an international fishing tournament held in the Cayman Islands and sponsored by Texaco.

Well versed in the English language, he wrote regular columns for Go Boating magazine and Florida Fishing News and has had articles and photographs published in Salt Water Sportsman, Florida Sportsman, Pleasure Boating, Southern Boating, and in-flight magazines at Delta Airlines and BWIA. He was co-founder and Editor of Tournament Digest Magazine. Twice President of the world renown Miami Beach Rod & Reel Club, he is well known in local and international fishing communities having frequently taken teams to fish in South Africa, Central and South America, and throughout the Caribbean. A constant traveler with many visits to the South Pacific, and particularly to New Zealand and Australia, he has made two around-the-world trips in the southern hemisphere, visited 65 countries and 46 states.

He has been in the specialized business of yacht insurance for 27 years and also handles aviation insurance. He is an instrument rated pilot.

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