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FISHING'S FINESTJul 02, 2011 (Destin Log - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- From one boat, to many boats, or even the same boat, Destin captains are keeping the business afloat and making things happen along the Emerald Coast. Here's a fish tale of sorts from some of Destin's angling experts. Capt. George Eller, Checkmate 2 He might be one of the oldest captains in the fleet, but he's got one of the newest boats. Capt. George Eller, 68, is the owner of a 48-foot aluminum boat licensed for 17 passengers tagged Checkmate 2. The boat was built in Louisiana as a charter boat and then sold to someone in Clearwater, Fla., where Eller found the boat and brought it to Destin in January. "It's about a 12-year-old boat," Eller said. "But it's a one-of-a-kind built by International Marine." But this is not Eller's first boat. He moved to Destin back in the early '70s. "The Army sent me here to run the Follow Me," he said. This was a charter boat for the military, which ran at a cut rate. And in 1978 he got his first charter boat, the Bounty Hunter, which he bought from Mike Destin. But that was just the first of many. Eller has had four Bounty Hunters, two Checkmates and a Barracuda. He got his first Checkmate in 2006 from Capt. Kirk Reynolds, which was the old Enterprise. Eller had the boat recertified for 10 people and changed the name. He fished that boat until last December when he bought the new vessel. Eller said he didn't change the name for a couple of reasons. "It's a catchy name and I didn't want to change my advertising," he said. There is no hidden meaning behind the name. When you have someone at checkmate in chess, "It's game over," Eller said. That was his thoughts about fishing, "I got you ... you are in the fish box." The Checkmate 2 "is very well made," Eller said. "It's made like a tank, but it's very fast and can be very thirsty." In Eller's more than 40 years of fishing one of his more memorable catches is what he refers to as the "stupid shark story." He along with Bruce Cheves, now Destin Fishing Rodeo weighmaster, had taken a couple out shark fishing in the late 1980s. "The husband had always wanted to catch one," Eller said. They went out to the Liberty Ship and started chumming for shark. They caught a couple, and they got video of it, but they were kind of small. The third shark they hooked was about 150 pounds and when they got it to the boat, Eller shot it with a gun. "He swam away," he said. "I shot the hook right out of him." A little later, they hooked another shark that looked to be about 150 to 175 pounds. This one wasn't getting away. When they got the shark to the boat, "we gaffed it, tail roped it and got him in the boat," he said. When they got back to the docks and Bruce was cleaning the shark, he saw something and called Eller over. He told Eller to put his finger on a certain spot, when he did, his finger went right down through a hole. The shark was the one Eller had shot early in the evening. "It had come back for some more," he said. Over the years, Eller has been involved with the Destin Charter Boat Association as well as a Destin Fishermen's Co-op. He is a board member on the Harbor Board as well on the city's CRA advisory committee. In 2010, he made the trek to Washington, D.C., for the United We Fish march. "I stay involved," he said. Capt. Robert Hanshaw, Miss Aegina If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And in the case of the Miss Aegina, she's never broken down at sea and had to be towed back, said Capt. Hanshaw of the 42-year-old boat. The Miss Aegina, a 1969 48-feet Thompson boat, still sports the turquoise color from the early days. "It's the exact same boat we run today," said the 55-year-old captain. "The engines are the originals. Everything is the same." Hanshaw got his start on the water fishing as a deckhand aboard the Tiki Too with Capt. Jack Cason at the age of 11. "I was the second mate," he said. When he was 13, his dad, Hank, got the Miss Aegina and he worked alongside him as a deckhand for 10 years. Hanshaw got his captain's license when he was 19, but kept working as a deckhand until age 23, when he took over the helm of the Miss Aegina. Hanshaw explained that the pastel colors were a kind of trend back in the early '70s. The Shooting Star was yellow and the Reveille was pink. "The color was to get away from the white and draw more attention," he said. And today it's kind of the "trademark" of the boat. The Miss Aegina is a tough old girl. "I've been on it through nine hurricanes. It's a religious experience," he said of riding a storm out on the boat. "You see things happen that don't happen any other time. It's scary and terrifying, but exciting." Hanshaw said he has even got hit by lightning on the boat once. But he would never leave her behind. "She's part of the family," he said. "Even the ones that's not perfect, you don't get rid of. It's like an extension of yourself. And we keep her in excellent shape all the time. "Your life depends on that boat and the boat depends on you," Hanshaw continued. "It's a marriage, more than a job." In recent weeks, Capt. Hanshaw and his crew went through an 11-hour fight for a swordfish. However, a fish tale he still recalls is 9-yearold girl who pulled in a grouper and a cobia on the same hook. She had hooked the grouper and on the way up the cobia took the bait out of the grouper's mouth and "they both came up on the same hook," Hanshaw said. Hanshaw does a lot of repeat business. "More than half my customers are returners," he said. "We're pretty personalized. I answer the phone, book the boat and then take them fishing. I like to treat people like it was my own family. "I fish for the love it." Capt. Cliff Cox, Sweet Jody If the call comes, he'll step up again. A few months ago, Capt. Cliff Cox took the "Wounded Warriors" out for a day of fishing aboard his party boat, Sweet Jody. "It was a good thing," Cox said. "And if they call, we'll step up again." Cox, 55, got his taste for fishing at the age of 9. "We'd go down and meet the party boats and clean fish for them," he said. And right before he turned 12, Capt. Ed Walters of the Sweetheart gave him a job as a deckhand for about five years. In 1976, Cox got his captain's license and went to work in the oil fields. The first charter he ran in Destin was for Capt. Dick Rosen in the summer of 1979. In 1980, he ran the Lynnwood for a season, then went back to the oil fields. But in 1984, he started running the Sweet Jody IV for the Godwins. "They sold the business out in 1989," he said. And shortly after, Cox bought it out. Why go the party boat route instead of a regular charter? "It seemed a little bit more steady and it was more trips than the charter," Cox said. "And I've met a lot of nice people" over the years. "I've had second generation kids fishing with me. When they bring their kids, that's cool," he said. "And having the party boat has allowed me to spend more time with my kids," he said, noting there was room for them on the boat. The Sweet Jody, which fishes 40 passengers, has had some unusual trips. "The strangest was when we had a wahoo jump in the boat," Cox said. They were fishing about 18 miles out when a "wahoo skyrocketed right in front of us." The fish jumped so high and "we just happened to run right under him," he said. "He hit right below my windshield and landed on the deck." The wahoo, caught without bait or hook, weighed about 30 pounds. Cox runs the Sweet Jody almost year around, shutting down from Thanksgiving to Christmas. "We get a lot of repeat customers and regulars," he said. "I enjoy it. And as long as I enjoy it, I'm going to keep doing it." To see more of The Destin Log or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.destin.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, Destin Log, Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |