Fishing Around Sanibel Island - The Late 1950s

In the summer of 1956 we headed to Fort Myers Beach, Florida in our 1954 Ford. I traveled in the back seat with my 5 year old brother. The trip took 2 days from central Indiana. Few had air-conditioned cars including us. The four of us stayed at the Side-O-Sea cottages on Fort Myers Beach. Again, no air-conditioning but we didn't care.

We went fishing out of the Punta Rassa Fish Camp. Directly across from the fish camp was Sanibel Island. The island was serviced by two ferry boats, the Rebel, and the Yankee Clipper. Other than the fish camp there was really nothing around Punta Rassa. You felt like you were along way out in the country.

My dad rented one of the camps wood boats and to use with his 10 horse Evinrude. My dad tells me today that he knew little of nothing about salt water fishing then but we did catch out share of fish on live shrimp. Mostly we caught speckled trout; my mom did catch a small hammerhead shark. My brother and I had just as much fun eating Cuban sandwiches and drinking soda pop as we did fishing.

I can remember returning to the fish camp in the evening and getting attacked by the mosquitoes. We would load up the car and get moving to get away from the bugs. We fished hard for a whole week. I do not remember a bad fishing day in the 50's. We never did go ashore on Sanibel Island as there was no reason to do so. The island at that time had no commercial establishments that we knew about. The island then, like today is known for shelling.

The fish camp had pelican that was pretty much a pet. Stanley the pelican was fed well by the returning fisherman and the folks at the dock. Stanley had no fear of people.

I now live in Delray Beach, Florida. I stayed on Sanibel in 1999 and it has all changed. The island is now has a bridge and is open to the public. Although I enjoyed my stay the area is too crowded and too congested. On the site of the fish camp sit several condominiums. The fishing is nowhere near as good as it was in the 1950 and early ‘60s. Such is progress.
Tip! If a boat is used to catch crabs, you should use and drop cone nets with the bait tied to the bottom center of the drop net. This technique can also be used if fishing from a bridge.

Dr. Mike Copper retired from the U.S. Army in 1994. Dr. Copper has a Master's Degree in Data Communications and a Ph.D. in Computer Information Systems. Dr. Copper currently lives in Delray Beach, Florida. He can be reached at mcopper@bellsouth.net.

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