[Sticky] S Beach pier memories of Rene,Jimbo/Jd,Dave by George Games

william · 2013-05-09T09:54:36Z

Sent to me on May 9th 2013 this story is well written and puts the reader right back there at South Beach pier and describes Rene and all around him to the tee.Thanks to George Games for the memories and for taking the time to mail it to us to share with the rest of you all. By George Games 5/9/2013 My early 70’s South Beach pier stories. My family moved from NJ to Miami Beach in late 71. We moved into an apt. on 4th street between Collins and Washington Ave, and stayed there a year – that one story bldg is no longer there. I enrolled in Ida M. Fischer Jr. High and continued to Miami Beach High in Sept. of 72. I have many fond memories of that time, many involving time at the pier. For most of that year I fished, weekdays after school and weekends at the pier, whenever I wasn’t snorkeling out on the versatile and colorful shallow reef that used to exist before the dredging (may it RIP). Looking back, the time was kind of magical (of course); we get more nostalgic as we grow older. With time I got to know the regular fishermen and shark fishermen. The one I was able to befriend was Rene; most likely because he was approx my age (three years older). I’m now 55; Rene would have been about 58 now. I recall another fellow, named Jimbo (with long blondish hair), there was a Dave (the “senior”….stout, a mustache somewhat out of control, untrimmed to a certain degree, full of swagger and some arrogance, with his outsized 12/0 reel which loomed large all the time – you couldn’t help but be impressed with that reel) who would spend countless hours on the pier, just as Rene did. Unlike the others though Rene was frenetic and obsessed 24/7! At that time I don’t think Rene had anything larger than a 6/0; he was only in his late teen years and probably couldn’t have afforded anything larger. I still recall him using his rods “backwards”; with the right handed reel and rod under his right armpit and reeling in with his right hand – a bit uncomfortable I always thought. Anyway…. During that first year I couldn’t afford the Penn Squidder, which was the choice reel (I recall it cost about 50 dollars at the time – a hefty amount for a pre-high school kid), so I settled for a black look-a-like that cost if I recall correctly about $28, or maybe it was $14, still a respectable amount for a teen. Don’t recall the brand; I had some minor trouble with it sometime later (a piece of junk in hindsight I must say). Anyway, after that first year we moved up to 71st on Normandy Isle but I did return to the pier for some more fishing every so often. Later, I did get a Squidder and wow, what a difference; a prized possession for fishing from the pier. Smooth, accurate, well worth the 50 dollars. I combined it with a nice one pc tubular surf rod and WOW, I could easily cast a line a bit over what seemed like a hundred yards – unbelievable distances consistently. I was always impressed at the distances I could launch an 8 ounce sinker and bait. Anyway, the following moments are likely from that first year spent afternoons and weekends in 1972 when I was constantly there, as were the shark fishermen. Moments I still recall somewhat vividly: Hooking into a small blue runner, while elsewhere you could hear Rene bemoaning not having any bait for his shark fishing. As soon as he found out I hooked into one, he immediately laid claim to it; reserved it so to speak. “George, that’s mine; I need it” he would say. I was fishing from the north side of the pier, somewhat back from the end of the pier, probably about 1/3 from the end of the pier, in the area where there was a fence behind you (when you were facing the water), and no sooner did the blue runner come over the concrete wall, Rene came running (in his barefeet – as usual), and still explaining he needed it, justifying his actions, he unhooked it and ran off with it. Don’t recall if he caught anything with it though. I was initially aggravated but realized that blue runners were no good to eat anyhow, so I probably got over it quickly. Another moment. One afternoon when Jimbo landed a 5 to 6 foot Tarpon. He beached it (I’m thinking on the south side) and dragged it back onto the pier. I recall marveling at the size of the scales – 4 to 5 inches in diameter. That was the only Tarpon I had ever seen caught there – an unusual catch that soon attracted many onlookers. One early evening when Dave hooked into a large hammerhead. I think it was dark already....he had no live bait so as a last resort took a previously caught “ladyfish” that looked half dried and hard, cut it in half, baited the hook and literally swung the bait around a couple of times, to gain speed and momentum, released it, and out it went. Later in the evening, though not too much later, his reel started whizzing, he was elsewhere and started running towards his reel, then planted the hook. It wasn’t too long after that that he had what was probably a 10 to 11 foot slender hammerhead alongside the south side of the pier, close t...