[Sticky] South Beach pier -a motley crew w pics

South beach pier was magical place with so many different types of people gathering in one place on any given day.It was a motley crew indeed-some went to hang out,some went to skateboard,some came to fish or dive,some came to surf and others just came out there to watch Rene de Dios do battle with sharks.You had a group of guys always trying to outdo each other on the skateboards at the front of trhe pier or surfers on days when the surf was up trying show there best moves.People would come from miles away to be in the in crowd typically the long haired surfers -skateboarders or the shark fishing crew and most of the time they were intertwined the shark fisherman using the surfers to get there shark baits taken out and the surfers usually younger guys getting protection from the likes of Rene and the older guys.Every year when the mullet run started in the fall it was mayhem with a big crowd lining up on the rail to catch mackeral,bluefish,snook ,tarpon,kingfish,big crevalles it was a free for all .The long surf rods being whipped out with 4 to 8 oz sinkers,the jigs flying by your head as everyone was part of that chaos hungry to get hooked up just like the guy next to you.In th emiddle of that craziness you heard Rene's loud voice saying"I need that jack for shark bait,please let me freeline it"That was a typical scene during the mullet run in the spring as well as in the fall.

Rene and Vince Abreau