Welcome to “Old Salts Rule!” This feature showcases veteran captains to gain insight, share stories and laughs from those that have made a long fulfilling career as a professional. Follow the series from the beginning...
Captain Mike Merritt— 2018 June issue
Captain Chip Shafer— 2018 July/August issue
Captain Buddy Hooper— 2018 September issue
Captain Sam Crutchfield—2018 October/November issue
Captain Bouncer Smith—2018 December issue
Captain Ann Johnston—2019 January/February issue
Captain Jack Morrow—2019 March issue
Captain Paul Ivey—2019 April/May issue
Captain Phil Dulanie—December 2019 issue
Captain Kerwin Masunaga—December 2019 issue
Captain Peter B. Wright—January/February 2020 issue
Captain Gary Stuve—March 2020 issue
Captain Billy Borer—July/August 2020 issue
Would you like to nominate an Old Salt for us to feature? Please send us a note.
(Photo/Richard Gibson)
The moon and stars shone brightly in the pre-dawn night as Capt. Eddie Herbert started the engines on the 80-foot Merritt Reel Tight. His destination, the Virgin Islands’ North Drop. Reel Tight owner Jim Lambert Sr. took his passion for fishing seriously. He wanted to be first off the dock so he could catch and release two to three blue marlin before sun-up and the rest of the fleet arrived.
Capt. Randy Jendersee spent the first two decades of his life in the dark about the world of saltwater fishing. It’s no wonder. The television in the Jendersee family’s farmhouse in the tiny town of Corsica, South Dakota, some 90 miles west of Sioux Falls, only received three channels. And that was when the bunny ear antennas cooperated. Early 1960’s shows like “The American Sportsman” and even fresh-water favorites like “The Fisherman’s Friend,” hosted by former South Dakota Governor Joe Foss, didn’t reach the family’s living room.
Photo: Pepper Ailor
By Carol M. Bareuther, R.D.
Captain James “Bubba” Carter’s father didn’t want his son to become a sportfishing captain. No way. “No money in it,” Eddie Carter told his 18-year-old son, who by then already had his captain’s license. So the two shook hands on an agreement: Bubba could run his dad’s boat for the summer if he’d do a year of college. So come fall, off Bubba went to the University of South Carolina.
Captain Jimmy Loveland. Courtesy Richard Gibson
By Carol M. Bareuther, RD
The first time I met Captain Jimmy Loveland was in the late 1980s. His brother Stewart, asked me to write a press release announcing the upcoming USVI Open/Atlantic Blue Marlin Tournament (ABMT), better known as the ‘Boy Scout’ tournament for its chief beneficiary at the time. What I thought would be a short straightforward fact-finding interview with Jimmy as we sat at the head of ‘A’ Dock in Red Hook, St. Thomas, turned into a four-plus hour education on the tournament’s rules. Not IGFA rules.
Singer, songwriter, newspaper columnist, book author, duck hunter and longtime captain, Sam Crutchfield can catch most anything that swims in fresh or salt water. Were that not enough, Capt. Sam is also proficient in Morse code and was bitten by an alligator while wade fishing for bass in a Florida lake. Captain Sam Crutchfield is an outdoorsman in every sense of the word. When speaking with Sam you could hear about most anything—a play by play story of a big blue off Walker’s Cay or about any number of adventures in Florida or the Caribbean. Today you can still find Capt. Sam at his local boat ramp fishing in the Indian River Lagoon and along the Treasure Coast beaches almost every morning. “You can never get a missed day of fishing back,” he says gently.
Mike with Capt. Bill Austin, aka “Baccer Bill” out of Oregon Inlet
Captain Bouncer Smith at his slip in Miami Beach Marina.
Two-time Captain of the Year Kerwin Masunaga and his good luck dog, Ziggy.
