Panama City News-Herald from Panama City, Florida • Page 9

PANAMA CITY NEWS-HERALD, Panama City, Florida, Sunday, October 26, 1969 Page IB Happine Is Finding Your Favorite Fishing Spot Fishing: It's A Hobby; It's A Sport; It's Also Bay County's No. 7 Industry By AXV HOITT Staff Writer St. Andrew Bay's first m- ustry, the one that lured those early settlers to build their cabins near the bayous, still is going itrong. Commercial fishing keeps groceries on the table for many I3r. County families, with an estimated 400 fishermen bringing in the catches But, how many people realize the extent of the industry Bay County fishermen in 1968 landed 7,222,498 pounds of seafood, including 545,005 pounds of mullet; 1,982,011 ponds of red 1 317 973 pounds of uinnois, a 276,783 pounds ol cigcii fish Shell tish landings inclded 907,967 pounds of shrimp, 12,703 pounds ol c-iab SS.S59 pounds of oysters and 4G.430 pounds of bcallops.

fish companies may LIFE WORK Cap'n Henry Raffield is in his 59th season of fishing and he figures it's been a good living. His boat, the Two Brothers is pictured (below) making a strike on the Gulf beach in September. The crew was burnt pretty bad that day by sea nettles. The stinging "jelly fish" are just one hazard of a risky business. The Life Is Tough, But Capt.

Henry's Tougher Capt. Henry Raffield, of the "Two Brothers," has been a commercial fisherman since he was 12 years old, and has had a boat of his own since he was 18. "And I haven't missed a season since," he said. The Raffields came to the area from Georgia in 1897 and settled at the head of East Bay. "I was born at Wetappo Creek in 1898," Raffield said.

"My father hunted for a living at first but he learned all he could about fishing. He started out with a cast net, then a gill net and finally got a seine." He has suffered his knocks while following his trade, but declared that he enjoys fishing just as much as the sportsman does and gets as big a kick out of a good haul as he does out of trophy catch. "I had a rope burn right to the bone once that laid me up for a month. But I reckon a stingray hurts about as bad as you can stand--I've had a bunch of them in my life." He said two things that scare the stuffing out of him arc waterspouts and lightning. "I was on my father's boat when lightning hit it," he said.

"I was about 15 years old. And we were hit by a waterspout once." He was working close to Ed Parker's body in a boat killed by lightning." He said he decided life is just as dangerous ashore as it is fishing. Raffield explained that he hunts fish 40 miles to the east and 40 to the west. About every three months he has to put the boat on the ways because a seine boat is constantly rubbing on the bottom. The most mullet he ever caught at one time on the Two Brothers was 17,000 pounds.

"On a larger boat, the Big Skipper, we caught 33,000 pounds of mullet one time and 33,000 pounds of skipjacks once. And two different times the Two Brothers brought in 23,000 pounds of blue runners and that many skipjacks. Sometimes you work harder than other times, but usually when you're working hard, you're making money," he stated. The boat and the seine account for four shares of the catch. Raffield usually takes a crew of six besides himself.

But, sometimes he takes more," and sometimes he has to go with less. "It can be lonely sometimes for a wife," Raffield's wife, Eva. said. "When the fish are running, I've seen Henry come in with a boat load and go right back out again." Raffield used to fish all winter, but now he quits about the end of November and goes back the first of April. "It's a good trade," he said, "but it's aiound a half-million dol- lais in jear, with some snap- i boat captains grossing and seine boat captains a S50.00Q.

Shrimp, oysters, scallops and crabs are im- poitant to the industry. The oy- steimen bung in scallops except in the winter when they change er to oysters. There is a modern crab plant here now, supplied by three boats working year round, permitting. The companv, Barwick Sons employs 14 persons, counting catchers. The cooked ciab meat is packed in one-pound packages and shipped by truck to points aiound Yoik and Baltimore generally, a company spokesman said.

J. D. Holmes, local wholesaler, estimated that perhaps 300 persons are scalloping and ostering. As for shrimpers, he explained that of 100 or more boats lands shrimp more or less regularly, as well as approximately 60 local shrimp boats. The year's haul--nearly seven and one-half million pounds of seafoodSwasn't confined to Bay County dinner tables.

Most of it was shipped to points from Miami to Chicago, Boston to Hawaii. Hawaii Sonds sort of like selling ice to Eskimos. May not be logical, sending fish to an island, but according to Alvin Cook, the Hawaiians consider ladyfish tops for making fishcakes. Another out-of-the ordinary shipment was pointed out by Holmes, whose company sent salt mullet to Spain; and Bodiford Fish Company has sold to a dealer who ships to South America. a companies ship by truck, mostly to the Eastern Seaboard and the Midwest.

Besides selling food fish, they supply bait for the Panama City sport fishing fleet, which could hardly operate without the cigar minnows and other species. Brannon estimated htat 50 to 75 per cent of their business is supplying bait. Jimmy Paulk stated that Webb's Cold Storage has sold as high as 950,000 pounds of bait fish in a year. Cook said his company ships blue runners to points within the state for aquarium food and sells a lot of cigar minnows to party boats. Snapper boats require bait fish, also.

The snapper boats go as far away as Honduras and the Caribbean, according to Charles Anderson, and they stay out 1620 days. Most mullet boats stay within 16 to 20 miles. Two large companies, Anderson and Cook, each said they ship approximately two million pounds of fish a year. Cook added that his company has storage room for one and a half million pounds. Seafood is big business for the county, whether it is shipped fresh or frozen.

It puts Panama City in world commerce. boat, the Friendship, one time when he like any other job--you've got to like what saw it hit by lightning. "I was afraid some of them were killed, but nobody was hurt. I've never seen any- you're doing. I wouldn't change.

"Fishing's no lazy man's job," the veteran captain warned. Text By Ann Houpt Photos By Boots Tieman LONG HAUL Joseph Railey, a member of the Two Brothers, pits his strength against the net. Experience has taught him that overalls and ABOARD THE FRIENDSHIP long-sleeved shirts reduce the danger of the sun and the stinging nettles. Experience will soon teach the lesson to younger members of the crew. Name It, Capt Ed's Seen It The inlander tourist, loaded down with expensive tackle, was walking toward the jetties when he met a teen-aged girl, carrying a large bonita in each hand.

"Wow!" he hollered. "Did you catch them?" "Yep." "What kinda bait did you use?" "No bait. Just reached out and grabbed them "The crew had been haxing fun throwing big bonitos overboard and watching the girls get out of their way," Parker said. "But, this girl reached out and grabbed two fish, instead of dodging." Parker said that was onh ore of the "funnies" he has seen from the wheel of the Friendship. "Sometimes hundreds of people watch us make a strike on the Gulf beach," he said, "and they like it we give lots of fish away, and if they ask, let them come aboard-" Parker said a tourist told him one time that he had nexer seen a strike before, and it was the most interesting thing he'd seen here.

"One tourist filled a cooler with mackerel we had lying on the beach, and then ran off with my anchor that was holding down our net!" "Capn Ed." who comes from a long line of fishermen, begun by Peter Parker back in the 1830's, said they usually work from Apalachicola to Destin. They were catching mackerel and pompano in September, with mullet expected to be the b'g catch in this month. "The Parkers have alwajs fished we've made a too, but I'll bet few people- know that fishing puts a lot boys through school," Parker said. "We hire 30 to 355 schoolboys every summer. They hard but when school starts tl-ey may have from S900 to S1.200." "It's a very good trade for a man who's willing to work," Hillman Brannon agreed.

"My brother put six sons through school." The Brannons have been fishing the bay for 40 years He explained that the captain often owns the boat, or is working toward owning it. and gets one(See AIE IT, Page 2B) by the tail as they swam by," she told him. He hot-footed it to the beach, muttering incoherently. He didn't know that the girl had been watching Cap'n Ed Parker and the crew of his seineboat, Friendship, making a strike on the Gulf beach near the jetties. FIRST YOU LOAD THE BOAT DOWN Then You Get To Unload It.

Intense Heat Or Icy When Fish Work, So Must They THE RUN BEGINS Seine boats react to so much as a them right. It's no fun to jump the gun and come up with rumor. It they hear tish are running, they follow the tip. a water haul an empty net. If it's freezing, and the They track them for days, some times, until they catch mullet's running, you go overboard.

If it's raining and the fish are there, you fish; the competition is tion. go overboard. The the sea; the weapon quarry is the is determiner-.