September 22, 2019
By Eric Wickstrom
It was the summer of 1967 when my father Karl Wickstrom took my brothers Drew, Blair and me on our very first fishing trip. We were off Mexico Beach, Florida, in a jon boat with a tiller outboard and one fishing rod. Action was non-stop, and each time Dad reeled in a fish, he would alternate saying that one of us had caught that fish.
That was the day we all caught the fishing bug. The next day, Dad bought us all Zebco 202s. We spent the rest of that vacation catching fish—actually catching our own fish.
Staff of Florida & Tropic Sportsman , Miami, 1969, Matheson Hammock County Park.
Upon returning to Miami, we began fishing together often. At Dinner Key Marina on Saturday, we'd rent a 16-foot tri-hull and catch mackerel, trout, jacks and snook. I remember it was like shooting fish in a barrel in those days.
An investigative journalist and publisher by trade, Dad began reading all the fishing reports and literature he could get his hands on. Not finding a magazine dedicated to fishing in Florida, he decided to start one. It was a perfect fit considering he already had an office, a staff, and one magazine in production. Karl had begun publishing National Airlines' inflight magazine, Aloft , in 1968.
In the summer of 1969, Karl launched Florida & Tropic Sportsman with the help and consultation of good friend and Miami Herald Fishing Editor Vic Dunaway.
Three of the original Florida Sportsman staffers in 1969: Bob Mitchell (advertising sales), Jane Oberholzer (office manager), Ted Baker (art director).
Bill Hallstrom was recruited over from his post as a fishing writer at The Herald to be the executive editor. The rest of the new staff took over positions at both F&TS and Aloft . My mother, Pat Pinkerton, was the copy editor and proofreader. Girard DeWitt was art director, Robert Mitchell advertising director and Jane Oberholzer, office manager, production manager and everything-else manager. The office was a simple suite in a building on Red Road near Sunset Drive, mostly full of dentists. The smell of fluoride, not ink, was the first thing you would notice upon entering the building.
This is a photograph of the famous backcountry guide Herman Lucerne (in yellow shirt) with early Florida Sportsman writer Bob Lettino (stringing up a rod). The picture was taken by then-Executive Editor Bill Hallstrom in the summer of 1970.
To supply authentic, credible articles and images for the bimonthly magazine, Karl decided to place most of the workload on local Florida freelance writers and photographers. From the beginning, he decided this was going to be a how-to magazine, and not a glorified tourism piece full of fancy destinations, perfect weather and articles about celebrities fishing on big yachts.
The first issue, which was mostly a prototype to see if the concept would float, proved extremely popular. Subscription payments of $4.95 began rolling in; newsstand sales, too, at 50 cents a copy.
The first issue was released in the summer of 1969.
By the time the second issue came out in December 1969, the office was relocated to a much bigger space on Ponce De Leon Blvd next to the Lincoln Mercury dealer. Theodore Baker came on as the new art director. Faith Spencer was brought in as a production assistant and F&TS was off to the races. As a teen I started my first job then, too, stuffing renewal notices in envelopes and licking all the stamps a couple nights here and there.
With the December 1970 issue, the staff had determined that the main direction of coverage was going to be for the Sunshine State, so to make the name more specific, Tropic was dropped and the more-familiar Florida Sportsman arrived. The next major milestone was in February 1978 when FS went from six issues a year to 12.
Karl Wickstrom (with plaque) is inducted into International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame in 2008. Sons Blair, left, Drew, second from left, and Eric Wickstrom, were among FS staffers attending banquet in Dania Beach.
In 1999, Blair Wickstrom took over the publisher's role, while Karl continued his longstanding advocacy and conservation work as editor-in-chief. These were major times of growth for the print magazine as well as the expansion of new media to the mix. The Florida Sportsman Fishing and Boat Shows (now Expos) and FS Live Radio were launched in the early '90s, and on online presence and website went live in 1995. Florida Sportsman TV and a related series, Shallow Water Angler, began broadcasting in 2004.
The turn of the century was also notable for Wickstrom Publishers being acquired by Primedia, Inc, a large publishing conglomerate with national resources and oversight. However, the sale was contingent on the local staff and management continuing to operate the magazine and associated businesses.
Since then, there have been two other ownership changes: Intermedia Outdoors acquired FS in 2007, and the current owner, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (Outdoor Sportsman Group), bought FS in 2014.
Through the decades, many fine people, both fulltime and freelance employees, have worked for FS, some for as many as 30 or 40 years. No history of the publication would be complete without mentioning some of them.
FS Outdoors Team As an award-winning investigative reporter for the Miami Herald during the 1960s, Karl Wickstrom took on crime and corruption. As a legislative aide in Tallahassee, he helped draft law-enforcement reform legislation. That same mentality and zeal served him well when he decided to challenge the status quo to improve the lot of fishermen in the state of Florida.
Why the stern looks on Vic Dunaway, left, and Karl Wickstrom? They're studying the October 1984 issue, in which Vic wrote an important editorial exposing the decline of king mackerel due to overfishing by roller rig gillnet boats.
Wickstrom quickly established a following for his conservation work through his Openers column. Between his column and the regular On the Conservation Front department in the magazine, Florida Sportsman never stopped fighting for Florida's anglers.\
“No one has any ‘right' to take our commonly owned or managed wild animals in great quantities while the next man on the beach is limited to a single fish or two,” Wickstrom reasoned.
Florida Sportsman led the efforts in achieving gamefish status for redfish, the push for fishing licenses, for merging marine water management with the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, a ban of fish traps, and probably the most notable effort, a three year effort, which culminated in 1994 with a ban of gill and entanglement nets in state waters via a constitutional amendment.
The campaign needed 429,428 validated signatures to get the amendment on the ballot; it collected 520,000.
But what kept record-setting renewal rates among subscribers for decades was a direct result of quality writing, photography and award-winning layouts.
“Our goal is to make every outdoorsman's moments in the sun more enjoyable—and more productive,” said Karl Wickstrom early on.
That mindset is still followed today by editor Jeff Weakley and his very capable Outdoors Team.
Entering our 50th year, the Florida Sportsman editorial team consists of experts in all sorts of outdoors subjects: George LaBonte, Boating Editor; Rick Ryals, Projects Editor; Mike Conner, Conservation Editor; Carolee Boyles (hunting); David Brown (bass fishing, saltwater fishing); Corky Decker (offshore fishing); Grant Gilmore (ecology); Peter Hinck (kayak fishing); Willie Howard (offshore); Doug Kelly (travel); Tom Levine (humor and freshwater); Tim Lewis (bowhunting); David McGrath (Gulf Coast); Frank Sargeant (fishing, hunting); Peter Slis (surf and fresh water); and Eric Wickstrom (photography, magazine history).
What does a Florida Sportsman Field Editor do? For a guy like Ray Markham, of Terra Ceia, just about everything under the sun. In addition to writing a monthly Action Spotter column for the print magazine (16 years and counting!), Capt. Markham has written online 4casts, co-hosted FS Live Radio seasons, lectured at FS Expo events, appeared on television episodes, you name it. He caught this snook, in fact, while filming for an episode of FS TV.
Regional where-to, how-to expertise is brought to the magazine each month by the 11 Field Editors, many of whom have spent 20 or more years writing for FS. Today's regional team consists of Pepe Gonzalez (Keys), Alan Sherman (South), Steve Dall (10,000 Islands), Brenton Roberts (Southeast), Ralph Allen (Southwest), Bill Sargent (East Central), Ray Markham (West Central), Tommy Thompson (Big Bend), William Greer (Northwest), Chaz Heller (Panhandle), Brett Fitzgerald (Tropics).
Larry Larsen was—and remains—a Florida outdoors writer with a pioneering spirit. During the 1980s and ‘90s, he was the leading voice promoting peacock bass, payara and other fisheries in South America. He also fished extensively in the Caribbean, where no doubt this photo was taken (undated but certainly 1970s, early ‘80s).
Charles F. Waterman was a Kansas native and World War II combat photographer who went on to become a very famous outdoors writer. He lived for many years near the St. Johns River in Central Florida and contributed articles on a variety of subjects to FS, including fly fishing. His byline first appeared in the magazine in 1970.
Some notable contributing and field editors of the past include Lefty Kreh, Bob Stearns, Charles F. Waterman, Jim Martenhoff, Al Pflueger, Herb Allen, Don Mann, Timothy O'Keefe, Chico Fernandez, Dan Dunaway, Bill Miller, Red Marston, Jim Hardie, Bob McNally, Robin Smillie, Bernie Schultz, Chris Christian, Mark Weintz, Rick Farren and Larry Kinder.
Don Mann was the first to catch and document all the major billfish species in one year (swordfish, here). He wrote about it for Florida Sportsman in 1987, and he covered many other subjects, and covered them well. He was just the guy next door, a retired pharmaceutical salesman, had gift of gab, got bit by the fishing bug, became something of a legend in the field.
Talk about a pair of aces! That's Frank Sargeant on the left, the 24-year Tampa Trib outdoors editor and five-decades FS contributor. Holding the seatrout is Terry Lacoss, the famous Amelia Island captain who's written for FS over 30 years. Both men, Frank on the Gulf Coast, Terry on the Atlantic, continue to write about fishing.
Bill Hallstrom was the first executive editor at FS, assigning articles and checking pages into the late 1970s. He also wrote the popular “In the Current” column.
But, nothing gets printed until the staff editors put the final touches to it. And from the beginning in 1969, Executive Editor Bill Hallstrom took charge of the editorial office duties which included assigning work, collecting it, editing it and paying for it. He also wrote his popular monthly column “In the Current.”
Vic Dunaway retired from formal editorial work in the early 1990s, but he remained a prolific contributor and book author—and a popular figure at the Florida Sportsman Expo series. Here, at one of the Expos circa 2005, he's offering samples of a fish chowder described in a cookbook he wrote, Anglers Cookbook.
In 1978, when FS became a monthly magazine, Bill left and Vic Dunaway, already “Editor,” took over the office duties. “At 50 years old it's the first time I've ever had a regular job with regular hours in my life,” he reportedly commented. Vic also started a new column, “Waterfront View,” which instantly became a favorite. “I started out doing half news columns and half humor,” Vic once said, “but the humor was so popular, I eventually went with all humor.”
From left, Vic Dunaway, Glenn Law, Biff Lampton and Karl Wickstrom ham it up while comparing tilapia to grouper, or some other act of culinary derring-do. Karl was fond of poking holes in conventional thinking, but sometimes conventional thinking held up (NEVER eat Bermuda chub). Photo taken in early 1990s.
As FS rolled into the 1980s, the magazine was hitting its peak. Issues were regularly 200 pages, even as much as 250. To keep up with demand for “must-read” where-to and how-to content, Biff Lampton and Glenn Law were brought in as Associate Editor and Assistant Editor. A proofreading specialist, Bryan Henry, also was employed for a time. With a full team of editors, quality was synonymous with quantity.
Biff Lampton, here fly fishing on Lake Okeechobee, joined the in-house editorial staff in 1986. He had a background in newspaper writing and service with the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission.
One of the more tragic events in FS history was when Biff and his 16-year-old son Derek were killed in an automobile accident while returning from a spring turkey hunting trip in 1995.
By that time, Vic had semi-retired back to “the field,” so FS hired a recent Stetson University graduate, Jeff Weakley, as editorial assistant under Glenn Law (promoted to editor) and Doug Kelly (managing editor). Weakley continues to work for FS, today as editor in chief. Other in-house staff editors from recent years have included Mike Conner (currently Conservation Editor and Expo co-director), Mike Holliday, Frank Bolin, Jerry McBride, David Conway, Joe Richard, Sam Hudson, Terry Gibson, Dave East, and Brenton Roberts (current).
Advertising Team If you're an outdoorsman in Florida, meaning you enjoy time on the water or in the woods, odds are you've bought more gear than you probably need. “It's what we do,” said Vic one time when opining about some of the silly products that came across his desk. But not so silly are the products that really do help outdoorsmen in the state, and many of you found them via ads in Florida Sportsman . And fortunately, FS had Bob Mitchell as Advertising Director from day one. Mitchell's tenacity and organizational skills fueled the pages that kept FS in motion, all the way until his full retirement in 2016. Mitchell was also the de-facto staff IT guy who cobbled together a bunch of computers in the early '80s for the editorial and advertising departments.
For over twenty years Florida Sportsman led all other fishing and outdoor related magazines in the total number of advertising pages run in a year. The reason that's pertinent to you as a reader is that the number of ad pages dictates the number of editorial pages.
From left: Trey Wheeler, Blair Wickstrom, Rob Killgore, Bob Mitchell and Jim Langone, Key Biscayne, following Miami International Boat Show, 2018. Mitchell was sales director for FS at start in 1969; Killgore joined sales staff in 1978.
Rob Killgore joined the sales staff in 1978. Killgore once said he never worked a day in his life; living to talk to boat builders, rod manufacturers and other industry folks, he connected readers to these companies for 28 years. Charlie Buchmayr called on similar accounts in the northeast for 20 years.
Good day of cobia fishing off Stuart, 2019, for Publisher Blair Wickstrom and sales team Jim Langone, Trey Wheeler and Rhett Nelson.
Blair Wickstrom began handling accounts in North Florida in 1985 while working out of St. Petersburg, until moving to Miami and the main office in 1998. That's when Rick Ryals, the FS Radio Director at the time, took over reins for the North Florida territory. Jim Langone came on board, at first to sell primarily online, but soon selling the entire suite of FS media. In recent years, Trey Wheeler and Rhett Nelson have been added to the sales team. In addition to the ad sellers here in Florida, much of the national non-endemic business has been done by team members in NY, California and several points in between.
Production
At magazines there's often a “love-hate” relationship between the advertising and production departments. Between deadlines, sales rep Rob Killgore and longtime Production Manager Cathy Nicholson show some love.
Great edit spreads and fancy double-truck ads go nowhere without the production department. Generally, over our 50-year run, that responsibility has fallen on the shoulders of a single person. It's not exactly herding cats, but meeting monthly deadlines with hundreds of ads and upwards of twenty features and departments has led to a few salty words directed towards the ad and edit departments.
Martha May was the first to take on the task full time, followed in later years by Cathy Nicholson, and now Jean McElroy. McElroy, in classic FS fashion, is a multi-tasker who contributes proof-reading skills in the editorial department and often takes a lead role in organizing special events.
Art Department
It's 1999, and digital photography is still in its infancy. Here in the South Miami office, Karl Wickstrom, Jeff Weakley, Mike Conner and Ted Baker critique print photographs for an upcoming magazine layout. Transparencies were projected onto a screen, for viewing.
Once the ads are sold and the stories written, it's time to bring the pieces to life. And no one has done it better than the art directors of Florida Sportsman. After the inaugural FS issue, Theodore “Ted” Baker moved in as Art Director. In fact, Ted painted artwork for every cover from 1970 to 1976.
One of Ted Baker's many painted covers for Florida Sportsman.
When Ted began, text was manually typed on an IBM Selectric Typewriter, cut up and glued on layout pages with smelly rubber cement. Headlines were composed on a stat camera the size of a Smart Car. In 1975, Janis Soffin joined FS as a full-time typesetter on a fairly modern typesetting machine, and this style of page layout and production was used all the way up until 1999
Another all-staff photo (2001), this one taken in Hurricanes colors as encouragement for our longtime Art Director Ted Baker, who was in the hospital at the time. Ted painted those two cover images held in front, as well as many others between 1970 and 1978.
After Ted retired in 2002, Karen Miller and Ron Romano both held the art director position until Drew Wickstrom came back to FS fulltime as Creative Director in 2005. As an avid angler and former art department staffer, Drew brought a new perspective to the art department.
Drew Wickstrom: art director by day, snook catcher by night.
He not only knew what images made the best layouts, he personally shot countless covers and magazine spreads. As in the past, the Art Director does more than lay out the monthly magazines; this person is responsible for creative control of the Florida Sportsman brand, work that includes logo designs as well as creating the many books and other products sold.
Circulation
Circulation Manager Patti Gibson, photographed in 2000 as the magazine was growing into its new office on the St. Lucie River in Stuart.
The circulation department handles newsstand sales and subscription fulfillment. In the early days, circulation was simple and local, and our loyal do-everything staffer Jane Oberholzer managed small lists of names and supervised labels being stuck on each copy for the mail. Over subsequent years the department was run by Deborah Derringer, Margie Betts, Liz Elias, Glenn Law, and Todd Richter. I took my turn, too.
Here's our New York-based Consumer Marketing Team, 2019. Back row, left to right: Carter Vonasek, Lauren Tracy, Karen Singer, Luis Maurentt, Byron Scarlett, Rita Cohen, Patricia Elliott, Rich Barron. Front row, left to right: Brian Sullivan, Peter Watt. Missing: Tom Bontemps.
But, for the last 20 years, FS circulation has been a centralized service overseen by several people with specific roles, with Peter Watt, VP Consumer Marketing, leading up the team for going on two decades.
Beyond Print TV
Here's what fishing magazine editors do on their day off. Actually, this was a work day! Editor Jeff Weakley nets a cobia for Managing Editor David Conway during the filming of a Florida Sportsman TV episode. Conway, a gifted writer and editor, worked in the Stuart office from 2007 through 2018.
In 2005, Florida Sportsman brought in Paul Farnsworth to bring the pages of Florida Sportsman to life via television. Paul's background with television production was with ESPN and the Golf Network, not exactly ideal for someone expected to create our first TV show. But, he could tell a story, and brought an entirely new look and feel to fishing shows, the off camera interview style, that's replicated in fishing shows across all networks now. Editors Jeff Weakley, Mike Conner, Terry Gibson, David Conway and Publisher Blair Wickstrom hosted the Florida Sportsman and Shallow Water Angler TV from 2005 to 2012. In 2012, we took a web only show which featured fishing trips with Forum members from the computer to the big screen with Capt. George Gozdz and Reel Time Florida Sportsman which aired for seven seasons. Cavin Brothers, who started with Florida Sportsman as an online intern, ended up producing all seven seasons of RTFS. And then in 2019, we made a change to a new show with a water advocacy theme called Florida Sportsman Watermen hosted by Benny Blanco and produced by Dan Diez.
FS Editor Jeff Weakley fights a redfish as Paul Farnsworth captures the action on film. This was Savannah, Georgia, for an episode of Shallow Water Angler TV, which ran for six seasons in the 2000s. Guide Scott Wagner, one of many out-of-state captains who would be featured in SWA, is on the poling platform.
In addition to a fishing television show, Florida Sportsman has two boating related fishing shows. Florida Sportsman Best Boat debuted in 2013 with Boating Editor Dave East as the host of the show. Rick Ryals joined Dave as a co-host in season two. Currently Boating Editor George LaBonte, Rick Ryals and Lori Hargrave host the show in 2019 going into its seventh season. FSBB is produced by two more former online interns with Florida Sportsman, Chris Collins and Scott Sanders through their company Deep See Visuals.
The second boating related show, Florida Sportsman Project Dreamboat , currently in its fourth season launched in 2016. The premise of the show follows the very popular magazine column, One Man's Dreamboat, where we follow the builds and projects of angler's outfitting, or in some cases building, their boat of their “dreams.” The TV show has been just as popular as the magazine feature.
Chris Collins went on to co-found a video production company, Deep See Visuals, but he honed his chops with Florida Sportsman (here, waiting for the action off Miami in 2013).
The first three seasons were shot out of Marine Customs Unlimited, but in season four expanded to four different shops.
Expo
FS editor Doug Kelly and others at the magazine brainstormed an idea of hosting a consumer show as a fundraiser at the Miami Fairgrounds to raise money for the Ban The Nets campaign and the Florida Sportsman Fishing Show was born. In the fall of 1993 and again in spring 1994 the Fairgrounds gates opened and several thousand paying attendees flooded in to see the latest and greatest gear and boats and meet the Florida Sportsman staff and other area experts. For most anglers, the best part of the Show was hundreds of retail booths filled with the latest and greatest fishing gear as well as a fleet of new fishing boats of all sizes packed into the fairgrounds Expo Hall.
Then in November ‘94 when the net-limitation initiative passed by a 72% margin the Fishing Show looked like it was going away, a rare victim of success. That's when prominent net ban volunteer, writer and photographer Robin Smillie, of Stuart, was hired as the new director of the Florida Sportsman Fishing Show.
“Those were exciting times,” said Smillie. “That first year—1995—we did four shows starting in Fort Myers, then Jacksonville, West Palm Beach and Miami. I remember standing in the rain at the entrance to the parking lot of the very first show in Fort Myers, looking down the highway wondering if anyone would come. Finally the left turn signal of a car filled with a family blinked on and I did an audible fist-pump, 'Yessss!' The parking lot soon filled and even overflowed as over 6,000 anglers and their families came to that first show. We were off and running.”
The Fishing Shows had hourly saltwater fishing seminars on two stages, Offshore and Inshore. Attendees chatted with Florida Sportsman editors and other fishing experts, sat in on hands-on bait-rigging and knot-tying lessons at the Offshore and Inshore Riggin' it Right Academies, learned to throw a castnet in the castnet pit and learned flycasting from expert casters at the 60-foot Flycasting Pond. Shore anglers sat in on Angler on Foot seminars to learn about fishing on beaches, bridges, and piers, and kayak fishermen learned from experts at the Kayak Stage. “Kids had lots to do, too,” Smillie recalled. “At the kids casting pond, everyone was a winner of a tackle pack and the best casters won rod and reel combos. The FWC stocked a couple hundred catfish into the pond in front and hosted a fishing tournament.”
Later shows were added in Tampa, Orlando, Tallahassee, Space Coast, Panhandle, Sarasota and even Mobile, Alabama. Robin Smillie managed 102 shows until 2006 when he retired, and Denise Oyler, Show Manager for several years, took the helm. Currently, Conservation Editor Mike Conner and his wife Michelle run the Expos with team members who have helped for years, such as Mo Argenziano, Doug Martin, Dan McCarthy, Rick Ryals, Ray Markham and several others.
Online & Social
Turn-of-the-century multi-tasking: Eric Wickstrom juggles working on a tide book, a fish-identification guide, and a nascent online community whose demand for attention would soon skyrocket.
In 1995, I was tasked with creating a web site for FS. At the time our office was full of 17-inch amber screened DOS/ASCII computers, no e-mail, no Internet. I picked out my first Windows computer, with 3.1 OS, and bought a copy of Websites for Dummies . In the last 25 years, after several site updates, with another one about to launch, it's clear to say we've come a long way.
No digital history would be complete without discussing online communities, beginning with the Florida Sportsman Forum , Florida's anglers Facebook before Zuckerberg.
This is Shelby Busenbark, who updates our Florida Sportsman website, podcast and social media channels. Like everyone else on our team, she gets out on the water. Here she is with a snook caught near our first Stuart office, on the St. Lucie River.
In 1998 people were amazed with people's desire to share so much information about their catches via the Florida Sportsman Forum. In what today seems second nature via Instagram and Facebook wasn't the case prior to 2000, you just didn't see people posting fishing reports before even washing the boat or cleaning the catch, these posts were a true phenomenon in the early days of the FS Forum.
A lot of magazines tried to follow the success of the FS Forum, but early on staying true to the community is what made the Forum special. Not just for members but for the Admin and Moderators. Ken Whitley “Griz” was and is the steady force behind the community. Ken has personally approved over 100,000 members. A true feat in itself. Other long term Admin and leaders have been: Rich Ruggieri “Triple Threat”, Mark Wilson “Docked Wages” and Dave Arm “Nuevowavo”. Other moderators that have been impactful over the years include Dave Gill “kajo”, Gary Colecchio, Paul Bauman “DEEP”, Billy Goodson “Mullet”, Jack Hexter “Jack Hexter”, James Rigby “james14”, Larry Witkowski “larrywitt”, Long Nguyen “fish2nguyen”, Louice Bredice “capt louie”, Robert Gsegner “ferris1248” and Tim Fletcher “Fletch”. We've had others too over the years.
Several regional Forum sections hold fundraisers “bashes” for great causes. Here NE Forum moderator Dave Gill “kajo” and his wife Shell are with the beneficiary recipient Drew Wood, and family in 2013.
It's been a great community, it was responsible for countless people meeting and fishing and enjoying the outdoors. The community lives on, not generating 10 million page views a month any longer, but still the place to go to find a friend to fish with.
Now, much like the Forum was in its infancy other social media platforms have become the place to post photos and catch reports. Facebook seems to be the choice of the older socially engaged and Instagram looks to be the choice of the younger anglers and hunters. And Florida Sportsman is working to keep up with the developing technologies. In today's world, even twenty miles from a paved road in the woods or ten miles off the coast, outdoorsman stay connected and are taking video and photos more than ever. And they expect to see a steady stream of fresh, interesting and compelling content. And Florida Sportsman is working daily to give you what you're looking for, fresh catches from all points of Florida.
Radio It was Saturday April 6, 1996 and Florida's fishermen were about to get the ‘word from the water' in a whole new way. Instead of waiting for their local newspaper to bring them last week's fishing report, fishermen every Saturday morning, in the six markets across Florida, were going to get intel directly from the boats already on the action. Florida Sportsman Live Radio was an instant hit.
Rick Ryals, seen here sharing his expertise in a Riggin' it Right seminar at an FS Expo, is a man of many hats. He has written for FS, hosted television and radio shows, and most recently has expanded his time into podcasts.
In Jacksonville, Capts. Rick Ryals and Kevin Faver hit the airwaves on Sports Radio 930 bright and early and immediately started getting reports from the partyboat Miss Mayport about what the ocean conditions were like, where the bait was holding, and what was biting. In Orlando, John Cave and Al Bernetti were dialed in on both the freshwater areas around Orlando, as well as over on the east central coasts. From Palm Beach, Capts. Eden White and George Labonte broadcast the offshore news on ESPN 1410, and in Miami, George Mitchell and Doug Kelly were blasting all the way to Islamorada. In Tampa Bay, Capts. Gary Folden and Dave Mistretta went live, and in the Panhandle, Walt Kostevicki, and Ed Fish were talking everything fishing on WEBY. April 6, 1996 was the first day Florida's fishermen could tune in their favorite sports radio station on their way to a Saturday fishing trip anywhere in Florida, and find out what conditions they were going to face, before they ever launched their boat.
Left to right: Rick Ryals, Roger Walker, and John Botko hosted for Jacksonville's Florida Sportsman Live Radio.
Many stations celebrated their 500th show anniversary, but the great recession in 2009 shrunk the network to three. As of the summer of 2019, with the launch of Florida Sportsman's Action Spotter Podcast, which Rick Ryals is hosting, Jacksonville remains the only radio station airing Florida Sportsman Live radio.
Products
FS began to expand beyond the print magazine, introducing numerous products such as fishing charts which Vic Dunaway and Al Pfluegor introduced in the late 70's and then were expanded to the entire state in 2000. Books came shortly after when Dunaway introduced the most comprehensive tackle, knots and rigging book with Bait, Rigs & Tackle. A best-seller which has since sold more than a million copies in four editions, 20 reprints and three complete redesigns. The most recent revision FS Project Editor Rick Ryals brought in the latest rigs and tackle.
In 1993, David Blackwell was brought in as a full-time FS Product salesman. While I was designing new products, David was beating the streets, the phones and the copy machine. Within three years we tripled sales to over $500,000 per year.
David Blackwell (fishing with one of his sons) wore many hats at FS—including that fish-camo visor he's wearing, one of the many products FS sold over the years. Blackwell was in charge of merchandise in the late 1990s and early 2000s, a period of growth for the magazine.
And books were the driver, other very popular books were the five-part Sport Fish book series, illustrated by Kevin Brandt and written by Vic Dunaway. The most popular, not surprisingly was the Sport Fish of Florida, but the other four were in demand for years. Still are. The next book series that still is in demand today is the Sportsman's Best series, which included: Snapper & Grouper, Inshore Fishing, Sailfish, Offshore Fishing, Redfish, Kayak Fishing, Sight Fishing, Snook, Trout Dolphin, Surf Fishing and Boats. We look to have these continue as eBooks into the future.
Another product that has been in demand and very popular for decades has been the Florida Sportsman Lawstick, both the folding lawstick and the milar boat sticker. Way cheaper than taking your lawyer fishing with you.
Other products consisted of shirts, hats, calendars, Fishing Planners, DVD's and a few other items.
And speaking of Florida Sportsman apparel we have a new lineup of shirts, hats, hoodies and sweatshirts launching fall of 2019.
Office Staff
The Miami-based staff in 1998, visiting Hutchinson Island on a fact-and-fish-finding weekend. Most of those pictured here would move north the following year to work at the magazine's new headquarters across from Martin County High School.
In the FS office, as with any office, a good office manager is key. As mentioned already, Jane Oberholzer was just that. Later, there were expanded positions in the administrative staff including Robert Nicholson, Diane Lambert and Diana Matthews. Among other valued members of the FS front desk alumni: Patti Gibson, Jeffrey Schramm, Heylen Bicelis, Jennie Glassgold and Gail Jaworski.
Christmas 2017, at the 2700 S. Kanner building in Stuart, FL. From left: Karl Wickstrom, Blair Wickstrom, Diana Matthews, Jean McElroy, Shelby Busenbark, Rhett Nelson, David Conway, George Large, Jim Langone, Jeff Weakley.
It's hard to believe, 50 years in a blink of an eye, what was started as a simple way to help people enjoy Florida's outdoors has grown to be much more, and because of you, the reader, it continues to be so. Thanks to all of the Florida Sportsman family, staff, contributors and readers for making Florida Sportsman truly special.
More Photos
Karl Wickstrom loved snook fishing, but he loved even more the estuaries that nurture these and other great Florida gamefish.
Richard Bowles often wrote of cobia tearing up boats and gear, a point evidently learned from experience. Speaking of learning: Bowles taught at the University of Florida from 1958 to 1985 and was the director of the Gator Bands from 1961-1970. When he wasn’t writing music, he was writing articles for Florida Sportsman and the Gainesville Sun.
Bill Greer, one of our “capital” contributors, with largemouth bass, early 1980s. Greer, of Tallahassee, worked for the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission (now Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) for many years. He also contributed articles to FS and was named Northwest Florida Field Editor in 1986. Still had that position in 2019.
Glenn Law joined the staff in the late 1980s and was lead editor between 1995 and 1998. Fly fishing was—and remains—a passion of this talented and gregarious man, who remains active in outdoors publishing. Picture taken in Bahamas, circa 1990.
Chico Fernandez has been a prolific contributor of how-to articles to Florida Sportsman, especially in the 1980s. Fly fishing is probably his specialty, but he’s a well-recognized expert with all kinds of tackle, including the plug tackle and bucktail used to catch this African pompano.
Eden White with Palm Beach snook, early 1980s. White would take over as Southeast Field Editor and move into all sorts of roles at Florida Sportsman—including a 20-year term as a regional co-host of FS Live! Radio, which for many years broadcast through six stations around the state.
Steve Kantner, Broward County’s “Land Captain,” is one of the more prolific outdoors writers associated with FS Magazine. This picture taken at Deep Water Cay, Bahamas, in the 1990s.
Herb Allen, at one time an editor at the Tampa Tribune, was an important figure in the development of Gulf Coast fishing and especially bass fishing. His “On the Bassbeat” column ran for decades in Florida Sportsman.
Frank “Fritter” Bolin was associate editor between 2000 and 2006. He was an easy-going surfer with a great sense of humor, who cared deeply for people and fishing, especially up around Matanzas and St. Augustine. Cancer took him from us, far too soon.
Veteran outdoors writer Joe Richard caught this 80-pound cobia on Florida Sportsman’s 24-foot Manta power catamaran, but fellow in-house editor at the time, Frank Bolin, spotted it, or cast first, or something.
Terry Gibson, here with a big snook on the St. Lucie River, was the East Coast Editor of Surfer Magazine when he began contributing articles to Florida Sportsman. He was eventually hired at FS to work full-time on our Shallow Water Angler title, which we published from 2002 until 2008. Surfer Mag, incidentally, was a cousin title to FS during the Primedia ownership days of the early 2000s.
Captain Mike Holliday became—and remains--pretty famous for catching huge snook on the Treasure Coast. But he’d tackle any fish, and any assignment. He worked in the office of the magazine full-time for about a year, right around Y2K.
Many fishing guides have passed through the doors at Florida Sportsman, but here’s one who came and stayed. Early 2000s and Capt. Mike Conner, originally from Miami, is writing and editing articles at the FS office in Stuart. Conner remains active with the magazine, contributing columns on conservation and fly fishing topics. Also, he co-directs the Expo series. And, yes, he still guides fishermen.
Sam Hudson--dependable, affable--worked in the FS offices as a staff editor in the early 2000s.
If you worked in the Florida Sportsman office, there was a pretty good chance you ended up in the magazine—or right there on the front cover. Jennie Glassgold was a good-natured administrative assistant who really liked to fish. She’s pictured here with a wahoo. The image, taken by Blair Wickstrom, would make the cover of our March 2002 issue.
This is Paul Farnsworth, who came over to FS and Shallow Water Angler by way of a video production career in the golf industry. Here he “tees up” in the Dry Tortugas in 2006, shooting an episode of Florida Sportsman TV.
Stuart, FL, wrapping up an episode and season filming Florida Sportsman TV, 2006. Top left is Patrick Sebile; next to him is Capt. George Gozdz, who was a guest host on the episode, prior to hosting Reel Time Florida Sportsman. Bottom, left to right: Blair Wickstrom (episode host) with Andy Tasker and Drew Wickstrom, who ran the camera boat.
Florida Sportsman advertising sales duo Dave Osborne (green shirt) and Jim Langone hold a sailfish for the underwater photographer Tony Ludovico off Miami. The photo made the cover of the magazine in April 2009. (Boat was borrowed from Dusky Marine, one of Langone’s accounts.)
Left to Right: Trey Wheeler, Rhett Nelson and Blair Wickstrom showing off their haul after a successful ''sales meeting."
We closed our Stuart office for a week in the summer of 2018, as toxic cyanobacteria discharged from Lake Okeechobee fouled the St. Lucie River.
We closed our Stuart office for a week in the summer of 2018, as toxic cyanobacteria discharged from Lake Okeechobee fouled the St. Lucie River.
Production Manager, Jean McElroy, hoists a 40+ inch snook caught on her birthday that came in on a DOA Curl tail while kayak fishing the Loxahatchee River. This could later be found on a Florida Sportsman cover.
Brenton Roberts, a long time follower of FS, started out as an online intern and writer and has since expanded to the TV sets where he films and snaps some amazing shots.
Shelby Busenbark, who just celebrated her third year with the company as a digital editor, works hard to reach to a younger audience by expanding the FS social media following. In the summer of 2019, she kicked off the production on the Florida Sportsman Action Spotter Podcast, joined by the host Rick Ryals.
