History of South Dade: Jim Anson Part 2

Last week’s story followed Jim Anson’s Army career as one of the first Green Berets and concluded with his return to South Florida.

After getting married, Anson returned to his job at A&P Grocery.

“I went back to the A&P, with my seniority and everything,” Anson said.

“And the only reason I left the A&P was because they wanted to shut down the Southern Division, and I was already up to assistant supervisor. And I wasn’t going to move to Jacksonville. So, I went to work for my brother-in-law. He had a seafood market.”

That decision marked the beginning of a long career in the seafood business.

Anson first worked for his brother-in-law while learning the trade. He later opened his own seafood market on Sunrise Drive, where he began meeting Miami sports figures who would eventually become some of his fishing clients.

“That’s how I met a lot,” Anson said.

“Manny Fernandez used to come in there and Bob Griese. So, I got to know them.”

Fernandez was a defensive lineman for the Miami Dolphins, while Griese was the team’s Hall of Fame quarterback.

Anson would later take many Miami sports figures fishing, including members of the Dolphins’ legendary undefeated 1972 team.

“I took 35 of the 1972 Miami Dolphins out, one or two at a time, in a 12-foot Jon boat,” he said.

Despite selling seafood, Anson was not yet an experienced fisherman.

“I didn’t catch my first fish here until I was 35,” he said.

That changed when his next-door neighbor invited him on a fishing trip.

“My next-door neighbor was an avid fisherman,” Anson said.

“He asked me if I’d like to go along. I said, ‘Sure.’ He took me to Flamingo and taught me some knots. I’d never fished before, but I went out and I caught some redfish. I don’t know how, but I caught them. I said, ‘I’m going to learn this.’”

His neighbor told him that if he truly wanted to learn, he should fish with Capt. Ralph Delph in Key West.

Anson already knew Delph. The two had attended high school together and had been members of the track team.

Taking his neighbor’s advice, Anson booked a fishing trip with Delph.

“It was $125 a trip at that time,” Anson said.

“I started doing cooking classes at my house. I had the mayor of Miami, I had commissioners, everybody, and some of them, after they had such a good time, would say, ‘Hey, if we get a group together, could we do one for us?’”

The cooking classes helped finance his trips to Key West.

“I made enough money to pay for the fishing trips,” Anson said.

“So, I fished with Ralph 18 years, 52 weeks a year, every Thursday. And I learned.”

Anson did more than learn. He began catching world-record fish and winning tournaments.

He said he won the Metropolitan South Florida Fishing Tournament, commonly known as the Met, four times. The lengthy competition required anglers to demonstrate versatility with different types of tackle and fishing styles, including fly casting and spinning tackle.

Anson said he also won a similar tournament in Key West three times.

His eventual transition from seafood-market owner to full-time captain and fishing guide came as supermarkets began expanding their seafood departments.

“I had the seafood business over on Sunset and 104th, and all of a sudden, the grocery stores started carrying seafood,” Anson said.

“Most of it was frozen and mine was all fresh. I couldn’t compete with them then because they had cheaper prices, all the imported stuff.”

He decided to make fishing his livelihood.

“I decided that I just couldn’t make it anymore,” Anson said.

“I decided I was going to become a captain. And I was already starting to fish on my own, so I was pretty good at it.”

Anson’s experience and reputation attracted customers interested in pursuing International Game Fish Association world records.

“I have 31, and then 150 my customers caught while fishing with me,” he said.

Customers learned about Anson through his results in fishing publications, his column in the South Dade News Leader and recommendations from other anglers.

While fishing and guiding, Anson continued pursuing other interests.

He took his children to watch rocket launches at Kennedy Space Center and volunteered at a science center, where he helped show members of the public stars, planets and nebulae.

Anson and his family also participated in archaeological digs around Miami-Dade County and contributed numerous objects they discovered to museums.

Asked to share one of his most memorable fishing stories, Anson recalled battling a 285-pound Warsaw grouper off Key West while fishing with Delph.

“I caught it on 130-pound-test line,” Anson said.

“We took channel locks and tied the drag down on the reel so the line wouldn’t come off. And I had a fighting belt and a harness in the 26-foot boat.”

Before going after the grouper, they spent about three hours trying to catch a mutton snapper large enough to serve as bait. Smaller bait would be taken by amberjacks before reaching the grouper.

“We found a 7½-pound mutton snapper and got him down,” Anson said. “It was almost like a meat hook. Put it down, and he hit.”

The grouper immediately turned the fishing trip into a physical struggle.

“When he hit, the drag was screaming,” Anson said. “And the rod came up out of the harness. It broke two of my ribs. I moved it over and bruised two others and knocked a disc out of place in my back.”

Anson and Delph eventually landed the fish, but Anson was unable to enjoy the moment immediately.

“We got him in the boat after a long fight,” he said.

“I lay down on the floor. I couldn’t sit. I was hurting so bad.”

The grouper did not go to waste.

“He was 285 pounds,” Anson said.

“I gave it to my fishing club for a fish fry, and it served 80 people.”

After decades on the water, Anson remains certain about his favorite fish and the place he most enjoys fishing.

“Redfish. And snook and tarpon. That’s the Grand Slam,” he said. “And the best place is Flamingo, Everglades National Park. I love that place.”

Anson said he never needed an especially powerful boat to enjoy the area.

“I didn’t have a boat with a big engine, just 60 horsepower,” he said. “But I could see the radio tower at the marina. I’m fishing within 10 or 15 minutes, and I make a circle according to the tide, and I always find them.”

He said he could not remember leaving Flamingo without catching something.

“I’ve never, ever gone there and not caught fish, ever,” Anson said. “And that’s going at least every Sunday.”

Fishing was only part of what drew him back.

“It’s such a beautiful place because during the wintertime, the white pelicans are down,” Anson said. “There are thousands of them. And the roseate spoonbills and bald eagles. It’s a beautiful place.”

Asked how he looks back upon his many pursuits and accomplishments, Anson returned to the lesson that connected his military service, seafood business and fishing career.

“Nothing’s easy,” he said. “If you want to be good at it, you have to be proficient at it and build a reputation.”

Additional portions of Hugh Hudson’s interview with Anson are available through the South Dade News Leader’s YouTube channel.