Port Isabel High School - Tarpon Yearbook (Port Isabel, TX)

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In 1929 Dr Hockadad prepared a design down to the minutest details for such a contect Fe suqeested rules and regulations at that time .rich h ve since proved to be pract'cal and with only -liwn nod1f-catlon are still in use E presented his plan to the Xalley ,rich at that time had not ,et grasped the idea of od. ort flsnln, as a Valle, as- t The plan at first was vlven a cool reception and wa discouraged because of the estimated enormous expen e of such a national publ'city cam- pa an to promote it nt the same time its value to the Valley was questioned From 1999 to 1955 tke doctor spent muon of his time 'n an effort to sell' the Valley upon the value of our sport fish-n, to this ection In 1935 he, h vini flsned with sole of the old cia s of the Lin s here at Port Isa el, was n vlted to St Louis I ssouri, as a ruest of the Yi -earl racif c Pailroad Company rrile there he laid before these officials of the Railro d his plans for a national fishing contest and left St Lolis with the assurance that they would place the publlcl t dena tnent of the r 'lroad behind such a plan if the Valley would organize it Ie carried this messare the Valley cities anl recieved tnelr en'orsement The Rodeo vas planned for l9o4 ith a certainty that the story of the event would be carlie' to the s orting putlic of the Nation The success of the 'lrs Rodeo in 1954 astounded the no t skep tical when the re lstered contestants from fourteen tates of the lation hun up sixty three tarpon and many 'ish of other species The event was then carried on from se r to Jear, and as a result o tre interest stimulated in thfs sport, it soon became obvious to even those no t familiar with our flshlng here that our sport flshins possibilities had scarcely been touched This was emphasized in 1937 when durlnp a three day conte t our contestants runs up in addition to our usual catch of tarpon, one of the iant blue marlin, the most pri ed of all vane fish, seven sail fish, wahoo, anber jack, barrecud , bonlta, black finned tuna, etc , all of which a fev wears pre viouslv were not nown to inhabit the waters of this area Until l94O each contest resulted in excellent catches of many fishinc had been carried to tra Nation by multiplied housands of ne s stories, 0 ctu e and publxclty releases Newspapers and maraz'nes throu rout the nation gave the results of our contest llberel space Radio comnentators on nationwide hook ups emphasized the quallt of our co petition e had reached our objective of havin proved to the lation th t the waters the tower Rio Grande Valley provided the best slort fish no America with a variety of top notch ane fish that no other section could equal ,Jr 4 ee ol l9 ee O sa Q' Q .1 Q A W J V 'v. a . D l s sbt . ' , 'e ' V v vw l 9 V H A a 'r sp ' h' H y -se . U s . ' S -L U A n lg r . . . H U H -4 A II Y ' ,L L L u . T 'r l. el S 0 .2 I 1 'fi l e .l s l - . . ics V . ss 1 T l L I ,ILL .A . , - l y A - y , r M L a- . , . I - to ' f -I I L.. u. 0 1 'I un H ' Ll ' n m . J. t .. S ' c 5 s I U - L . -L . . . . J c D J. 4 - . - . .. s - 1 , . J . H . . V . s - - L .Q M 3 c . H z 2 U . - .. a . . . 'H 1 j - c v A . - . . of these assorted rame fish, and the story of our excellent J . A , A . t v,-,' 3 vs fr ' . l g. . . . 4 t O QI. 3 . I h 7 mn . U T 3 . .a of 1' - Y 9 . 1 - s in 4 YY - rv Q - I . 1. ' an V ' V wana ' - has-as Hes- 1x r sg- Y-' , ' Ya, I, 4 1. ' f A 4 1 I - 4 Q Q X, 9. ' L x' n, R l 5 Q X . A ' . YA I 5, f,, 4' - ,J I ' M,, . Q T f' ?' f lg af -,f - f Rode? Comm-tt 0 -47 . ?,, 4,,-

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.QQ v K Q i THE HISTORY OF THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY FISHIIG In the years that lie ahead of us there will be many sketches written of Port Isabel Perchance, someone to write a complete history of this small but well RODEO historical will elect known city so rich in historical lore No history of Port Isabel will henceforth be complefe unless at least one chapter ls devoted to the Lower Rio Erande Valley Fishing Rodeo This novel con test, although of very recent origin from a historical point, is destined to leave its imprint upon the history city which the passing of the years will not be able to The bountiful fish life became the life blood of livelihood of a majority This was ba ed upon the ducts that entered the stand of our erase Isabel of the waters adjacent to Port this community Upon it depended the of our citizenship through many years commercial value of our marine pro channels of trade This industry to day is valued at nearly a half million dollars In recent years the sport fishing possibilities of our waters began to be realized by a few The pa sing of the years will probably prove that the value of sport fishing will some day exceed that of the commercial industry Those who lived among us knew without any doubt that in our waters was to be found probably the greate t potential sport fishing area in America This however, was familiar to only a comparative few Our great distance from the centers of population where lived men of means, sportsmen who could afford to devote their time and energies to This sport of the Kings, presented a problem of how to carry a message that would be convincing to them of these possibilities Dr. J. A. Hockaday, for many years a resident of Port Isabel and an ardent fisherman himself, was quite familiar with the possibilities that this section had to offer in the way of sport fishinp. He conceived the idea of organizing a competi- tive sport fishing contest. He visualized the possibilities of designing such an event upon a national scale with the entire Lower Rio Grande Valley as sponsor, with the locale, by necess- ity, at Port Isabel. Fishing contests had been held at a few isolated points upon a strictly local basis. Such a local set- ting it was cuite obvious would not reach the objective of carrying the messare of our superior fishing to the sportsmen of the Nation. 68

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Hope Lang, Charles Burnell, and Helen Lu Burnel' with their Tarpon catch of the Rodeo of 1947 Monroe Nowoten,, 8 years old caught 5 ft ll in tarpon Because of the threat of war in the summer of 1941 the contest was abandoned for that year and was not renewed because of the war until 1947 This first post war renewal was our eighth contest and was also quite successful although conducted with many handicaps, such as scarcity of proper boat facilities, inability of contestants to purchase new tackle, etc With the detractions from the war and its repercussions manv had for fotten the stories carried to them bv the rodeo in its earlier vears, but the impressions left from the records of past years that our fishing is superior were lasting The Port Isabel Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the Valley-wide Rodeo committee, have had plans for the expansion of this event. The objective of keeping the rodeo in the fore- front as the most outstanding sport fishing event in the United States will continue to be stressed. The 1948 contest has been enlarged to include an all-season event in each of the three divisions, marlin, sail-fish, and tarpon. The winner of this subdivision of the contest will be determined by the registered angler who brings to gaff the largest fish in each of these divisions. As an award for these three anglers he or she will be given an all expense trip to the northern lakes region of the State of Minnesota, where he or she will be a guest of the Deer River Junior Association of Commerce for a full week of fishing for muskelunge, pike and bass. All hotel accomodations transportation, meals, boats, guides, bait, etc., will be free to the winners. 70 Mr Duribage caught longest tarpon 9