I opened the door to my father’s room and tiptoed inside so as to not wake up Mom. Probably 5am, and most certainly Saturday. I pulled Dad’s toe to wake him up. Having a 10 year old who is up early ready to go fishing is much easier than setting an alarm clock that will disturb the other person in the bed. So I would pull his toe, he would grunt and I would go get a huge bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and then start dragging the tackle to the car. Right as I would be finished getting everything out, Dad would appear in perfect time to start loading the car. See I had a habit of breaking things very easily, so loading a bunch of 6ft rods into a Chevette was not happening at this age without repercussions. Once Pop ( grandpa) showed up from Coral Gables we were off and running. My uncle Robert would show up most days as well, but I will save his stories for a separate article, they are that good!
A stop at 711 for ice, and then we were off to the Aventura Causeway to get beachside, or maybe the 163rd st causeway in the late 70’s early 80’s before Aventura opened. The destination was the Sunny Isles/Newport Pier until about the same time as the Aventura Causeway opened in 1983. However this story is about the pier we found after Sunny Isles was condemned and closed for refurbishment, the Haulover Pier.
Haulover Pier extended 1100 feet and featured two tees, which led to more fishing space than any other East Coast pier. Combine that with the fact that this is before commercial fishing decimated the fish population, and this was easily the best spot between Key West & Pompano Beach to fish, with maybe Sebastian inlet a close second depending on the time of year. But Haulover had a special feel to it, you just knew that you were going to catch fish, even in the worst of weather. I could fill a book with stories just from this pier, and probably one day I will.
The fishing was seasonal of course. Starting in October, the annual mullet run would find its way down and the pier was perfectly placed just north of the inlet. Bluefish, Mackerel, Jacks, Snook, Tarpon and other species would gorge on the mullet and pilchards that would take shelter under
and around the pier. The Bluefish were so thick back then that if you ran out of bait, you could throw your BARE hook into the water like a lure and catch Blues, true story!
This drawing below shows the pier, including the two shacks that housed the bait/tackle shop and a restaurant/snack bar.
In the shack closest to shore, there was a restroom with a window that led out to the water. I have seen the pier so crowded during the fall run that people were fishing out of that window, and yes, catching fish! Once the pier was out of room, people would simply start lining the shore.
By November the fall run was over, yet the winter fishing would still remain very good right into spring. An average day of fishing back then was probably the best day you could have now. As long as the weather cooperated it was pretty normal to expect 15-20 Mackerel, another 10-20 Bluefish and unlimited Jacks, per person! Now with the massive expansion of commercial fishing in the last 40 years and limits set on recreational fishermen, if you get 5 in a day, you had a nice day!
Spring would bring another Bluefish run and bigger Mackerel. Summer fishing would kick in around May/June and that presented the biggest challenge, catching fish in that summer heat! However I learned that using my gold hooks rig to catch bait like Google Eyes and baby Bar Jacks, and free-lining them would land me all the 3lb Barracuda I wanted! While you don’t want to eat the bigger Cuda that can occasionally lead to ciguatera poisoning, the smaller Cuda are delicious fluffy white meat, tastes like Snapper! Occasionally a school of Bonita would swim by as well, and summertime also meant the shoreline would be full of smaller sting rays!
Sadly in 1992 Hurricane Andrew significantly damaged Haulover Pier and rather than rebuild, the decision was made to demolish it. By then Sunny Isles pier had been reopened and
renamed the Newport Pier. However it is much shorter, in very shallow water and does not have the added bonus of being so close to an inlet. Most people today ,especially youngsters, have no idea that just north of the inlet used to lie the best fishing spot in Florida for those without a boat. The pier was a year round hangout for old salts and even nudists on the beach! So much has changed over the years as we all know nothing stays the same, but the loss of Haulover Pier still haunts me to this day, and certainly qualifies as the place that brought me the most memories. Like I said, probably a book or 3 just in stories from the craziness that was.
