Following another successful winter show season, and seeing the April edition to print, my wife Michele and I sneaked off to Palm Coast, FL with some good friends for a long April 1st weekend. Remind me later to tell you about the unattended PENN Battle combo on a pontoon boat with no rod holders, and the one that got away.
While overlooking the Matanzas River portion of the ICW and doing the Sunday reports for our first weekly of the year, I was saddened to read of the passing of Capt. John Sowerby of the Hooked Up and Caveman Sportfishing out of Cape May. In his South Jersey report that week, field editor Anthony Califano noted that Capt. Sowerby had passed earlier in the week from small cell lung cancer; Califano called Sowerby a “well-liked, well-respected charter captain for many years.”
His wife Diana Stover-Sowerby said that being a charter captain was a dream come true for John, and he got a thrill every time he took people out fishing. “He loved finding the fish, hearing the lines go off and seeing customers fighting fish,” Stover-Sowerby said, calling Capt. John “probably one of the most helpful and generous charter captains regarding sharing fishing information with other charter captains and recreational fishermen. He went out of his way to help other fishermen.”
It was only about a week and half prior that I learned of the passing of another great friend of The Fisherman as the crew at Fishermen’s Supply, Co. in Point Pleasant informed us of the passing of John Stensland. John’s father had started Fishermen’s Supply in 1948, and it had transitioned over to him while he was fishing commercially. He was the second of what’s now a third generation family business now run by Brian Stensland in year 75 of this shop’s history.
“For those that were fortunate enough to know and be around him have great memories of his uniqueness,” the shop noted on social media, adding “John was bulletproof; even at the age of 90 he charged tasks that most people would shake their head at. If you heard a crowd of people laughing at Fishermen’s Supply it was because of John.”
Loss is a natural part of life; still, it’s never easy. On the morning of September 16, 2021, The Fisherman’s senior editor Fred Golofaro passed away at the age of 69. He’d been a friend and mentor of mine, and his loss still impacts me today both personally and professionally. When I first learned of Fred’s passing, I made several calls to The Fisherman family to break the news, contacting Pete Barrett, Al Ristori and Milt Rosko. “Geez, Fred was just a young guy,” Ristori told me by phone, himself still an active, hardcore angler at the tender young age of 87. That comment actually made me smile on a difficult day!
While chasing fish in Florida on April 3, it was I who received the call from Ristori as he left a voicemail about the late 2022 passing of Milt Rosko. I immediately recalled how I hadn’t spoken to Milt since that September morning back in 2021. I had the honor of editing countless articles with the Milt Rosko byline over the years, and he always took the time to help me along my way in those early years in the industry.
A prolific writer and author of numerous books on fishing, Rosko was a member of the Rod & Gun Editors Association of Metropolitan New York, Boating Writers International and Outdoor Writers Association of America; he also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fisherman’s Conservation Association. At 92, Milt was indeed a legend.
My heartfelt condolences to the families, and sincere thanks for the lasting imprint each has left on our fishing community; fair winds and calm seas.
