It may have taken 108 years, but it finally happened. The Ocean City Fishing Club (OCFC) made history this fall by fielding its first women’s fishing team on October 9.
The six women took to the beach at Brigantine as OCFC’s Team C, with one goal in mind. “All we want to do it beat our club’s A and B teams,” said Carol Daley, her team’s captain, with a good-natured laugh and a poke at the men on the club’s other two teams.
“Our women’s team is excited to be making history, after all these years,” she said. The club was founded in 1913 and is the oldest, continually operating fishing club in the United States.
The tournament was sponsored and judged by the Women’s Surf Fishing Club of New Jersey, headquartered in Brigantine and marking its 69th anniversary. Conditions for the event were pretty rough, with winds blowing 20 mph out of the east, rough seas, tidal flooding and a whole lot of seaweed. In the end, Merchantville’s “A” team took top slot, followed by OCFC’s “Blue” team in second.
Following the Brigantine event, the OCFC Blue team is leading the year-long standings in the Association for Surf Angling Clubs (ASAC) with RH Rods running a close second, and Merchantville in third.
While the OCFC women’s team may not have scored a top three finish on October 9, the entrance of another all ladies contest team was well-received in the community. “We’re thrilled to have another women’s team join us on the beach this fall,” said Reggie Vasta, president of Women’s Surf, an all-women’s club. “We hope to see more women compete in many more fishing tournaments in the future, too.”
Women’s Surf numbers about 20 anglers, Vasta said. Responsibilities at home, careers outside the home, and other sports and interests can all affect membership rolls which have fluctuated since the club was formed in 1952, she said.
“We may be small in number,” Vasta said, “but we’re huge on enthusiasm and skill. We’re very competitive, very knowledgeable, and very willing to help newcomers get started.”
A larger club, OCFC counts over 200 members, 17 of whom are women along with two female junior members, according to Lavern Richman, one of the women on the fishing team.
In addition to Daley and Richman, the OCFC women’s team includes Christine Moore, Katie Gillespie, Patricia Daley and Tracey Holmes. Each brings a different level of experience and motivation to the team as well as a broad range of backgrounds.
Richman was raised in Barnegat Light where she began fishing at five years old. A member of OCFC since 2014, her background in accounting and bookkeeping serve her well as the club’s treasurer. “It’s an honor to join the women’s fishing team,” she said proudly. “After all, it’s only taken 108 years to have one!”
A member since 2020, Gillespie finds that fishing gives her a chance to unwind from the pressures of her work. As a nurse in the intensive care unit at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, she often works 12-hour shifts. “Especially after all the Covid or the past year and a half, I look forward to enjoying the relaxing atmosphere of early morning fishing on the pier, greeting the sunrise while savoring a cup of coffee,” she said.
While Gillespie fished a little while growing up, she became interested in club membership after buying a home in Ocean City a few years ago. Since joining in 2020, she found OCFC members very willing to give advice and help to improve her fishing. “The guys in the club are just great, especially Bobby (Dever),” she said. “I’ve gotten to know a lot of people in the club who offer to share their expertise. They’re just fun to be around.”
Bob Dever, an OCFC trustee and membership chair, has worked with the women on their equipment and technique. “Some have upgraded their rods,” he said, “and they’ve worked hard on their casting. Let me tell you—these women have a ton of fishing talent!”
Joining the same year as Gillespie, Moore has been fishing with her husband, Dan, a member since 2019, for the past 32 years and have known each other since she was in eighth grade. “He’s taught me everything I know about fishing,” Moore, a sales professional for Keurig/Dr. Pepper who works from home, “so it’s just natural that I wanted to make history by joining our club’s first women’s fishing team.”
“We’re just looking to have a great experience and a lot of fun as the first OCFC women’s team,” Gillespie said, summarizing the feelings of her team members. “The women on our team are great. We may not win anything, but being out there having a good time together is the best reward.”
