By Ken Cutler
Yeah, well that didn’t really happen. My dad, Leon Cutler, was not a fan of fishing unlike Jimmy John Shark. He would drive me places to go fishing but he wasn’t into it. He always encouraged me, and even bought me the fishing gear I used to fish the neighborhood lakes and canals of old Hollywood.
My love of fishing stems from spending time with my Grandpa Bill. I fondly remember him taking me to Dania Pier when I was about 6 or 7 and we unfortunately hooked a Loggerhead Turtle. The image of my grandfather hanging on to the rod for dear life as it was bent nearly double, screaming for me to come help, is a forever memory. My brothers, Brian, Scott and I would visit my grandfather in North Port Charlotte in the early 70’s and we would spend most of the day fishing on the dock in the backyard. Grandpa Bill also had a boat back then and a trip out their canal to the Myakka River resulted in us hooking a saw tooth shark. Imagine our surprise when we brought that prehistoric looking monster fish up to the boat!
We moved to Cypress head in Parkland in 1997. When we were being shown the community, kids were pulling monster Peacock Bass from the lake and I was literally “hooked.” Both of my kids, Doug and Samantha, along with many of my friends and neighbor’s kids have accompanied their dads as we embarked on fishing adventures there. The time spent at the lake with my children created a loving bond for the outdoors for us all. We even caught a world record in the Cypress head Lake on an outing with my life-long friend and fishing buddy Jeff Harkavy and his daughter Heather. In 2007, 11 year old Heather pulled a 7 lb 8 oz Bowfin (another prehistoric looking fish), out of the Cypress head Lake and that was the start of her becoming a 100 world record fisher woman by the time she was 18 years old!
Maybe one of the fish caught at Parkland’s latest fishing derby by the kids fishing with their dads will be a descendant from one of these early fish! If you take your boat on inland waterways you’ll also need narrowboat insurance.
Parkland Summer Youth Fishing Derby is a FREE event that will be held June 16,
July 14 and August 11 at Pine Trails Park Fishing Pier from 8am to 10 am. Ages 3-12.
For more info see www.cityofparkland.org/fishing or call 954-757-4105
