RYBOVICH DEFINES SPORTFISHING'S GOLDEN AGE
by CASEY O'CONNER
The "golden age of sportfishing," as John Rybovich Jr. liked to call it, brought a technical revolution to ocean angling, not only in the development of big-game tackle but in powerboats as well.
From the late 1920s into the 194Os, adventure writers such as Zane Grey and Kip Farrington popularized big-game fishing. As more anglers sought to travel offshore in search of monster fish, an emphasis on increased speed and performance resulted in the twin-engine fish boat.
In 1935 Ernest Hemingway made fishing history as the first person to land an unmutilated giant bluefin tuna in the Bahamas. Soon the Bahamas tuna fishing industry was born.
GENERATIONS of boatbuilding expertise are reflected in this family keepsake that shows (from left) Emil, Tommy, John Jr. and John “Pop” Rybovich, the patriarch who arrived in the United States in 1902 as a carpenter and cabinet maker.