A TRIBUTE TO STEPHEN SLOAN

by Bob Sloan and Mike O’Reilly

Fishing with my Dad was a serious proposition and no small undertaking. You were to be prepared to go the limit, no matter the conditions. I suppose that when you are lucky enough to grow up with and be close to a true master, someone recognized as one of the best in world at any particular endeavor, it is like that. The way he fished was the way he was; he loved to experiment, to seek, find, and solve the endless fishing puzzles that presented themselves to him. We dedicate this tournament to the one problem he tried the hardest to solve: how can we get everyone to see that over-fishing the oceans has stressed a national and international resource that belongs to no one, but affects everyone? One way to do that is to have a fishing tournament where the winners release their catch instead of kill it. Dad had the right answer, and we are dedicated to continuing it.

In 1966, Steve Sloan became the first person to take a bluefin tuna on a fly - for a world record in that class. Overall, he set 44 IGFA world records, all on light tackle. He was the pioneer in the use of light lines for big gamefish such as tuna, marlin, and sharks. He caught the largest black marlin on a 30-pound test line, which weighed in at 862 pounds, and he once lost 22 straight blue marlins while attempting to become the first to land one using a 6-pound test line. He fished all over the world, but most often was off Montauk.

He addressed many conservation concerns on his radio show, "The Fishing Zone," a syndicated weekly hour of fishing talk. In his 2002 book, “Ocean Bankruptcy”, Steve warned that the depletion of migratory fish species was occurring at up to three times conventionally accepted rates. In depressing detail, the book illustrated a plague of over-fishing, the use of destructive fishing technologies, and other factors leading to the global collapse of fisheries. Steve published two other books about fishing, “Fly Fishing Is Spoken Here”, a collection of his radio interviews, with illustrations by James Prosek and “Thanatopfish”, a fictional memoir of his afterlife inspired by a lifetime of fishing at remarkable locations around the world.

The learning on display in “Ocean Bankruptcy” garnered for Steve one of his proudest achievements, an appointment as an adjunct at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. It was an unusual achievement for a big-time, New York real estate man.

In the early 1980s, Senator Alfonse D'Amato asked Steve to serve on the Marine Advisory Fishery Commission, chartered by Congress to advise the National Marine Fisheries Service. During his years of service to the post and after becoming Chairman, he received a commendation from the United States government for reorganizing the Commission. He also served on the U.S. Delegation to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT).

Steve served as a trustee to The International Game Fish Association, The American Museum of Fly-Fishing, The South Street Seaport Museum, The National Coalition for Marine Conservation, The Confederation of the Association of Atlantic Charter Boats and Captains, and Take A Kid Fishing Foundation. He was also on the initial Fisheries Conservation Foundation Board of Directors and served up until his death.

We have named this tournament in his honor to remind all of us that we must try to put back what we have taken out of our oceans, rivers, and streams.

Tight Lines,
Bob Sloan and Mike O'Reilly