BOATERS OF INTEREST
would admit to someone they have better redfish and trout
fishing than Florida. Southern Lousiana is off the charts.
The hurricanes took a giant stick and stirred everything up.
We catch 100 redfish every afternoon and let almost all of
them go.
“I still play a few select music gigs that fit into my busy
retired hunting and fishing schedule,” Crutchfield said. For
seven years, he and his band played all over the country.
With all of his days in the charter business you might
expect Crutchfield’s near-death experience to have occurred
on the high seas. In fact, he was almost killed three years ago
on a lake in Highlands County when he stepped on a 12-foot
alligator. “The only reason I am alive today is it was a reflex
40
bite,” Crutchfield said. “I hit him as hard as I could. He
didn’t have a good grip and he let me go. My right hip was
black and blue.”
With some wisdom to impart to local anglers, Crutchfield
said, “Everyone who has fished a lot has been in seas they
didn’t want to be in. I never went out in horrible weather.
Experience is the greatest friend we have. An experienced
captain has a lot better chance to get through it than an inexperienced
one.”
Crutchfield also has a philosophy on successful fishing. “I
had a sign on my boat that said fishing is all luck. The harder
you fish the luckier you get. The man who fishes the most,
catches the most fish.”
Sam Crutchfield reels in some line on his flat boat “Scraps” just off North Beach in the Indian River.