Celebrating Pine Islanders: Capt. Bill Russell
Captain Bill Russell said he is just an old-time island boy, as he was only 6 weeks old when he first came to Pine Island. He came to Matlacha when his father and grandfather were vacationing in Miami and saw an article in “Field and Stream” on the “Most Fishingist Bridge in the world,” which of course, was written about the Matlacha Bridge.
They would fly their little private Cessna planes to Miami from Santa Cruz, California, Russell said, and after reading about the Matlacha Bridge, they decided to rent a car and drive over to Matlacha from Miami. Having been an island boy for the whole life of his life, Russell said he literally cannot remember a time where there was no fishing.
“Growing up on the island, you just grow up fishing — it’s just what you did. I guess you had a choice but you didn’t have a choice. You had to self-entertain — fishing, hunting, doing things outdoors,” Russell said.
His grandfather, he said, was a grouper fisherman, who used to sell the grouper he caught to Bradley’s Fish Market (which eventually became the Olde Fish House). Russell’s grandfather was also his babysitter, which meant as a young lad he often went along grouper fishing with him.
“He was my babysitter, so he drove me out on the boat grouper fishing from the time I could sit up until the time I started school. The first fish caught everyday got thrown in a bucket of water and that was my toy,” Russell said.
Although he is a well known Pine Island charter fisherman now, Russell said he’s been most well-known for “Russells Texaco” gas station, his family’s 35-year business in Matlacha. His family’s station is where he said he got to know all the commercial fisherman on Pine Island.
“They all did business with us — pretty much everybody on the island. It was a very small island back then — same size demographically but population-wise, it was very small back then,” Russell said.
Looking back fondly on his island upbringing, Russell said, most islanders who have been here as long as he has would agree there has been a lot of change, and Pine Island is not the same as it once was. It’s another case of not realizing what you have until it’s already changed, he said.
“Back when the commercial fishermen were strong -it was such a cool time back then. I never really thought about living anywhere else until the last few years — just when I see the change in the water quality and population of everywhere else close by and what it’s doing to the environment around the island. It was so pristine was I was growing up,” Russell said.
He talked about a time, until the mid to late ’80s, when Matlacha Pass was loaded with scallops. In fact, his mother, he said, worked at Bradley’s, shucking scallops. The building of the Sanibel Causeway, he said, changed the waterflow and the scallops went away, although he said they were still in Pine Island Sound for a time.
“Every once in a while there will be a population of scallops out here, but if they opened it to the public there would be a thousand boats out there and they’d be gone within 2 hours,” Russell said laughing.
If asked to describe Pine Island to someone who lives somewhere else, he jokingly said he would tell them to stay away because it’s overcrowded and polluted and they should not waste their time by coming here. Although Russell kids around about not wanting anyone else to call his island home, he knows the reality is that since he’s come here, many others have and will. His greatest wish, therefore has become, keeping the water and the environment clean.
“I wish we would get the water quality issues resolved. Don’t put greed over the environment, put the environment first. I wish that we could turn back the clock some. I wish that we could change some of the things that have happened in the past. The commercial fishermen got a bad deal — when I was growing up, that was who you idolized, who you looked up to the most on this island. To turn and say they’re outlaws all of a sudden, just never sat well with me, but if we could do just anything, I would say, put the environment first — this is not a Pine Island issue, but it’s become a Pine Island problem, because of development over the rest of Southwest Florida,” Russell said.
To reach PAULETTE LeBLANC / pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com, please email