Episode 79: George Copeland - Snook Giant

At 74 years young, George Copeland still has the fire in his belly
to chase the snook tide late into the night. As a young man of 8,
he found a passion that would drive him deep into the fishing
abyss. On his bike, similar to Steve Huff, he'd race around Ft.
Lauderdale looking for snook and tarpon that would regularly be
found in Tarpon Bend, New River, and all the canals in the center
of a rapidly growing town. He would soon partner up with buddy,
Steve Kantner, and spend much of his time bridge fishing where he
also met likeminded snook nut, Tommy Greene. These three would
refine snook fishing to a religious art form. People would seek
them out, bewildered by the size of their trophy fish. They were
renowned and eventually became professionals: Copeland and Greene
store owners, Kantner a popular author and guide. Before settling
into what he'd do for the rest of his life, George tried his hand
at guiding for tarpon in the Keys. A prized possession was a boat
he purchased from Little John Emory a few days before he passed. He
fished with Ralph Delph and other legendary guides, and at 32, he
purchased the famous T&R Tackle in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Today,
42 years later, he's still outfitting some of the biggest and best
offshore boats on the billfish circuit. So as we follow up with the
history makers of our sport, we'd be remiss without the "George
Copeland Story!"