During the past 54 seasons, my father fished from the decks of some of the most iconic hull designs in modern sport fishing. Built from wood, aluminum and fiberglass, these mid-30-foot-class sportfishing boats were powered by Detroit, Cummins, Caterpillar and Volvo Penta diesels, and each one punched well above its weight class.
If you were fortunate enough to join Stephen Rhodes II on the fishing grounds, you would have seen giant bluefin tuna, blue and white marlin, monster mako and thresher sharks, striped bass by the thousands, lights-out yellowfin tuna fishing and some of the most amazing sunsets in the Northeast canyons. My father customized his boats on a shoestring budget utilizing his extraordinary mechanical skills and the ability to design and create just about any boating and fishing solution using little more than his two hands. We remain an active fishing family.
My father had eyes for the far horizons of the offshore canyons. Bitten by the fishing bug at an early age, he and his two brothers — Richard and Ronald — as well as his father, Stephen, all worked multiple jobs to support their fishing habit. He joined the New York City Fire Department in 1959 and became a marine engineer on the largest fireboat in America — based in
