The ‘Tiny Tarpon Tamer’ has been taken from us
Elsie Bracken:
1933 – 2023
The one man who could tame Elsie Bracken, has done so. God took her on April 15, 2023, and probably had no idea what he was getting himself into. One perfect description was given by a friend of hers: “A jalapeno frosted in fondant.” If the word “feisty” belittles her, we apologize, but it suits her just right. That being said, her exterior was normally polished, her voice low and measured and her manner subdued. She was just as beautiful at the age of 90 as she was in her 20s, albeit in a different way, and when people stopped seeing the spritely lady who used to walk her beloved dogs all over the island, her absence was sorely noticed.
For being such a tiny woman, Elsie cut a huge figure on this island and far beyond. She was known far and wide as one of the best tarpon fishermen around, and some say if she was to count every one, the number would be in the thousands.
Born in Charlotte, N.C., Elsie moved to Sarasota in 1959, when she was in her late 20s, and spent years volunteering with groups like Mote Marine. She was quite proud of the fact that she could dissect a 14-foot shark with no problem and swam with them many times while diving.
On the island, there are stories about the tiny Elsie that make her seem larger than life. This scrappy, delightful woman would make random mention about swinging on a trapeze in her neighbor’s yard, then abruptly change the subject to hooking a marlin with the lights of Havana visible in the distance. Flitting from flower to flower, the hummingbird that was Elsie made her life extraordinary in so many ways.
In the 1960s she owned an old VW Bug and frequently drove it from Sarasota to the Keys to go diving. She worked with Dr. Eugenie Clark, the founder of Mote Marine, and met her through her first husband. When Clark moved her laboratory from Placida Road to Siesta Key, she and Elsie became good friends and co-workers.
She married the aforementioned husband, Jack Bracken, at the pathology lab where she worked when she first moved to Sarasota, but they eventually divorced. She later met Capt. Billy Hathcock II, a Boca Grande legend, and they fit together like two puzzle pieces. He encouraged her fishing habit to the limit, buying and retrofitting Penn International and Finor Golden Regal tackle just for her.
In 1978 she decided that Boca Grande would be her home and she moved down. Not long after that she became involved with groups like the GICIA and BIPS. She is also a legacy member of the National Resource Defense Council.
It wasn’t hard for her to jump up and speak her piece at a meeting. From debating climate change with Mote Marine speakers to representing the underserved and impoverished at Affordable Care Act meetings, she was acutely aware of the fact that a good argument came from a detached emotional place … one where objectivity and science were key in assigning causation to correlation.
It has been said, in fact, that she could take a conversation and lead it with the same adeptness she used to guide a tarpon to the boat. Her voice was quiet and low, but it made people stop and take notice. Her measured words were listened to well, as they were often filled with truth.
Nothing made Elsie more passionate than protecting the fishery. Of the thousands of tarpon she brought to the boat, she believes only 12 to 15 may have died. Using lightweight 30-pound test (or lighter), Elsie could bring a tarpon that weighed 50 pounds more than her to the boat with a quickness. She once said that any tarpon that wasn’t caught and released quickly could be eaten by sharks, and that would make the angler party to a murder.
Her strict code of ethics when it came to fishing was legendary, and she achieved some notoriety in her lifetime. Her beauty, diminutive size (less than 100 pounds and just barely five feet tall) and great intelligence drew people. She was featured by many magazines over the years, including one in the 1970s in which the writer wrote, “We went tarpon fishing with Elsie Bracken, being roused out of bed at the unchristian hour of 4 a.m. by veteran guide Freddie Futch. A car pulled up outside the Waterfront Motel and in came Mrs. Bracken, too pert to be a 4:30 a.m. zombie.”
In the 1972 newsletter of the International Women’s Fishing Association it read, “Records show that in May, IWFA members sent in affidavits for nearly 300 tarpon releases. Leader in the action off Gasparilla Island in Boca Grande Pass was Mrs. Bracken, who released 67.”
By the end of the fishing season of 1972, Elsie had released 236 tarpon. Upon hearing this, one writer from Southern Boating Magazine said, “Normally in that year, Elsie, 39, would have been raising orchids in her home. Instead, she elected to raise hell with the tarpon at Boca Grande.”
She had no problem with competitive fishing for money. One year she ran the Sarasota Tarpon Tournament and was involved with the World’s Richest and Ladies’ Day for many years.
On the other side of the coin, Elsie was a fierce protector of the earth. Years ago she proclaimed that we were in the midst of the “Sixth Extinction” (According to scientists, the earth has gone through five mass extinction events, the last one being the event 65 million years ago that killed off the dinosaurs). Many scientists agree with her.
One time Elsie said, “I’m not into material things. I want to learn about the earth and how to save it. I was an environmentalist very early on in my life, but Genie (Dr. Clark) made me think more about it. People dismissed Rachel Carson’s book ‘Silent Spring,’ but I don’t think people look far enough into the future. If I had children or grandchildren, I’d be worried.”
Elsie’s good friend Trisha Lowe remembers her fondly, and she expressed remorse over losing such a precious gift.
“Elsie was an avid reader and was very passionate about environmental issues, nature, and wildlife. Her greatest passion was fishing the Boca Grande Pass for tarpon. She will always be remembered for that. We will miss her terribly.“
Capt. Sandy Melvin met Elsie 40 years ago, when he first moved to the island. He describes her as a “strong, independent woman with a kind streak that she didn’t show to just anyone.”
“She told me a lot of great stories about her life,” he said. “She had such great stories about the thousands of tarpon she had caught in her lifetime. When she was on the water fishing, she was like a ballet dancer. She did it more with style and grace than with power, although you could see how strong she was.
“We will miss her dearly, but now she’s teaching God how to catch tarpon.”
