The fishing community of Anna Maria Island is mourning the loss of one of its beloved charter captains after his passing on Aug. 29.
Capt. Jason Stock was well known on Anna Maria Island as a great offshore captain, as well as for being involved with the community.
Whether it was youth fishing clinics or a reef habitat restoration project, Stock dabbled in many areas to benefit anglers and habitats.
What I admired about Stock was that he was self-made. He started his charter business by kayak fishing and then moved up to fishing an inshore boat and finally graduated to offshore fishing, which is where he really found his groove.
He adopted many alternate styles of offshore fishing besides the typical bottom fishing routine for grouper and snapper. He had many techniques in his arsenal for targeting offshore fish, including trolling for pelagics, deep-water jigging and, of course, live bait fishing for bottom species. His goals were to catch fish and give his clients the best possible experience on the water and he loved being on the water — no matter the conditions or the bite.
Stock’s addictive personality was embraced by his clients and yielded not just captain-client relationships, but ultimately friendships. He was a likeable guy both on and off the water.
Unfortunately, Stock was overtaken in the storm we call life. He lost sight of the horizon and the rough seas overtook him. Being alone in the sea of life when the waters turn rough is not always easy to overcome and, in this instance, he went down with the ship.
As we mourn the loss of one of our great fishermen, always keep in mind that when the seas get too rough to handle, there’s nothing wrong with heading back to shore to take shelter. As with everything, the storms will pass, and the sun will come out again.
Jason, I wish you had made it out of the storm. You will be missed and never forgotten.
Send high-resolution photos of your catch and fishing reports to fish@islander.org.
Heavy hearts
This is a terrible message to send and I am struggling with how to write it, but I needed to let you know that we lost Capt. Jason Stock.
I know so many people in this group knew and loved Jason. He and I have worked together on different projects for almost 20 years — since my FWC days – and he was connected to the water like very few people are.
He truly cared about the science and worked so hard to make a difference.
And he DID make a difference.
He tagged hundreds of fish and provided guidance to researchers and contributed a TON of input and data to cooperative research projects.
He inspired everyone he took fishing — whether they were 8 or 80, they learned something about the ocean from him.
He started his own nonprofit initiative, Full Send Reef Habitat Inc., with a dream to give something back and create something more — for his kids, for his clients, for all of us. He cared about the future of fishing.
As we discussed at our Sea Grant Advisory committee meeting recently, I have been helping Jason coordinate with ESA, FWC and Manatee County on getting a new offshore artificial reef site permitted for almost three years.
Jason just about got it to the finish line.
I will do everything I can to work with the Full Send board and make sure this gets done so that we can all honor Jason’s vision and hard work. I’ve already spoken with our partners at ESA and FWC and everyone is committed to seeing it through.
Jason was one of a kind.
He was an amazing fisherman with an epic personality.
He was an excellent research partner.
Most of all, he was a friend. He loved his girls more than anything, and my heart breaks for all of them.
If you want to help support his family, please, consider these options for donations:
gofundme.com/f/honor-jason-by-supporting-heather-and-kids and
gofundme.com/f/carry-jasons-love-forward-for-katie-and-avery
Hug your people.
I appreciate each and every one of you.
Angela Collins, Ph.D., Marine Fisheries and Shellfish Aquaculture Assistant Extension Scientist, UF/IFAS Tropical Aquaculture Lab, Florida Sea Grant, University of Florida, Ruskin