# Rusty's Rendezvous



## captken

I docked at Rustys' for a bunch of years. What is there now? I'd like to have a plater of Ms Danni's fried Mullet and Cole slaw about now.


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## Boatjob1

We just never knew how good we had it back then did we???????????? Don't forgettheplate full of those back bones.....


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## rocklobster

If you're talking about Rusty's Fishcamp off of Gulf Beach Highway, everything over there has been mowed down and now has "Lost Key " Condos on it and where Rod & Reel used to be. That was really a great neck of the woods back in its day.


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## Ultralite

> *rocklobster (3/25/2008)*If you're talking about Rusty's Fishcamp off of Gulf Beach Highway, everything over there has been mowed down and now has "Lost Key " Condos on it and where Rod & Reel used to be. That was really a great neck of the woods back in its day.


sure was...ryan's came along later & it was good also...they're all gone now...the little store on the highway is still there...that's about it...


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## captken

I remember when Leo appologized to me for having to go from $25-$30/month for my in the water boat slip. That must've been about 1973 or so. I docked there from 1968-1975.

I had LORAN A but I used shoreline ranges more often than not and caught tons of Snapper. One summer, my parties caught 5 Blue Marlin, 27 Whites and 60+ Sailfish. I can't even guess how many Wahoo and Dolphin but never a Tuna.

Those were mighty good days. I think diesel was about 19cents a gallon at the time.


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## Seegul51

Actually, Landfall has the area in which was the original Rusty's, I still have a place mat with the picture of the old place, going to have it framed one day. You forgot to talk about Leo afterlunch and his beer, I believe it was Slitz or something like that, and Danni's cole slaw she made each day with some cigerette ashes added as she mixed it up. Oh, yea there was thebrother-in-law that was outside cleaning the mullet, and all this for as much as you could eat for only $1.25. I moved here in 67, got introduced to Rusty's in 68, use to be a old salt down there named Lowe, he would fish only during the week, and sell his sow snapper (25-35 lbs) off his boat. Use to sit on my 69 cobia (bought itfromWills Marine during a boat show, first center console in Pcola)on weekends and watch the weekend warriors launch boat and vehicles, Leo would come around with the tractor and pull them out. Tractor was the first one I had seen with a cup holder on it. I think I still have some pictures of me holding cobia up at the dock. Some of the old fisherman was Ben Shaw, and Bill Caine.


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## captken

I moved to Crystal River, FL in 1975 and have been here ever since. I miss the good fishing up there but it is mighty nice to catch 20# Grouper in 12' of water.

Do you remember this??? Just east of the pass about a mile or so, there were several submerged pilings in about 25' of water. I'd take a light tackle party there and bet them that they couldn't get a jig back if they cast it within 10' of the pilings. That place was AJ city! Most were 2# or so but there were sometimes some 30# fish there.

What about the little wreck that was just on the south edge of the Lex turning basin in about 25'? My dad caught a 38# Snapper there. He caught it on 200# test mono on a 9/0 one day when the water was pretty muddy. For every fish we landed there, we lost 10. It was never good for more than 3 bites unless you had some 2# Pogys. I caught a Flounder that weighed just under 11# there on a Cigar minnow ment for Snapper. On a 6/0, it didn't fight much.


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## off route II

i remember it well, went there with my parents when i was growing up in navy point. those were the good old days.


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## mekell

Seegull...I was fishing from Leo's place in the late 60s. Bill Caine fished from an old wooden boat named "The Little Rebel". There were not too many boats that fished for Cobia in those days. I remember Lowe (Hubert?), Frank Helton, and the guy that was a member @ GLYC that died a few years back.(can't recall his name)

I think Leo and Danny were some of the nicest people anyone could hope to meet. Leo in the afternoon would allways have his hat turned with the bill 90 degrees out of place and a silly smile on his face. He did love his beer.


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## Seegul51

Bill and I worked together for 30 years, and I fished with him when he bought the boat for a long time. Another name was Ben Shaw, he had a Glastron boat with a ladder tied to it. Frank Helton had a 16 foot boat with a Crysler motor, on the boat by himself every day, we allwould work night shift for 30 days so we could fish every day during cobia season. Rusty's was a benchmark for the area, thencame Rod and Reel, and Southwind. Fredrick took out Rusty's, Danni is still cooking somewhere in the sky, greeting everyone as they come by, and Leo is wondering what happen to his beer. There was some good mullet served back then in the ole shinny metal bowls.:angel


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## pelican1

Wow!! Sure is nice to know some folk`s remember my home away from home way back. I was one of the ramp boy`s in the summer`s of 64 and 65 and was raised two miles from there. I could tell stories about that place for day`s but would probably just bore most folk`s. Here`s a few names for ya, Pompano III, Capt. Hubert, Mindy Marie, Virgil (my Dad), Quest, Capt. Joe, Crawdad, Capt. Bob. I`m not sure if it was the Winston ashes or the sweat dripping off Miss Dannies nose that made that coleslaw so good but it was some fine stuff. I can still see uncle Joe or Mr.Charlie D. sitting on that little stool at the water faucet outside washing mullet. At that time it was all you could eat for $1.00. Mr. Charlie D. always had that pistol in his back pocket. There was Lewella, Flip, Miss Kaye, and uncle Joe`s wife helping out. Remember any of um? PEL


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## Seegul51

Right on Pelican, yesterday Gotcha and I were living those old days of launching, fishing, and the people down there. When I first went here in Pensacola, it was a $1.00 for all you could eat, they blamed me for making the price go up. It was actually the Navy yard people coming over for lunch that did it. I still think it was the Winston ashes that flavored the slaw. All those ole salts were true gentleman of the seas, they were the ones we listened to about how and when to fish. Spent a lot of money on beer there, and a lot of time sitting on the dock watching the weekend warriors launch. I have since moved over here and those guys are still crusing the waters in the big sky abovetalking and having a great time.


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## pelican1

Yes sir, Capt. Hubert maved to Australia and opened a boatbuilding business. He stayed there several years then moved back to the states and settled in Steinhatchee. Built himself one more boat, I think 60`, from "C flex" and named her "Tropical Lowe". I last saw him in 2001, about a year before my Dad passed.

Correct, the "Mindy Marie" was a 1970 Proline, custom transom from the factory, then Dad and Capt. Hubert built the cabin and put a Chrysler slant six in her. They did all this while I was in Vietnam, can you imagine how pleased I was upon return!!

You have a great memory, sir. You`ve sure stired mine up too. Do you remember the fellow that had the nickname "grouper Bait"? Hefished with Mr. Smith and Mr. Wills alot. PEL


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## captken

Doggonit. I deletedmy last post while editing it. I'll have to try to remember it.

I had a 25' Alglas Wahoo 25, single IBwhen I first docked there then a super slow 31' 5/4" cypress hull with a Ford diesel. . Later I had a 23' Negus that I really loved but hated the I/O. Still later, I had a Wellcraft V-20 that Leo kept under the first covered slot. I always had a small boat to fish the bay. I wish I could find another like it. (14' Kennedy Craft.)

My favorite fishing around P'cola was casting plastic grubs under docks and around pilings for Flounder and small Grouper. I ate a lot of 12-14" Grouper back then.

Part of the time, I was teaching in FWB.


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## captken

By-the-way, I have Ms. Danni's Coles Slaw Recipe if anybody is interested. It is still on the scrap of paper that she wrote it on. There is no mention of sweat or ashes, though. She used 3-4 heads of cabbage at a time and mixed it in a huge stainless steel bowl or pot. She cautioned against aluminum.


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## pelican1

I also recall she used those large mouthed one gallon jars of Blueplate Mayo. She said you had to ues a heavy mayo. Cabbage, onions and mayo is all it was but she had the magic for mixing it. Remember the bottle cap driveway all the way around the building? How bout those looong oars up in the rafters. PEL


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## captken

The recepie calls for Blue Plate Mayo, right up front. Yeah, I remember the oars but not the bottlecaps. My ex and I spent a lot of time there when we could. Danni babysat my daughter one day so my wife could go fishing with me. 

Can you remember who played the piano?


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## pelican1

I can`t recall a regular piano player but several of the family and regulars played. Leo and his brother in law Uncle Leo could both do a rip roaring polka on the constatina also. Miss Danni`s brother, uncle Joe, could sing like a mockingbird too. I think his wife Miss Dottie played piano some. Man, what a special place that was. I guess the driveway got paved before you arrived. Do you remember the year you started?I`ll bet you remember the little building between the boat sheds and the water. That was my place of residence for the summer of `64. I worked six day`s a week, daylight till 9:00pm for $20 a week plus room and board..........I was 15 years old and thought I`d died and gone to heaven. Learned many of my "life`s lesson`s" around that launching ramp. Remember how everytime a blow would come through we`d all band together and rebuild the pier? Never took more than two days and always looked just like we did it. Who say`s a pier has to be straight and level? PEL


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## Wharf Rat

Enjoying reading these stories. I can almost picture a bunch of old salts, smoking cigs, sippin' on beer, gathered around the piano...living the life.



Where abouts are ya'll talking about the location of where this place was?


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## pelican1

If you go to Gulfbeach Grocery, turn south toward the water you will come to a stop sign. While sitting at the stop sign the ramp was at the end of the road you are sitting on. It`s Landfall now. Yes, sir, those dude`s did it with land ranges, a stop watch, tach and counted the gulleys to find their "special" spots. Once they found the first one in sight of land they could find the rest of um and never see the beach again. Capt. Hubert was the best I`ve been around doing this. Once Loran C came along much of the magic was tarnished. Like Capt. Ken said, loran A came along first but wasn`t nearly as accurate as the C. My Dad operated better the old fashioned way than with his loran A. PEL


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## atlast740

i remember them good old days some the younger generation dont believe u when u tell them nothing to going out and catching 12 16 fish aday the neighbors sure loved it


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## captken

I remember Uncle Joe and Ms. Dottie too. 

I couldn't make it over to help rebuild the pier after Camille (I think) but sent my ex wife over to deliver a keg of nails and a 50# box of lag bolts for the effort. Yeah, it must've been Camille because I had been married only a couple of months and was between boats. My Nat'l Guard unit was sent to Gautier, Ms to set up an aid station and I was there for about 2 months.

Some time after that, I got hit in the face with a 12oz sinker and had to run a very slow boat fromthe "Target"back to Rusty's. I passed out from loss of blood and beached the boat on Hurlburt. I don't remember how it got off the beach or who towed my boat back to Rusty's. I remember an AF medic working on me at Hurlburt? Eglin? then waking up in the hospital in P'cola. I had my lower jaw wired together and had a helluva time eating for a month or so. 

My craziest memory about Rusty's was about a big Cobia that swam up to my boat while I was gasing up there. One of my clients yelled, "Hey look at that big Shark." I turned to look, expecting a Porpoise but it was a Cobia chummed up by Mullet carcasses. I grabbed my gaff and free gaffed him. Luckily I got a perfect shot and hauled him aboard in one motion. Then I realized what a dumb move I had made. That fish darn near killed me and a client. Well, maybe not killed but it bruised us both and showered us with blood and gore. After spraying us with what seemed like 10 gallons of blood, it weighed 69#. Leo's or was it Danni's brother butchered it and fed the multitude that evening. (Better than mullet)

Yeah, this was "Old Florida" at its best. I sold a story that I wrote about those good old days. If I can find it, I'll scan it andadd it to this thread.

I am certainly glad I made the initial post. These are all very good memories. Thanks to all who have helped refresh me.


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## captken

Didn't Leo drink Pabst Blue Ribbon? Whatever it was, it tasted like horse p--- to a Miller's drinker.(me)


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## Chris Couture

Awesome stories guys!!!!


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## ironman172

Wow, Ireally enjoyed readingthis post!!!! Thanks....:clap


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## bayou boyextra

I used to work there in the middle sixties Miss Danni and Leo are gone but obviously not forgotten...salty folks but good people ..I probably cleaned the fish you ate there..I learned how to fish these waters there from the incoming boats..I really saw some good catches come in there..trout could be caught off the end of the dock but no one bothered as they were better fish to catch..the land is still there..but is has lost some of the magic it once had..


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## pelican1

Well you were one of the blessed ones too, sir. Do I ever remember that fish cleaning table you speek of. All the fish from that cooker crossed that table till things got so busy as the years went on that Leo had to start ordering um cleaned. All there was to do then was wash um. That was after we had gone. His prefered supplier was Burton Cherry (Red Cherry Fish Market) at canal bridge. If we got together I`ll bet we could still knock out a hundred pounds in less than twenty minutes.

Capt. Ken, Leo drank Schlitz and only Schlitz. Lots and lots of Schlitz. Sunday school started at daylight every week and lasted till 1:00 pm. If you didn`t have your little brown bag you were issued one. It was absolutely mandatory that you use it. Regular members never missed a Sunday and often brought friends. Since the old salts would never fish on a weekend this was the time to discuss that "greatest knot", secret weapon or tricks of the trade. What was never, ever, mentioned was where anyone was fishing. they didn`t bother to ask and didn`t intend to be asked. PEL


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## pelican1

Bayou Boy, would your name be either, Pete, Jeff, Chip, Chuck, Wayne or Walter........oops, not Walter, He passed a few years ago?


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## Lickety-Split

> *captken (3/29/2008)*By-the-way, I have Ms. Danni's Coles Slaw Recipe if anybody is interested. It is still on the scrap of paper that she wrote it on. There is no mention of sweat or ashes, though. She used 3-4 heads of cabbage at a time and mixed it in a huge stainless steel bowl or pot. She cautioned against aluminum.


Would you mind posting it or PM me? I was only a kid when Rusty's disappeared but I remember my family launching the boat there and camping for the weekend, nearly every weekend, on east Johnson's Beach gillnetting, gigging, crabbing, and pullin scallops to put right on the grill. These are the days when there was no real fishing to be done, all the other kids(10 cousins+friends) were playing water football or throwing sand at each other; I'd be anchored up on a grass bed in an inflatable boat/raft with lawnchair in it catchin pinfish and the occasional spec. The rest of the family thought I was anti-social but I just loved to fish. I must've been 4-5 years old? I still love it, even watchin other people bowed up gets me fired up!


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## ironman172

I to would love to have that recipe....I love good cole slaw!!!! and enjoying these stories!!! Thanks soooo much for sharing them!!!:clap:grouphug


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## pelican1

L/S, good for you Sir. Aren`t we lucky our folk`s decided to raise us in paradise. I can see you have the "force" burned into you for a lifetime. Good for you also to be able to make your living doing what you love. PEL


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## captken

<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">When I started to write this up this morning, I recognized my ex?s hand writing. She was a stickler for detail and has some of the recipe in quotes so I assume this is what Danni told her.. I?m writing it just as I have it and will add comments. She called the recipe ?RUSTY?S COLESLAW.? <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">?The secret to good Cole Slaw is the right Cabbage. Good tight heads but some loose leaves outside. When you cut into a head of cabbage, cut off a chunk and taste it before chopping it. If it isn?t good, throw it away.?<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o></o><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">?Use sweet onions. A fist size onion for a large or two small heads of Cabbage is about right.?<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o></o><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">(OK, right here I have a problem because she didn?t mention how many heads or how much Cabbage to use.) In an earlier post in this topic I mentioned a stainless steel mixing bowl but now I seem to remember a small enameled wash tub. <o></o>[/B]<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o></o><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Mix 1 Tablespoons of cider vinegar, 1 cup sugar and 3 cups Blue Plate mayo. Add more Mayo to get it right. If you have to add more Mayo to the batch of slaw, make sure to mix well. (This was not in quotes but I assume it was what Danni told her.)<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o></o><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">I know that my ex-wife always called it Rusty?s Coleslaw and hers was always good all the way up to 1988 when we split. She was a Home-Ec. major in college but not a very good cook. Coleslaw, Banana Bread and Coconut Cream Pie were her only memorable dishes.<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o></o><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">My second wife, Sharon makes great Cole Slaw too. She goes with the vinegar and sugar but doesn?t use onions often. She seconds Ms Danni?s admonition to choose the right cabbage.<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:City><st1lace><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Sharon</st1lace></st1:City><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> just read this over my shoulder and said ?Sweet and Low? now days instead of sugar. My how times change! I moved down here in March, 1975 so it has been 33 years.

<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">I'd love to come back, just for the fishing.


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## xl883lo

Captken,

I live and grew up in North Alabama but have friends from Pensacola. They "introduced" my sister to Rusty's. She was a Co-op who worked for Monsanto in the Mid-late 70's. We use to always go toRusty's when we would go down to visit. She also had an apartment at the Mirador for a while....it was a real hole back then but I thought it was cool.... abeautiful view and I could also explore the Bayou. There was also a little oyster bar in an old gas station up the street. I can't remember the name of the placebut I had many a cold Budweiser and multiple dozens raw there.


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## captken

I spent an hour going through old photos looking for a photo of the Mindy Marie. I know I have it somewhere. I found Marlin and Snapper photos from a life time ago, though.


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## captken

Just some more memories. One really cold day I decided it was too rough to fish so I ran my boat from Rusty's over to Gulf Shores to visit my favorite aunt and uncle who lived just off the ICW. On the way over, I saw Butch Frith catch the biggest Trout I ever saw under the Interrarity Point Bridge. He had a box of huge Trout, none under 5#. He was using hand sized Pinfish.

Another time, I was hauling butt from Mobile over to P'cola for an early charter. As I crossed the Lillian Bridge, about midway across, a dog started running ahead of me and, when I got close, he dove through the bridge rail. I've always wondered if he made it.


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## ironman172

Thanks for that cole slaw recipe!!!! can't wait for my wife to make it....:hungry


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## Hangout

Thanks for bringing back those memories captken. I was a regular at Rusty's back in those days myself. I have not had any fried mullet or slaw as good as that since. Seems like she told me the slawrecipe had a commercial heavy mayonnaise named Bennetts. I could be wrong though. Oh, she also told me not to serve it for at least 24 hours in the fridgeafter putting it in the gallon jars. Man, those were the days. :toast


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## Seegul51

FIRST OF ALL, I WANT A COPY OF DANNI'S COLD SLAW RECIEPT.

There was another fisherman there name Jim Penny, his is long been gone, but his son works for Gulf Power. I live over here and from time to time I meet some of the family that still hang around the area. Okay, here is a picture I took from another picture that was to big to scan, but you will recognize the place and then the memories will flow. The beer Leo drank was Slitz, I can't spell it but I can pronounce it. Don't forget the Irish and St. Patrick's Day, all day they would party.


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## pelican1

Segull, I remember Mr. Jim Pinney well. He was a 100% bluewater guy.

Had the fastest boat to ever fish outta there. PEL


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## ironman172

this will make it easier for all to view....:letsdrink


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## pelican1

Thank`s for the pic and blow up.

Capt. Ken, any of those boats belong to you?

That`s the ramp on the left edge of the pic, then the gas pump, then the infamous fish cleaning table behind the gentleman leaning on the piling enjoying a cool beverage. The big black pole to the right of the building was the weigh station for tournaments. That pole also sported a homebase CB antena. Told ya the piers looked "just like we did it". PEL


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## mekell

Anyone remember what the Rozaks did for vacations????


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## pelican1

Mekell, I remember they would go to the dog track ocasionally and boy did Miss Dannie get dolled up. Remember her huge, beautiful hats?

" Goin to the dog`s", Leo called it.

One thing missing in the pic is Miss Dannie`s duck`s. PEL


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## captken

Wow! Great photo. It was way before my time. I rmember some of the boats, though. There must've been another hurricane between this photo and when I docked there.

Dang I am glad I started this thread. Lots of good memories.


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## captken

I found this photo while looking for one of Mindy Marie.

This is a photo of some of the last Marlin we caught of P'cola. It may have been inthe PIBT in 1974. On the back of the photo it said 76# and 314#. I always tried to have folks release billfish but I have eaten a ton of smoked Sailfish and Marlin smoked and broiled.










The leg in the photo belonged to Gene Miller, my deckie at the time. He is long since dead. I guess this was taken next door at Rod and Reel. The writing on the back of the photo was my ex's and there is no date. I left the area in 1975


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## mekell

Yep....She loved hats...Some years they would go to Vegas and stay as long as the dollars lasted.


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## pelican1

Didn`t know about Vegas. Man, I`ll bet they painted the town.

Leos` doctor from Atmore, Dr StAmont(spl??) kept his boat there. Anyone remember the name? Pel


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## Seegul51

The thing that I remember is how long it would take to come from the other side of town, down Fairfield to Gulf Beach Hwy, then along Gulf Beach Hwy, you knew you were getting close when you could see the scrub oaks what is now a sub-division on the right side just before the little store on the corner. That was the Tom Thumb of the 60 and 70's. We would get beer, ice, bait and then pull down the hill to launch. On weekends, the road would be full all the way up to the highway with vehicles and trailers, there were those who launched at Cliff's because they did not want to pay for launch, and then those who launched at Rod and Reel, but most did not like the guy running it. On the weekend, everyone wanted to be back when the mullet was done, and enjoy the afternoon of BS and Fish lies. Not sure the young people will ever find a Rusty's.


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## captken

Not sure the young people will ever find a Rusty's. Amen! 

Maybe in a small town but definitely not in a place like P'cola. 

I didn't spend as much time there as locals because I lived in Satsuma, AL. (just above Mobile) Most of the time, when I had a trip or planned to fish 2 days in a row, I stayed at my aunt's house in Gulf Shores.


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## Hangout

> *pelican1 (3/31/2008)*Didn`t know about Vegas. Man, I`ll bet they painted the town.
> 
> Leos` doctor from Atmore, Dr StAmont(spl??) kept his boat there. Anyone remember the name? Pel


Dr. C. P. StAmont was my doctor as well. I went on his boat way back when but I don't remember the name. Was it something to do with Cajun?


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## pelican1

Yes sir, she was called "Ragin Cajun". Pretty boat too. PEL


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## phil c

I had to search around to find this thread atfter my wife threatened to shoot me. Every time she does up a batch of slaw, shes knowsgonna hear, "its good but not as good as rustys."

I liveddown there in the early 80s, and while I may have missed the heydays of the place I have an awful lot of great memories of it.

Last summer when I was down I was out ridin around in the boat with my cousin tryin to figure out where things used to be.

Change aint always for the better, but its always gonna change.


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## Burnt Drag

Pelican, Captken, and Seegull, Thanks for a great read. Your running conversation has made my morning. I dock at Southwind and remember fondly the last "Rusty's" The mullet was always great and the beer was always cold. Im sure "Bobby" and his brother "Tommy" at Gulf Beach Grocery could share these memories with you fellows. Bobby has closed GBG temporarily (until March I think) That place in just about the last of the real "curb stores" that I remember from childhood. God Bless!

Capt Jim www.aquaventurecharters.com


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## BananaTom

*Thanks for bringing this up.*

*I rented a cottage next to the new Rusty's, which replaced the old one washed away by Hurricane Frederick. The cottage was owned by the owners of Rusty's.*

*So, I spent allot time in there, as I did in Rod n Reel Marina, and Ryan's Catch, and Snug Harbor. The owners of Rusty's and I are good friends this day.*

*That whole two block area was purchased by WCI to develop. Just as the owners moved, Hurricanne Ivan came and washed all the structures up on Gulf Beach Highway. They were to be torn down, includingRusty's Fish Camp (the new one), 6 houses, Rod n Reel, and the ship yard.*

*The piece of water front land, which laid east of Rod n Reel is still there. It was donated to the subdivision as a park, to be used by all in that neighborhood as they wished.*

*We had awesome bon fires there, I moored my 16' Compact Sailboat there, and had my canoe chained to a tree there. .*

*Many nights, late, after shutting down Rusty's and Snug Harbor, marina swimming took place at Rod n Reel.*

*My memories do not go back as far as others, as I came here in 1995, but I do miss that place. *

*I do stop at GBG every time I pass, even to buy just a coke.*


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## user10068

I lived in Bobby Brown's little house west of Merrits for a couple of years before Frederick. I remember Rusty's as a screen tent with a couple of tables and their cooking shack. I would go down there and get a dinner of mullet (in a steel collander) with slaw and puppies for less than $2. Then Frederick tore the whole block apart, the Smiths sold Merrits and it became Southwind, they build the condo buildings west and east of the marina, and the place lost almost all of its charm. Captain Wes's brother Donny (the Coca Cola man) lived across the street from the marina, Mrs. Wise lived at the end of the street to the west. Lots of good memories there. I tried to buy that little house from Bobby Brown but he would not sell it in the spring of '79, and it became the most nationally used picture after Frederick with a 40' sailboat nestled up against the front and 4-5' of debris all around it.


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## jim t

I wasn't a big fan of the new Rusty's.

The food was GREAT, but being an indoor/outdoor restaurant there were a few too many crawlybugs around for me.

I loved the little bar downstairs at Ryan's Catch, and the food upstairs had some GREAT sauces.

Jim


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## whome

> *pelican1 (3/30/2008)*Segull, I remember Mr. Jim Pinney well. He was a 100% bluewater guy.
> 
> Had the fastest boat to ever fish outta there. PEL


He is me and my brother Alex's grandfather. I remember Rusty's and going down to the marina when I was younger. I remember my dad meeting my grandfather in the pass one day taking him some bait and ice that they needed for a trip offshore. I also remember riding in the bridge of "miss mickey" with him while fishing. I was young, but those were memories I will never forget. I wish I could find "Miss Mickey" today. I would love to be able to get my hands on it and restore it. Thanks for bringing this thread back to the top...


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## Seegul51

I know we can never go back in time, and for a lot of things we don't need to, but when you look at "Rusty's" back then, it was just as important to the Navy base as was "Trader Jons". During the weekdays, at lunch, it would be packed with Uniforms, and on weekends, if they did not launch there, they came by for mullet and beer. Here is a place that "Change" cannot replace, and the people that worked, owned, and lived in the area were true Americans. A toast to Leo and Dannie, You will never be forgotten. 

Someone mention Bobby's store and it being closed, here is a good example of the change we live with, its easier to go to Walmart, get it cheaper, and so on. But, when you really need something that will help you for the minute, there are those little places like Gulf Beach Grocery, problem is, we don't support our own, and then they close. Sad.


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## Bonsaifishrman

Moved up here from Ft. Lauderdale 73. It was getting noisy down there. I was about 23 then. I settled in EPH behind Jerry's Drive in. Eventually got around to all the great spots around here. 

The only thing I remember with Rusty's was a friend Mark Morrow living in one of the little rental hootches just to the west and the Hubbards boat sales up in the back. Along that back street were about 4 or 5 small houses. Steve Robinson bought one and it had a boat barn, shed kind of affair and he worked on wood boats, etc.. Everytime I went out there time was about half speed compared to the rest of Pcola.

Ivan washed everything in sight away and left just his boat shed, work shop. His wife had left him and he built a wooden gypsy rig on a big truck he lives in and still putters around there. Nothing else left there other than the store his rig and shed. 

The beer was a Schlitz. Cheap stuff in its day. They used to say you would get the .......from drinking it.


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## captken

Somebody was bored out of their mind this morning and dredged up some old history. Doggone, those were goodold times.

When I found Rusty's, I knew I had found a home. I'd docked at East Pass marina in Destin for a few years and watched it get more and more commercialized as big money folks moved in. I went to Destin a couple of years ago and nothing felt the same.

Last year I drove to P'cola for a Kayak tournament and, even with the humongous change, I sensed a more laid back life style from some of the folks at the tournament. I actually knew ond of the guys who attended the weigh in after all these years.

This morning I got an IM requesting MS Danni's Cole Slaw recipe. I don't think she ever made it in family size batches and I must confess that I always make up a batch with a whole head of cabbage. Later this morning, I sorted through a whole tray of very pretty heads of cabbage to find "Just the right head." 

I have a large plastic jar that protein powder came in for my slaw jug. A large head of cabbage fills it more than 2/3 full. It is gonna be 2/3 full in a little while. It will be ok tonight but mighty fine tomorrow.

BTW, slice your cabbage, don't liquify it in a food processor. As much as I hate to admit it, though, Col. Sander's Cole Slaw ain't half bad. Zaxby's has good slaw too.

I'd like to think that Leo and Danni are looking down with approval on what we've all said about them. They were a class act.


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## Mr. Mike

I ran an old shrimp boat out of Rusty's in 65 and 66. I sold my shrimp to Leo for 25 or 30 cents a lb. Leo gave me some really good advice. I was not a regular "hanger outer" and did not drink but I was around a lot. Leo gave me some real good advice one time. The "ol timers" had a line of credit for fuel, beer, etc so once I ask him for some fuel on the credit; he told me "*son if you can't afford gas you don't need a boat!"*

*He was right. However from that time on, I have always put boat fuel very high on the financial priority list!!*


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## RiVerRaT

My dad and I went to Rusty's almost every Friday night...drove a old 68' Dodge pickup and always got a dish pan full of mullet....I would give my right arm and my left walnut for some right now. I remember the old screen door......squeak slam!!! 



:letsdrink


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## captken

Doggone! I had forgotten that dang door. I think it was sort of a trademark sound of the place. I remember Capt. Hubert Lowe laughing about it about a million years ago./

I made Cole Slaw today from Ms. Danni's Cole Slaw recipe. I modified it a little bit because I can't find blue Plate mayo where I shop.

I used one large head (at least 3#) cabbage. Chopped with a fillet knife. Not diced but chopped just like Ms Danni did. 

1 fist (I have a small fist)sized sweet onion, sliced thin.

I used a little more than a cup of Helman's Mayo,1 tsp sugar and 1 TSP of cider vinegar.

After sitting 6 hours it was pretty doggone good but don't hold a candle to slaw with cigarette ashes. It will be better tomorrow.

I ate about 3X as much as you ever get in a restaurant tonight with a bowl of really good homade Veg. soup. Tomorrow night I'll have it with Redfish.

The only Mullet I ever really liked was at Rusty's. Ms. Danni fried a bunch of Snapper for me when I'd clean them.

Anybody remember what Ms Danni's brother's name was? I think he was the guy who smoked fish occasionally.


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## Greenjeans

My wife and I had our wedding reception there on November 8th, 1997. Was a great time at a great place. I miss it. Thanks for the memories.:usaflag


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## Seegul51

"BTW, slice your cabbage, don't liquify it in a food processor. As much as I hate to admit it, though, Col. Sander's Cole Slaw ain't half bad. Zaxby's has good slaw too."

I was going to say and you said it in your last post, the cabbage slaw if it did not have the ashes from Dannie's cigarettes, it was not hers. The door slamming was their door bell. Leo, said one time, if the door is not slamming we are not making any money. 

Here is a thought, could you imagine today, some of our fine fisherman that launch at the public ramps having to launch at Rusty's. I remember sitting on the dock a lot of weekends watching boats, and trucks become part of the legacy at Rusty's ramp. 

Then again, the show was when Leo headed to the tractor after lunch to launch a boat. 

I rode my bike by the old location yesterday, its just dock and asubdivision now. How sad.


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## bertram31

Glad ya'll mentioned Jim Pinney, He had a 31 Maxum that was awsome Took me offshore for the 1st time. Jim died brobably 15 years ago but I have many fond memories.


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## pelican1

Capt. Ken, Miss Danni`s brothers name was Joe and his wife was Dotti. Fine folk`s they were too. PEL


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## Flipstick

> *captken (3/29/2008)*I remember Uncle Joe and Ms. Dottie too.
> 
> I couldn't make it over to help rebuild the pier after Camille (I think) but sent my ex wife over to deliver a keg of nails and a 50# box of lag bolts for the effort. Yeah, it must've been Camille because I had been married only a couple of months and was between boats. My Nat'l Guard unit was sent to Gautier, Ms to set up an aid station and I was there for about 2 months.
> 
> Some time after that, I got hit in the face with a 12oz sinker and had to run a very slow boat fromthe "Target"back to Rusty's. I passed out from loss of blood and beached the boat on Hurlburt. I don't remember how it got off the beach or who towed my boat back to Rusty's. I remember an AF medic working on me at Hurlburt? Eglin? then waking up in the hospital in P'cola. I had my lower jaw wired together and had a helluva time eating for a month or so.
> 
> My craziest memory about Rusty's was about a big Cobia that swam up to my boat while I was gasing up there. One of my clients yelled, "Hey look at that big Shark." I turned to look, expecting a Porpoise but it was a Cobia chummed up by Mullet carcasses. I grabbed my gaff and free gaffed him. Luckily I got a perfect shot and hauled him aboard in one motion. Then I realized what a dumb move I had made. That fish darn near killed me and a client. Well, maybe not killed but it bruised us both and showered us with blood and gore. After spraying us with what seemed like 10 gallons of blood, it weighed 69#. Leo's or was it Danni's brother butchered it and fed the multitude that evening. (Better than mullet)
> 
> Yeah, this was "Old Florida" at its best. I sold a story that I wrote about those good old days. If I can find it, I'll scan it andadd it to this thread.
> 
> I am certainly glad I made the initial post. These are all very good memories. Thanks to all who have helped refresh me.


I worked with Ms Dottie over at Triggers Seafood the Old Time Saver store. She taught me alot about cooking. Miss that old lady.


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## trollinstoned

It was that screened porch and the salty sea air that was part of the secret recipe. 

I love fishing, but never was a big fish eater. Their's was the exception.


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## SHatten

What a memory! I started going to Rusty's when I was about 6-7 years old. (1964-1965 time frame). I remember begging nickels from "Mr. Rusty"...(My dad would not let me call him Leo) to play the pin ball machine. (It sat next to the swingin' slammin' screen door) Friday evenings were when we usually went and got the "all you can eat mullet" in the big aluminiun pans with backbones included (my dad would always ask for them). I have a lot of fond memories of Rusty's. After dinner my dad would always walk with me out on the dock we would look at the shrimp boats tied to the pier. With the mention of Rustys I'm sure someone has memories of Harris Fish camp too. It was just east of Rustys...closer to Trout Point. Not as popular but a old Florida fish camp as well. Thanks for the memories!


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## phil c

Woke up this morning thinking about the good times I had living in P-Cola after I got out of the Army in 83.
My Cousin introduced me to Rustys, Damn I loved that place! The softshell crab Hogies were the best and the slaw was just way too good.

made up a batch of slaw this morning, it should be great by this evening!


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## waterwings

Great thread. Good mullet memories there.


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## captken

*This ought to be some kind of a site record.*

In less than 2 weeks, this thread will be 6 years old.

I reread every single post this morning. Those were the days. 

My cabbage is fantastic this year. The heads are not huge so I use at least 2 for a mess of slaw. My onions are just right for a single onion for 2 heads of cabbage. I wish I could find Blue Plate Mayonaise down here.

I'm gonna catch a Redfish for dinner tomorrow night. Redfish and Cole Slaw.
Kinda like Golden Flake Potato Chips and Coke. (Remember "Great pair says the Bear?"


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## phil c

Glad others have good memories of Rustys. Thanks to those whose memories go back much further than mine. Didn't have any Mullet or softshell crab up here in the great white north but we did smoke up a Brisket and the slaw was FANTASTIC! 

May we always have little things to hold on to while we remember the past!


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## jim t

I had a blast there... but the last couple years you could watch german cockroaches race along the vertical posts inside and out.

It kinda ran it's course.

Jim


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## Big B

I have to admit that I was surprised by this post. I had a good time reading through it. Rusty's was a place I worked at for 9.5 years. This was long after it was rebuilt. I started as a sophomore in high school and worked there until it was bought out by a guy names Tim Tune. I wasn't a fan of his so I quit. 
I hated to see that place close down, but reading through all of the ol timers post who helped make that place what it was I found very interesting. 

The picture was great because I remember they had one similar to it hanging on the wall near the bathrooms. Yes the bathrooms with the women's urinal. That was always a fun conversation piece. Especially after the women had a few drinks and wanted to tell everyone how they used it.

I still remember all the recipes and still use them to this day.


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## abacodan

Capt. Frank Hubbard owned Rod and Reel, and certainly had a crusty reputation. Still remember him weighing my 40 pound Wahoo from his scale mounted on a pine tree. Would have been 1971. Drove all the way back through town in my Dad's Volkswagen Beetle with that Wahoo strapped to the roof, tied nose to the front bumper and tail to the back fender. My Dad has always said that there seemed to be an affliction with most of those old coots who ran marinas back then. Seemed to make 'em quite ornery. Remember also about that same time, buying one of the old Juniper mullet boats that used to anchor out in front of Rusty's. My parents financed the boat and net, and my partners parents financed the outboard. We gill net fished two years from that old leaky mullet skiff, selling it when I went away to college. Good lesson in hard work.


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## Mullethead

Just to pile on .... 

Growing up on inerarity Point in to 60's and early 70s... dad use to trailer our skiff to Rusty's and we would troll the pass for Spanish and the occasional king .. then eat mullet afterwards ..

Once with some high school buddies .. we went there for all you could eat ... and after several large stainless steel shiny bowls ... we wre kindly asked to leave ..  

Found memories of Leo, the cole slaw and that screen door!


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## catch 22

I can remember my father picking me my brother and sister up after school head to the rusty and grab a bucket of mullet for dinner. We would leave there and head across the draw bridge down to Johnson's beach. We would stop at the pivilion and let air out of the tires before we hit the beach all the way to McRae. There used to be rock jetties at the end with a steel pole. You could catch a fish every throw with a kraft spoon. This was back when the Massachusetts was still sticking out of the water.


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## fishnfool

I'm bringing this back from the dead just because it made me smile to think back on some of this stuff. I worked on my dad's 33ft Chris Craft charter boat back in the early/mid 70's(Blue Runner) and we docked at the old Shelter Cove in Perdido Key but ran a TON of charters out of Merrits and Rod and Reel marina's. It was always a treat to come in from a half-day trip from one of those places and my dad would treat me to a mullet dinner or lunch at Rusty's. Never a bad meal there and what a great group of folks running the place. When I think of Rusty's and the two marina's there I remember Capt. Jack York who eventually ran the old Sling Queen(probably the biggest charter boat in the area then), Gordon Linconocher who owned the original Oyster Bar restaurant here in town had a 31 Bertram named "baby linc" docked next to us and fished with us a LOT, there was an old guy named Delbert Fisher who had an old school bus behind Merrits that told the best stories EVER and if you needed a part that nobody else had...he was THE MAN. The was a crazy old doctor from Mobile named Ben Hogan that had a 36 Maltese Magnum sportfisher that docked with us too and I remember one night he was coming back from Mobile in the dark and didn't make the dogleg by Bear Point Marina and ran that big beast up on the sand bar/mud bank in about a foot of water. Tossed him of the bridge on to the bow and that's where they found him in the morning out cold. Quite the repair job on the one....folded the rudders and shaft struts! Countless really great days spent at the marina with some great old fella's. What a way to grow up and I got to fish on top of that!! Thanks for the stories and memories!


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## BananaTom

I enjoyed that area big time


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## mekell

*Lil Rebel*



Seegul51 said:


> Actually, Landfall has the area in which was the original Rusty's, I still have a place mat with the picture of the old place, going to have it framed one day. You forgot to talk about Leo afterlunch and his beer, I believe it was Slitz or something like that, and Danni's cole slaw she made each day with some cigerette ashes added as she mixed it up. Oh, yea there was thebrother-in-law that was outside cleaning the mullet, and all this for as much as you could eat for only $1.25. I moved here in 67, got introduced to Rusty's in 68, use to be a old salt down there named Lowe, he would fish only during the week, and sell his sow snapper (25-35 lbs) off his boat. Use to sit on my 69 cobia (bought itfromWills Marine during a boat show, first center console in Pcola)on weekends and watch the weekend warriors launch boat and vehicles, Leo would come around with the tractor and pull them out. Tractor was the first one I had seen with a cup holder on it. I think I still have some pictures of me holding cobia up at the dock. Some of the old fisherman was Ben Shaw, and Bill Caine.


 Yep....Shaw and Bill were among the few (including me) who Cobia fished in those days. Bills boat was called "Little Rebel". Fished among those guys until they quit. Also Hillbilly Hal caught his share. Those were easy fishing days with untold numbers of Cobia. The only thing that could keep you from catching was the weather.

I remember running over one of Dinna's ducks while launching. Leo was there with a shovel before the guts settled. She loved her ducks.

Leo was an a great guy who always wore a crooked smile.


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## Bro-ker

Wow, I love reading these stories. As a resident of Landfall I almost feel guilty! Great to hear the history of the place. I hope you guys continue to contribute to this thread. Would love to see pictures!


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## Try'n Hard

I hand painted the big Rusty's billboards about 30 yrs ago. I think they were 10x40. Big red letters that just said Rusty's with an arrow. I asked the guy didn't he want something else on it like fresh seafood or the phone # and he and his wife just looked at each other and laughed. When I finished and came back to get paid he insisted I have a beer or 12.... I swear I think he wanted to get me drunk so that I would refigured the bill! Lol. Good folks!


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## captken

*We are all old now.*

Here it is 2016 and this thread started in 08.. I didn't realize this thread had been reincarnated last year. I can't believe how old I have gotten since I started the thread and it is mighty hard to believe how much enjoyment I've had with it.

We all have to leave sometime or other so I'm glad us old timers had a chance to share these memories.

Sometimes I think of all of the good old times I had up there and wish I could go back. Unfortunately, the P'cola I knew back then is no longer there. I often made a half day charter trolling for Kingfish in the pass. I doubt if you could make 300 circles in a morning there these days without getting run over or shot.

I'd definitely like to have a tub of Ms Danni's mullet and cole slaw, though. Three or four Millers (dang sure not Schlitz) to go with it.


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## SHunter

Some of the best trigger fish I ever had was cooked at Rusty's. Several of us were diving with Joe Madden on the old Quest and speared fish that we brought back and had them deep fry. I also remember sitting on a screened porch and eating mullet from a galvanized tub. I think this would have been mid to late 70's.


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## BlueWaterWarrior

I can remember all the days of running in there before daylight to launch, thinking we were late and having to slam on the brakes to miss those darn ducks. We used to destroy the specs under the bridge. Good times and a laid back pace. You guys brought back a lot of memories. Names like the Sling Queen and Linconocker......I haven't heard in years. I'm not sure if the food was that great or if we were always THAT hungry but it always seemed to be the best I ever tasted.


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## GeneCottingham

Well, this is a rusty old thread, but I had a great time reading it. As a child, my first home was in the neighborhood where Rusty's was. My parents were good friends with the family and regulars at the bar, especially my dad. He was a Navy guy and usually sat at the end of the bar with his buddies, and me. I remember goofing around in the water near the boat launch and playing some sort of baseball pinball machine inside. The bowls of mullet and the slaw still speak to me today. Oddly enough, my boat is in dry storage at Lost Key Marina and I drive past the concrete slab that was our house every time I go to get on the boat. Good times. Good memories. Great people there.


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## Mr. Mike

pelican1 said:


> Wow!! Sure is nice to know some folk`s remember my home away from home way back. I was one of the ramp boy`s in the summer`s of 64 and 65 and was raised two miles from there. I could tell stories about that place for day`s but would probably just bore most folk`s. Here`s a few names for ya, Pompano III, Capt. Hubert, Mindy Marie, Virgil (my Dad), Quest, Capt. Joe, Crawdad, Capt. Bob. I`m not sure if it was the Winston ashes or the sweat dripping off Miss Dannies nose that made that coleslaw so good but it was some fine stuff. I can still see uncle Joe or Mr.Charlie D. sitting on that little stool at the water faucet outside washing mullet. At that time it was all you could eat for $1.00. Mr. Charlie D. always had that pistol in his back pocket. There was Lewella, Flip, Miss Kaye, and uncle Joe`s wife helping out. Remember any of um? PEL


Virgil was my second cousin. Mike oitts


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## Mr. Mike

Mr. Mike said:


> Virgil was my second cousin. Mike oitts


Mike pitts


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## specktackler57

I moved here on perdido key in72 and lived in sandy acres trailer park. I loved that place. Good memories.


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## sealark

I went through Capt kens recipe. Tried to make it ledgeable. try it out and please post the results. 
I also remember Rusty's kept my boat the Gulf Rogue at Southwind. Wife and I visited Rusty's several times toward the end. I came here 76.here's the recipe. Sure looks like what the old Oyster bar had. Yes I miss the good old days. 

She called the recipe RUSTY?S COLESLAW.? The secret to good Cole Slaw is 
the right Cabbage. Good tight heads but some loose leaves outside. When 
you cut into a head of cabbage, cut off a chunk and taste it before 
chopping it. If it isn’t good, throw it away, Use sweet onions. A fist 
size onion for a large or two small heads of Cabbage is about right. 
right here I have a problem because she didn’t mention how many heads or 
how much Cabbage to use.) In an earlier post in this topic I mentioned a 
stainless steel mixing bowl but now I seem to remember a small enameled 
wash tub. Mix 1 Tablespoons of cider vinegar, 1 cup sugar and 3 cups 
Blue Plate mayo. Add more Mayo to get it right. If you have to add more 
Mayo to the batch of slaw, make sure to mix well. (This was not in 
quotes but I assume it was what Danni told her.


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## finfever61

My wife still talks about the crab stuffed jalapeños they had in the early 90s.


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## captken

Sonofagun! This old saw dredged up after so many years! Thank you Ron for deciphering the Coleslaw recipe. It got messed up in a forum change several years and I never remembered where I'd posted it. I'm sure I spent several hundred hours on my posts on the Tips column that are no longer decipherable or even can be located to decipher. Right now, they are trying to tear down an old store in Inglis. The store is known as the Old Rock Store and was built as Stephen's Grocery in 1928. I recently saw a phopo of Elvis coming out the front door with a Coke during the time they were shooting "Follow That Dream" here. In fact, the road in front of The Rock Store is CR 40 and also called "Follow That Dream Hwy." When history gets torn down, it is, for the most part, forgotten. * Rusty's Rendezvous* lives on in this thread.


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## sealark

Yes Ken, Dale Worhan was gonna give me his wifes slaw recipe from oyster bar. But he died before I got it from him. 
Other memories from that area. Butch Tucker, Billy Woodburn, many other charter captains. the owners of southwind The Bullards family, Frank, John and Ann, kenny Stabler, Dr Woodruf, from then on who knows or cares. It has changed. 
I set all those pilings on the outside of the docks. With a barge from Runyans. Never paid a cent slip rent on the Gulf Rogue when the bullards had it. 
No size, limits or license. on anything at first. Coast guard license required for charters. I could write a book. I have a cd of commercial trips fishing. Taken on an old hi band 8mm converted to digital. Someone come get one it make copies and hand them out. Ill even give you some blanks cd and dvd's are a thing of the past now anyway.


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## specktackler57

Anyway I can get that recipe for coleslaw pmease


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## sealark

I'll pm it to you now.


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## sealark

Sent, now make sure you report how it turned out.


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## specktackler57

Thank you


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## sealark

Just tried the recipe, it made a batch turned out great only had white distilled viniger and blue plate olive oil mayo. So I said what the hell it turned out excellant in my opinion next time I go to store ill get the correct stuff. But I gurantee this will be eatin. Still want some more opinions with results.


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## sealark

Last post about cole slaw
Make only enough to eat when made. It doesn't last, not near as good next day


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## excelrfg

captken said:


> By-the-way, I have Ms. Danni's Coles Slaw Recipe if anybody is interested. It is still on the scrap of paper that she wrote it on. There is no mention of sweat or ashes, though. She used 3-4 heads of cabbage at a time and mixed it in a huge stainless steel bowl or pot. She cautioned against aluminum.


I would love the recipe


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## kingfish501

Seegul51 said:


> Actually, Landfall has the area in which was the original Rusty's, I still have a place mat with the picture of the old place, going to have it framed one day. You forgot to talk about Leo afterlunch and his beer, I believe it was Slitz or something like that, and Danni's cole slaw she made each day with some cigerette ashes added as she mixed it up. Oh, yea there was thebrother-in-law that was outside cleaning the mullet, and all this for as much as you could eat for only $1.25. I moved here in 67, got introduced to Rusty's in 68, use to be a old salt down there named Lowe, he would fish only during the week, and sell his sow snapper (25-35 lbs) off his boat. Use to sit on my 69 cobia (bought itfromWills Marine during a boat show, first center console in Pcola)on weekends and watch the weekend warriors launch boat and vehicles, Leo would come around with the tractor and pull them out. Tractor was the first one I had seen with a cup holder on it. I think I still have some pictures of me holding cobia up at the dock. Some of the old fisherman was Ben Shaw, and Bill Caine.


No, Lost Key occupies the original site of Rusty's fishcamp. Southwind is where Rusty's put the restaurant when it became seperate from the fish camp.

Landfall was just grass beds and woods back then.


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## fishnfool

used to love Rusty's when I was decking for my dad on our old charter boat(Blue Runner) back in the early 70's. If we had a run out of Merrit's or Rod&Reel we'd grab lunch there before grabbing our second trip for the day or heading back to Shelter Cove where we kept the boat. Nothing as good as Rusty's mullet and hushpuppies!!


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## H2OMARK

You'll have to come over some time Bill and we'll go to Crazy Horse for an all you can eat mullet dinner.


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## fishnfool

H2OMARK said:


> You'll have to come over some time Bill and we'll go to Crazy Horse for an all you can eat mullet dinner.


Where you at Mark? Thought you were still north in Bama.


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## Jgatorman

Started going to Rusty's in 1974 with family, then just dad and brother. Dads name is Maurie Lipner and trailered a Welcraft Airslot 185 was called the Ichiban. It was a pretty memorable bowrider due to the outriggers lol. I would be curious if anyone here remembers that boat or Maurie, hard to forget either especially Maurie 5'6 "jewfro" and liked to holler. We also put on more than one memorable show pulling that boat up the ramp with multiple vehicles and multiple people on the rear bumper. I did a lot of fishing from those docks and have great memories as a kid from 10 to 16 spending time there. What I remember most was you could always catch fish off those docks and the true beauty of old Florida and the people that are found at places like Rusty's. I never knew how good it was until I left old Florida, now I can't imagine anything better. Retiring in 10 years and headed back, sooner if possible. Thank you to all who have posted, the memories from Rusty's are priceless from the parking lot to the screen door.


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## markw4321

Found this old pic online. Decided to update this old thread with the pic.


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## BananaTom

markw4321 said:


> Found this old pic online. Decided to update this old thread with the pic.


I have seen this photo before, not sure where.
Maybe here or maybe hanging in the New Rusty's.
I lived / rented one of the houses the Faren's owned for a time in 1995.
It was two houses west of Rustys
Talk about a fun place to live, Rustys, RodnReel, the restaurant at Southwind Marina, Ryan's Catch and then a short a distance Sung Harbor the Bar.


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## FishinFreak

Any idea who has the original of the photo attached above? I'd love to have it reproduced and framed for my dad. We launched at Rusty's when I was a kid to go drifting the grass flats across the way and scoop up crabs and fish for specks. Great memories!


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## BananaTom

FishinFreak said:


> Any idea who has the original of the photo attached above?


Yes


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## FishinFreak

Would that person be willing to trust me with it so I can reproduce it?


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## BananaTom

FishinFreak said:


> Would that person be willing to trust me with it so I can reproduce it?


I have it on my list to talk to him about it. 
It is the grandson of the owners at the time of the photo


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## FishinFreak

Great! Thanks.


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## 3154tm

having trouble remembering but i seem to recall that leo had a partner in the early '50s whose name was rusty patchek (spelling?), i think they were both from chicago. as i recall they had a falling out and mr. patchek sold out and move down gulf bch hw and started a business call "father and son boatel". it was on the property just west of grande lagoon yacht club. it didn't last long.


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