Women’s Surf Fishing Club unique on East Coast

By ANDREA TAMBURINO
The Women’s Surf Fishing Club of New Jersey was organized in 1952 and is currently the oldest and only such club on the East Coast. The club is a member of the parent organization, the Association of Surf Angling Clubs (ASAC).
Just a few years ago, the club was on the brink of extinction, but one of the founding members, Florence Pancoast, got her daughter Christine, involved, and things started to happen.
Today, we are over 40 members strong. Pancoast, our president for the past seven years, never gave up. She single-handedly built the club back up and kept it alive.
She talked about the club to any woman she would see on the beach, whether any of these women could surf fish or not. If they looked like they might be interested or had an interest in the ocean, she recruited them.
I’ve been a boat fisher for over 53 years. A few years ago, a friend and I planned a fishing trip, but one of my motors went down. Because we planned on fishing and didn’t want to go home without wetting a line, we grabbed surf equipment and ran down to the beach to try our luck.
We were using all the wrong rods, reels, and tackle. Used to fishing from a boat, neither one of us could cast very well, but we were happy just to be out there. Although I didn’t know her at the time, Pancoast drove by us once and kept going.
When we didn’t get a nibble, we decided to try another spot, and ended up near Pancoast, who was fishing with another member. We watched her cast her line out. We never saw where it hit in the water. It was too far out to see.
We decided to stay around these two ladies. They obviously knew what they were doing, and maybe they would lead us to the fish.
The four of us watched one another casting for several minutes.
Pancoast and her friend drove up to where I was standing, handed me a card and gave me a web address to look-up. She told me that if I liked fishing, I might be interested in this club.
When I called, I explained that my interest in the club would probably be temporary and that I’m a boat fisher. I also explained that I didn’t know a thing about surf fishing. Somehow, I could actually hear the ‘smile’ in her voice.
We went to the beach a day or so later, and by the end of an hour she taught me how to cast and put another hundred feet on my casting distance.
By the end of the week I knew how to tie a few “surf knots.” By the end of the month I stopped calling my boat mechanic to find out when my boat would be done.
By the end of the summer, I was on my way to becoming a real surf caster and met one of the best friends I will ever have.
I have seen Pancoast work this magic time and time again, building our membership up one girl at a time. Her patience and skill as a teacher inspires confidence in women who have never held a rod and reel in their hands.
We have mothers and daughters, sisters, out-of-towners, and islanders, nurses, bankers, computer professionals, businesswomen, housewives, and soccer moms all together. We fish, laugh, and share wonderful experiences—week after week, season after season.
If you are interested in joining us, check out our Web site at wsfcnj.org.