Billy Pate - RIP
 

Pate was a important pioneer in landing big sal****er fish on fly rods and
was particularly dedicated to tarpon fishing, although billfishing was also
a passion. His 1982 188-pound tarpon world record on 16-pound tippet
remained unbeaten for 21 years, and he was the first person to catch a blue
marlin and a black marlin on fly. He was also the first angler to catch six
billfish species on a flyrod. Pate was also an ardent conservationist; he
was instrumental in the creation of the $50 tarpon tag system in Florida and
was a founder or board member of the Everglades Protection Association,
Trout Unlimited, Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited, the Don Hawley Foundation, and
the Pate Foundation.
Billy Pate partnered with legendary Florida Keys guide George Hommel in 1967
to create one of the first destination angling companies in the U.S.,
Worldwide Anglers, which they sold in 1995 to Bass Pro Shops. In 1976, Pate
got together with Tibor Reels' Ted Juracsik to design the first readily
available anti-reverse tarpon reel, a reel that later went on to help catch
225 world records. He was inducted into the IGFA Hall of Fame in 2003.

JT