Peggy Beckett Retires From Huck Finn Sport Fishing

Peggy Beckett’s long, close relationship with Pillar Point Harbor is coming to an end.

After 22 years running charter boats from the Huck Finn Sport Fishing Center, Beckett has sold the business to Half Moon Bay native Elizabeth Knier, who will continue the sport fishing business but use the store front to sell locally produced food, produce and flowers.

Beckett’s time at the harbor spanned four decades and launched salmon sport fishing in Half Moon Bay.  

The departure won’t be easy. Peggy, and her husband, Bill, poured their lives into the harbor and worked tirelessly for the preservation and growth of the sport fishing industry.

The Becketts came to Pillar Point in 1987 and with their boat, “Red Baron,” became the first party boat in the harbor to chase salmon. Other boats fished for rock cod and the Red Baron became the only option for salmon between the Golden Gate and Monterey Bay.

Commercial boats had plied the water off the San Mateo County Coast for salmon, but the Beckett’s boat, which they both ran, was the only boat open to the public. For the Bill Beckett, who was one of the first to fish for striped bass with live bait inside the San Francisco Bay, it was a whole new game.

It didn’t take the Becketts long to learn that game.

“If we wanted to build the business we had to catch fish,” Peggy Beckett said. “The local fishery developed slowly. “

Salmon season used to open on the Saturday closest to February 15. That time of year meant good fishing around Pedro Point and Montara. Consistent catch rates caught the attention of local anglers and the Golden Gate boats alike. Soon, City boats were coming south to fish.

“We are ideally located and there’s a lot of good spring time fishing. It was a matter of learning,” Beckett said.

They bought the Huck Finn Sport Fishing business in 1990. That took Peggy off the water and put her in the shop while Bill skippered the boat. They worked the business side-by-side until  Alzheimer’s disease  took Bill off the water. He passed in 2009 after 25 years with Peggy.

“It was 11 hours a day, six days a week for 35 years,” Peggy Beckett said. “This is everything I do. My social life has been from across this counter. I haven’t not had responsibility for someone else — boats or Bill — since I started in 1974 in Sausalito. ”

Peggy Beckett watched the harbor change dramatically since her arrival. Better, faster boats have extended the range of party boats. The new launch ramp has made fishing accessible to private sport fishing boats. Advancements in electronics for  fish finding equipment and navigation — like GPS — have created a new type of angler.

She and Bill also rode the booms and survived the busts of the up-and-down nature of fishing. Regulations from federal and state agencies eliminated salmon fishing for three years. Rock cod regulations shortened seasons and restricted catches — all major impacts on a thin-margin business.

“If you haven’t learned to save money for six months you’re not going to be able to fish and survive,” Beckett said. “Those emergency funds get you through. Farmers are similar. They are also at the mercy of Moth Nature on a lot of levels.”

There were good, sometimes great stretches of fishing. The early '90s brought excellent salmon fishing. In those days baitfish, especially anchovies, were thick and salmon would feast from Martin’s Beach to Pacifica. Pacifica Pier angles used to land dozens, sometimes hundreds, of salmon per day. Party boats were full and many ran morning and evening trips. Fuel costs were low and fish were close to shore. Private boats used to follow the party boats like ducklings after a mother, waiting for the big boats to stop and find fish. All of that has changed and none to the benefit of fishing.

“I am proud we came when we did and proud we developed what we did,” Beckett said.

Peggy Beckett also was a presence behind the scenes, working to help preserve the resources that were her livelihood.

She has served on local, county, regional committees  to help protect fragile resources. Spare time has not been a luxury.

Gradually, Peggy is pulling away from those pursuits as she transitions into new endeavors.

“It’s taken every energetic level I own to pull myself away,” Beckett said. “This business is the last physical piece of what Bill and I did together and that’s a hard thing to pull away from. When I walk away I walk away from Bill.”

Beckett’s next chapter has no script.

“My life has been the harbor and the boats,” Beckett said. “They’ve changed a lot … I’ve always been about planning everything but I thought, ‘I’m done’ I just need a place to live. I recognize it could be a challenge, maybe not. I intend six months of nothing. I’ll stay in Half Moon Bay until March or April and then go to the big island of Hawaii. It’s about the adventure.”

Tim Goode has written news, sports and features on the Peninsula for more 35 years. Starting with a typewriter at the Peninsula Times-Tribune, Goode has had articles in every Bay Area daily newspaper as well as the Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times and a handful of outdoor magazines. He has three children, 7, 12, and 14 and one wife. He runs the award-winning Web site www.norcalfishingnews.com.

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