Keepin it reel

Daniel Island resident Ron Silverman cast a wide net when he set out to launch the Daniel Island Inshore Fishing Club (DIIFC) some 20 years ago. His efforts, and those of many other members in the organization, have clearly reeled in a great success story. 

 

The first meeting of the DIIFC was held on Jan. 15, 2003, in the Daniel Island Medical Center Community Room at the corner of River Landing Drive and Island Park Drive (now an office building). Silverman created the organization for all angler skill levels. It was to be a fun, family-oriented group that could not only enjoy fishing together, but also educational and conservation opportunities, as well as social engagements. About 30 people showed up to the foundational gathering. Silverman and his fellow new DIIFC members were hooked from the start.

 

“Those 30 people were there because they were really, really interested in the club,” Silverman recalled. “We went through the mission statement, the vision statement. Everybody was comfortable with that and sort of took a vote – and we decided, yes! We’re the Daniel Island Inshore Fishing Club.”

 

“Just for perspective, the I-526 Interchange had just been opened the prior year and the first cell phone with a built-in camera was just released,” noted Jane Baker, president of the Daniel Island Town Association, in remarks shared at an event last month celebrating the DIIFC’s 20th anniversary. “… This club, which remains one of the largest and most successful clubs on the island today, really started as a community building opportunity. That is the sort of visionary Ron Silverman was, and is.” 

 

“When I got to Daniel Island, we’re totally surrounded by water, so I thought – let’s start a fishing club,” said Silverman, formerly of Wild Dunes, where he had founded a similar group known as the “Palmetto Longrodders.”

 

Silverman’s Wild Dunes club lasted about nine years, before fizzling out. It was more focused on how to catch fish, he said, and not family-centered. When Silverman moved to Daniel Island with his wife, Paula, in 2002, he approached the Property Owners Association about starting a club here. In addition to his experience at Wild Dunes, he had written a book about fishing, titled “Not a Great Fisherman, Just a Lucky One.” He had also caught a world record Jack Crevalle that “got some press,” Silverman said.

 

“So I had some experience and some credibility, and I think that helped me,” Silverman added. 

 

He put together a flier to advertise the club’s first meeting and posted it around the community. 

 

Two decades later, the organization continues to hold monthly meetings featuring speakers on a variety of fishing topics, as well as regular social events such as their popular annual “Fish Fry” at Pierce Park Pavilion and Smythe Park barbeque for families. But one of the club’s most beloved events is its Father’s Day weekend kids’ fishing tournament, headed by longtime club member Fred Danziger. The charitable event, renamed the Danziger Cup in 2021, has served more than a thousand kids and supported a number of worthy local causes since it launched in 2011, such as the Coastal Conservation Alliance and the Lowcountry Food Bank. But Danziger is quick to give much of the credit for the event’s success to Silverman, whom he calls his “first true friend on the island.”

 

“He was really the one to push me to do it,” said Danziger, who joined the DIIFC in 2008. “I came up with the idea, but I said I don’t know the first thing about running tournaments! He said ‘I’ll help you in every way possible. Run with it and I’ll support you’ – and he did!”

 

When asked about a standout memory from his time with the DIIFC, Danziger pointed to the tournament.

 

“I think the first year we had the tournament we ran it for four or five hours, and we said we’ll never do that again! It was blistering hot… And I think Ron had to cut a line on a kid because he hooked it into an alligator… But every year, a bunch of children and many parents as they are exiting the tournament will come up to me and actually shake my hand and say thank you for doing this. I get goosebumps when that happens!”

 

For Daniel Island resident Trent Gustafson, who has been a member of the DIIFC since 2015, the most rewarding part of his club experience has been witnessing the growth of the members’ fishing abilities and the enjoyment that comes from their success.

 

“Many join the club with little to no experience fishing in saltwater and want to learn,” said Gustafson, who served as president of the club from 2017 to 2021. “Some are parents that want to enjoy this pastime with their kids and don’t know where to start. Others are retired and are eager to meet new people and enhance their knowledge of the sport.”

 

For Gustafson, the club’s 20-year milestone is “a big deal.”

 

“Ron started a club that has impacted so many people, young and old, over the years,” Gustafson said. “As our community has grown, the fishing club has served as a social and educational resource for residents moving in from all over the world.”

 

Today, the club is approaching 100 members and continues to attract more and more interest. 

 

“The strong foundation set forth 20 years ago by Ron and the founding members has been the reason the club continues to prosper,” Gustafson added. 

 

Captain Greg Peralta, for whom the club erected a fishing statue at the Ralston Creek Boat Landing, also has high praise for the organization. 

 

“As I reflect on my years in the Daniel Island Inshore Fishing Club, time together is the first thing that comes to mind,” Peralta noted. “Good people bound together do good things. The Danziger Cup and oyster habitat restoration are a couple of great examples…For me, this is the essence of the club.” 

 

Silverman credits three things when asked what has helped sustain the club all these years – its focus on families, quality of members and officers, and community activities. 

 

“I can truly say that as the club celebrates its 20th anniversary, the club has lived up to and exceeded the goals set forth in the original vision statement and is on its way to an even better next 20 years,” Silverman said.

 

For Silverman, it has always been about more than catching fish. Spending time with one another, free from distractions, is the best “catch” of all. He remembers his own impactful fishing experiences with his father, while growing up in New York. 

 

Silverman added, “My father wasn’t out playing golf or something. He was there with me. Sitting side by side with me… And I’ve always said my love of fishing somehow felt as the love that my father gave me when I was a child.”

 

“It’s really a worthwhile thing,” Danziger added. “First of all fishermen are great people. They obviously have patience. They like the camaraderie, it’s a family-type orientation. We give up our electronics when we’re fishing and basically enjoy each other’s company. It’s hard to beat friendship and nature – and maybe a good sandwich to go along with it.” 

 

For additional information, please email: danielislandfishingclub@gmail.com.