The Men, Their Courage, The Story
- From 1960 to 1970 a fellow by the name of Ernest Hudson operated and managed a grocery store called Cash Corner Supermarket near the town of Vandemere, North Carolina. The store was the largest in the area and folks came from miles around not only to shop for groceries but for dry goods, housewares, and clothing. Ernie, as he was known, also carried a large line of sporting goods including baseballs, bats and gloves, footballs, basketballs, rifles, shotguns, and ammo as well as fishing gear. During that decade, Ernie worked hard to support a family, attended a local church and developed a friendship with all his customers and associates. He was a good community man and went out of his way for others. Every now and then he liked to getaway to go fishing. Every Wednesday afternoon the store would close, as would many businesses then, and Ernie would get together with a few of his buddies and take to the water for an afternoon of fishing. They liked to fish for croakers and trout but channel bass was their target species. Ernie was not the first person to pursue these fish with rod and reel. Others in Pamlico County, Orien Potter, Marcus Gaskill, Herman Dunbar were successful at catching “Old Drum” (as the locals called them). Mr. Marion Barfield, the postmaster from New Bern was also a skilled angler for drum.
- It was a windy cold day in March 1967 that Ernie and good friend James Newton went on a trip to Judith Island with a boat load of bait and tackle. They staked out 12 surf casting type rigs from the south facing bank on the island. James, a commercial trawl boat captain provided much of the bait. They used fish cut bait; but, squid was the bait of choice. After catching and releasing many fish that afternoon they decided to keep about a dozen of the biggest fish and head home. The air temperature dropped to below freezing and a snowstorm developed quickly. The seas kicked up and spray was freezing on Ernie’s 19-foot Grady White boat. With only a compass on board for navigation, and their vision impaired, the two decided to lighten the load as they pounded the boat through the rough seas. James tossed all but two of the largest fish overboard. When they got back to the dock it was after dark. The next morning the fish were taken to the Cash Corner Supermarket and weighed. The biggest fish was 57 pounds. That was the heaviest fish that Ernie had ever caught.
- Soon after that adventure, some of James and Ernie’s friends from Vandemere donated their time, efforts, and expertise to the pursuit of the channel bass. With the addition of Benny Rose Sr, Frankie “Doodel” Leary, and H.L. Rowe the official Squidders Club was born. By the 1970s the Squidders had much experience catching drum. They kept a close count of how many fish they caught and the location. They all shared in the expense but it never outweighed the pleasure! In that year they caught 150 drum between March and October. In the late 1970s other anglers, Owen Lupton, Carl Alcock, and Julius Walker to name a few, from Pamlico County landed many Old Drum on the banks of the Pamlico Sound.