OCEAN CITY — Less than a week after the Ocean City fishing community mourned Sue Foster’s death, plans are already in the works for a new artificial reef site off the coast of the resort in her name.
Foster, who passed away last Tuesday, was an avid fisherman, successful tackle shop owner, prolific writer and advocate for the local and regional fishing community. For years, her informative columns educated both uninitiated and veteran anglers about the nuances of local fishing and perhaps more importantly, her omnipresence at her family-owned bait and tackle shops in the resort area provided an important resource for the local fishing scene.
In addition, she was always a strong advocate for the Ocean City Reef Program, which for the last 17 years has been creating a vast network of artificial reefs off the coast of the resort. The artificial reef program over the last year or so has been enjoying one of its most prolific times in recent memory with tons of material going down on the designated sites, which range from as close as one mile off the coast to as far away as 20 miles.
While the logistics are unknown and there is no timetable for the start of the new reef, Ocean City Reef Program President Captain Monty Hawkins said this week it will likely be a centerpiece of the growing network.
“I intend hers will be a great spot and imagine I’ll have a lot of help getting it there,” said Hawkins last week. “I promise this, ‘Sue’s Reef’ is going to be one of our best inshore spots. I guarantee it.”
Hawkins said Foster was always front and center went it came to advocating for artificial reef building off the coast over the years and honoring her memory with a reef in her name was a logical and fitting next step.
“She supported reef building in a big way,” he said. “Sue and her husband, Bob, were always among the most generous sponsors for our fundraising efforts.”
Foster for years ran the Oyster Bay Tackle shops in Ocean City and later Fenwick Island. She learned the ropes from her late father, Irving S. Mumford III, and her late uncle Paul Mumford, who owned and operated the iconic Paul’s Tackle Shop on Talbot Street for generations.
In 1980, the family branched out to open the Oyster Bay tackle shop in north Ocean City, which is celebrating its 35th year. A few years later, Foster opened the Oyster Bay shop in Fenwick, which has been in business now for 30 years.
In between, Foster wrote numerous fishing columns for various publications in and around the resort area, dispensing her vast knowledge on the local fishing scene. Hawkins said this week he had fond memories of Foster from his early days in the resort.
“Among a few fond memories from the earliest part of my fishing career, in the fall of 1981, I saw a gorgeous blonde throwing the biggest cast net I’d ever seen just at daylight,” he said. “Decades later, I would attend many fisheries meetings where Sue was a strong voice for the recreational community.”
During the last 17 years, the Ocean City Reef Foundation has submerged tons of material, from old boats to retired military equipment to discarded construction materials, to create a vast artificial reef network off the coast. The artificial reefs have enhanced habitat for fish and other sea creatures, which has, in turn, improved offshore fishing for recreational anglers and created new opportunities for diving enthusiasts. Many are named in honor of local fishing icons including the “Ake Reef” and the “Jimmy Jackson Reef,” for example, and soon Foster’s reef will join the impressive network.