The Loss of a Legend

The Florida Keys are mourning the loss of icon after legendary fishermen Jose Wejebe perished in a plane crash last Friday afternoon.

Courtesy Hell's Bay Boatworks

Wejebe, 54, of Summerland Key, died in the evening of April 6 after his single-engine plane he was piloting, crashed shortly after takeoff in Everglades City, Fla.  He was the respected host of the long-running Spanish Fly fishing show which began in 1995 on ESPN and later on the Outdoor Channel.

“He pretty much got me down here fishing, watching his show every week,” said Stripstrike Charters Captain Paul Fisicaro. Watching his show from the Bronx, the former UPS driver decided to trade in his brown truck and pants for a flats boat and Costas.

Fisicaro recalls watching Wejebe fish a young child with cystic fibrosis.

“I think he Grand Slammed that kid,” Fisicaro said. “The kid’s name was Christian and that was a great episode.”

Fisicaro moved to the Keys in ’96 – a year after Wejebe’s show debuted.

Those whose lives were touched by Jose are welcome to attend The Celebration of Life, Sunday April 15, at 1:30 p.m., at the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) Museum in Dania Beach, Fla.