FROM LOUISIANA SEAFOOD NEWS | June 19, 2010
by Springfield Lewis/Louisiana Seafood News
There was no Christmas in July for Santa Claus look alike and Lake Pontchartrain fisherman Frank Woolley who sits on his boat at the Bucktown dock, named after his grandfather Buck Wooley.
With his full snow-white beard, Frank Woolley has been known to scores of New Orleans children as Santa Claus. He gets into character as the jolly old man during the holiday seasons to help out events and charities. The rest of the year, Woolley fishes giant Lake Pontchartrain, north of the city, to make a living.
Woolley fishes alone “in a good little one-man boat … not very pretty,” he says, with a pure New Orleans draw. Now age 67, he’s been fishing to lake and nearby Gulf of Mexico waters around the mouth of the Mississippi River all his life … like his father and grandfather did before him. As soon as he learned to swim, he says, his mother allowed him to go out on the fishing boats. And, he hoped his son might follow the tradition.
Looking out on the open water of Pontchartrain, Woolley talks of his concern for the future. The Mississippi delta area with its tributaries and wetlands are a national resource, rich with wildlife, fish and shellfish. It is a critical breeding ground for much of the Gulf’s sea life … creatures Woolley is worried about because of weeks of unprecedented contamination by oil from BP’s runaway well 40 miles out in the Gulf.
He admits to not being an expert. But, at the same time, he knows the waters and marshes as only a southern Louisiana fisherman would … and, something’s not right, he believes, with delicate creatures and plant life being inundated by heavy crude oil.
Oil continues to spill from the sunken Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Woolley holds BP fully responsible, not only for destruction to wide areas of the formerly pristine fishing waters but also for ruining his career as a commercial fisherman. A quiet, soft-spoken man, it’s clear he is not happy and believes the oil giant should fairly compensate him for his boat and his inability to continue the work he’s loved for all his life.
Darin Woolley says
I’m Darin Woolley, son of late Frank Woolley ( 2-19-43 to 5-8-2018) who we dearly miss. Great great great …….. son of William Buck Woolley who BuckTown was named.
I loved being out on the water with my dad for over 40 years. 1970’s to about 2012 when he sold his last trawl boat. My dad has taught me so much to be safe on the water over the years. From having to ride out severe storms. Throw out the anchor put on life jacket , hold on and ride out the storm. Other times how to get out of jams. Rope tangled on prop under boat in the winter and having to jump overboard with a knife to cut it free. Trawl net gets caught on objects under water and fight for hours to get it loose without losing the net and boards. Dad said it was a plane one time when our ropes started spreading way way out to the left and right sides. Shut down engine untie pulling ropes turn boat around retie ropes and pull slowly back over the object to get free. I remember one time our prop or shaft broke and was stuck out there for the day till help found us. Dad warmed stored can food ,just for that reason , on the engine so he could feed me out there. Always have non-perishable food and gallons of drinking water.
This brought back so many memories. Thank you.
Darin (Buck) Woolley
The Editor says
Darin:
I enjoyed meeting your dad. I loved photographing him. He is one memory I will cherish and never forget.
Ed Lallo