I just learned this morning that Jose Wejebe passed away
yesterday afternoon (04/06/2012) in a small plane crash in the Florida
Everglades.
I remember watching “The Spanish Fly” every Saturday morning
as a boy. Even though I was not a
Saltwater Angler, and at that point had not even picked up a fly rod, something
about Jose’s show and especially his personality drew me in. It quickly became one of my favorite fishing
shows. I would probably give Jose and
his TV show most of the credit for my desire to fly fish. He made it “cool” to me when I was younger.
According to his website, spanishflytv.com, Jose was born in
Havana, Cuba, in 1958. If you know much
of anything about this time in Cuban history, you know that this was the time
of the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro coming into power. Jose’s father and uncle we imprisoned for
speaking out against the Castro regime, but were released after the government
seized their land and money. Wejebe’s
family then managed to flee to United States for asylum and start their lives
over again with nothing.
Again, according to the Spanish Fly website, Jose and nine
other family members lived in a two bedroom house in Miami, Florida. But, it was Miami where he began to
fish. He began to study the sport of
fishing, including legends such as Stu Apt, Flip Pallot and Lefty Kreh. He developed a relationship with them as a
teenager by sending them letters often, and would even send them some of his
hand tied flies. Flip Pallot even ended
up financing Jose’s first guide boat.
His fishing grew from there.
His first TV show aired on ESPN 2 in 1995, and was named after his boat,
“The Spanish Fly.” Known for the
beautiful destinations and Jose’s soft spoken, yet cool in my eye, personality,
the show quickly became the highest rated fishing show.
Jose’s passion for fishing really shined through his TV
show, and I am sure if I had met him he would have been the same. Fly anglers, saltwater fisherman, and the
fishing industry as a whole, has lost a really great angler.
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