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| 6 ARNOLD ROAD, COVENTRY, RHODE ISLAND 02816 |
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Angler's Profiles
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This is a series of continuing articles introducing RISAA members to the rest of the club. 
This month's profile features JOHN HENDERSON |
If you’ve attended recent RISAA events like the Take-a-City-Kid-Fishing
Day, the chances are good that you’ve benefited from John Henderson’s generosity.
Remember that good, hot cup of java that cleared the cobwebs out? Or the
fresh doughnut that you washed down with the coffee? Thank John Henderson,
long-time RISAA member and co-proprietor of several Dunkin’ Donuts stores
around the state. He’s been the “unofficial coffee supplier” for many RISAA
functions, refusing to make any profits from the sales. On a recent sunny afternoon, John sat on the porch of his home, which overlooks Stump Pond in Coventry, and talked about his professional and fishing life. His five-year-old son Cameron ran around in the yard, playing with a cousin and enjoying his new swimming pool. In a cradle by John’s feet lay the latest addition to the Henderson household, one-month-old Shane. “That guy right there,” he smiled, nodding at the baby, “ is the reason I’m so late getting the boat in. It’s still sitting in my driveway!” Time is at a premium for Henderson, with his work and family life leaving precious little opportunities for what he refers to as “my real passion: saltwater fishing.” GROWING OUT OF SWEET WATER AND INTO THE SALT
Like many of us, John first caught the fishing fever in freshwater, angling with his dad on Beach Pond in Exeter. “I pretty much grew up on Beach Pond,” Henderson said. “ I would sneak out there in a canoe at four or five in the morning and fish all by myself.” Why fish by yourself? 
Because “most of the rest of the family wouldn’t get up that early. Plus,
it seemed like all the other kids in the area were girls.” (I can’t help
but think this last situation is a bad thing only if you’re eight years old,
like John was at the time.) Eventually, John’s dad took him for his first saltwater fishing trip. “It was a long time ago, but I still remember it. We went down to Galilee, fishing off the rocks. We got chowder and clam cakes. Man, that was great. I think we probably didn’t catch anything but choggies, but I didn’t care. Just the feeling of being by the ocean burned itself into my brain. To this day I still can’t get that feeling out.” After that, Henderson devoted more and more of his time to salt water fishing. His dad eventually bought a sixteen-foot boat to cruise around the bay, and by the time he was sixteen, John was piloting the boat alone. “I learned my way around the bay like the back of my hand,” he said. The years passed, bringing bigger boats and a memorable camping trip on Prudence Island, also with his father. Finally there came the trip that John says changed his whole thinking about fishing: his first offshore trip. “We chartered Charlie Donovan’s boat Snappa,” he recalls. “That was just an unbelievable experience.” Fishing offshore is “a totally different world. The day we went out was beautiful. Blue skies, and 40 or 50 feet of visibility underwater. I ended up catching about a 40-pound yellowfin tuna. After that, I was just addicted to off-shore.” IN THE FAMILY WAY
The next few years provided John with more offshore fishing experiences like that one, and he eventually worked his way up the boating ladder to the one he currently owns, a 24-foot Rampage. 
Along the way, there were trips when the tuna steaks would disappear even
before the boat reached shore, so eager were John and his friends to enjoy
fresh fish. White marlin, and even a 200-pound yellowfin, a fish which
Henderson calls a personal best, marked other offshore adventures. Still,
it was a decidedly in-shore boating experience which truly altered his view
of things. “Our first date was taking the boat to the Harborside (restaurant in East Greenwich) for dinner,” Henderson recalls. “She’s the reason I hardly get to fish anymore!” “I’m the best thing that ever happened to you, buddy!” Holly, John’s wife of six and one-half years, shot back. She drags John through the grilling that makes the bravest of husbands squirm: how many years have we been married? What’s our anniversary? John doesn’t flinch, and manages to get the right answers. It’s easy to see the banter is part of what makes a good relationship between the two. Since that dinner, Holly has accompanied her husband on fishing trips numerous times, though she usually leaves the offshore trips to John and his buddies. “I caught a 25 or 30-pound yellowfin when I was out with John once,” she recalls. “It took me so long to land him, my arms ached. That’s too much like work for me!” Nowadays, the family fishing excursions usually involve fluking or going after local stripers. SOME DAY...
John’s work in the world of doughnuts dates back many years. “I used to stand on a milk crate to cut doughnuts,” he recalls. As a boy, John would often accompany his father to work at out-of-state locations, sometimes awakening at two or three in the morning to prepare the doughnuts. “Yeah, people call me Johnny Doughnuts,” he says, a trace of resignation creeping into his voice. Eventually, though, Henderson dreams of being on the water full time. “I’ve thought about lobstering, maybe running a little charter business or something. It’s gotta have something to do with being on the water. I’m not one to sit around; I need something to keep me out of trouble, and fishing is definitely my passion!” |
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ANGLER PROFILES
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