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Angler's Profiles
by Mike Lanni
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| A series of articles introducing RISAA members to the rest of the club. |
| (From the September, 1999 Newsletter) THOM & BRENDA PELLETIER |
At our July monthly meeting, RISAA members were treated to the enjoyable
seminar on fluke fishing by Thom Pelletier. Assisting him was
his wife Brenda. Thom is one of the big names in our club, and
is widely recognized as the premier authority on fluke fishing in Rhode Island.
In fact, his name has become synonomous with fluke fishing ever since he
began marketing his own line of "Thom Cat" fluke rigs a few years back.
These rigs are proven fluke-killers, and could only have been designed by
someone who has spent years on the water studying that species' habits, as
Thom has. After seeing his presentation last month, I was convinced
that this guy really knows his stuff.Thom started fishing Rhode Island coastal waters when he was about 10 years old, under the guidance of his uncle, George Mouchon. George is the father of Ronnie Mouchon, owner of Breachway Bait & Tackle, and also a RISAA member. In the early 70's, Tom began fishing offshore with Al Mello aboard the "Six Pack" out of Point Judith. Tangling with bluefin tuna and blue sharks provided many thrilling experiences, but in the process, he never lost his affinity for inshore fishing. Preferring to target predatory species of fish, Thom would go to work on bass, bluefish, 
squeteague, fluke and bonito/albacore at every available opportunity. Using
the lightest tackle possible, he has boated bass into the 30's, blues as
large as 18 pounds and squets up to 12 pounds. Double-digit bonito
and albavore have also been lifted over the gunwales of his 18 foot boat
"Thom Cat" as well as fluke to nearly 8 pounds. Thom, like most
of us, is still looking for that ever-elusive 10 pound doormat.As Thom developed into an accomplished angler, he was compelled to share his knowledge and tactics with other anglers, just as George Mouchon and Al Mello had done for him in his younger years. He began submitting fishing articles to popular local fishing magazines, and not surprisingly, they got printed. More than a dozen of his writings have appeared in the New England Edition of The Fisherman, and others have appeared in On The Water. He's also taken the time to write for RISAA's newsletter, in which articles on squeteague and fluke fishing were printed recently. For a guy who has no formal education in journalism, he sure could have fooled me. All his articles are structured well, with good vocabulary and composition. He also incorporates his own personal flair into what he writes, which is essential in keeping the reader's interest. 
As for Brenda Pelletier, she's also quite talented, but in a different medium.
She's a professional photographer, heading a family-run business that
includes her two sisters. You may not realize it, but you've probably
seen her work, especially if you are a subscriber to The Fisherman. The
January 7, 1999 edition of that publication features a cover photo of Thom,
all duded out in a sportcoat and tie, tangling with a a bluefish off Narragansett
Beach. Also.on the front cover, a small inset photo shows Thom again,
with cousin Ronnie Mouchon, his new bride, and other members of the wedding
party. Any fisherman who saw that cover shot most likely put two and
two together pretty quickly. All it takes to interrupt a wedding reception
attended by a bunch of fishermen is a bluefish blitz on a nearby beach! It
was Brenda who shot the photos and submitted them to The Fisherman, and in
the inset, it's Ronnie's wife with the biggest smile on her face. I
guess both of these lovely ladies knew what they were getting into from the
start. It's a true testament to Thom and Ronnie's intelligence to have
taken the same amount of care in choosing their mates as they do in choosing
their fishing tackle!According to Thom, Brenda is the consumate wife and mother to their two children, Jonathan (16) and Jodie (15). Both of these kids are heavily into sports, and are honor students as well. Brenda spends countless hours shuffling them back and forth to practices and games, and rarely misses a sporting event in which either one is a participant. She also likes to cook and sometimes it's baked fish that she and Thom caught the day before that's on the menu. Brenda has gotten to be a pretty good angler under Thom's guidenace, and her most noteworthy catch was a 19.5 pound striper that won the ladie's division in the 1997 Snug Harbor Annual Bass & Bluefish Tournament. One afternoon, when Thom and Brenda were fluke fishing, Thom asked, "are you really enjoying this?" "Of course I am," she replied, "but if you were a golfer, Thom I'd probably enjoy golfing too!" It was at that moment that Thom knew he had a "keeper." Thom Pelletier seems to have just the right blend of work, family and fishing in his life. As for work, he's been an employee of Gorham Manufacturing for 27 years, the last 20 as an engraver. He likes to use his vacation time a day at a time, fishing the south shore. A sports nut, he routinely has a football or baseball game tuned in on his boat radio while drifting for fluke! When I picked up the phone to interview Thom, I didn't know what to expect, as I had only spoken with him briefly on a few occasions prior. With all his credentials, I was prepared to possibly speak with someone who was a bit self-absorbed. What I did encounter was a rather humble guy who loved to talk, not about himself, but his wife, children, and his love of fishing. |
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ANGLER PROFILES
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