Farley Boats - FDR and The Farley Boat

FDR and The Farley Boat

In 1936, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited Port Aransas and was introduced to tarpon fishing. He enjoyed tarpon fishing so much that in 1937, while Congress was debating his Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937, he traveled to Port Aransas specifically to catch tarpon. He hired Barney Farley, the famous fishing guide and brother of Fred Farley.

The president brought his own 35-foot fishing boat and Barney Farley agreed to take the President out on the boat. After an unsuccessful outing, Barney Farley convinced the president to fish from a Farley Boat. The President caught so many tarpon that he returned to Port Aransas later that year to again fish with Barney Farley on a Farley Boat.

The current Farley Boat Company and the FDR fishing story is recounted in a 2012 episode of the syndicated television series Texas Country Reporter.