Longtime lure
White’s Tackle General Manager Geoff Quatraro stocks the display of skirt lures at the Fort Pierce store. White’s carries a wide variety of fishing gear. RUSTY DURHAM
White’s Tackle is within striking distance of centennial
BY WHITNEY JOSEPH
White’s Tackle moved to North Second Street following World War II. JOHN ‘DON’ RAFFENSBERGER
Fishermen are known for swapping larger-than-life stories, but the camaraderie at White’s Tackle is no fish tale. The nearly 100-year-old business fosters friendships that have lasted lifetimes.
Albert “Buck” White opened his tackle store in Fort Pierce’s P.P. Cobb Building in 1935, moving to Second Street in 1945 following World War II. Donald “Raffy” Raffensberger bought the store from White’s sister, Linnie Tamplin, in 1973. He kept the name, and in 1996 he passed the business on to his son, John “Don” Raffensberger, who ran it until 2007, the year his father passed away and former employee Scott Crippen bought the business.
Crippen moved operations to a brand-new building on South U.S. 1 in 2009; he opened three other locations and developed a new website. In 2023, Crippen sold White’s to Elson R. “Trey” Smith III, whom he befriended while just days old as their mothers gave birth in the same hospital, about 10 days apart.
“He’s definitely my oldest friend from day one,” Crippen shared when speaking of the man to whom he is a friend, fishing buddy and business cheerleader, as he still visits the store nearly every day.
The North Second Street location of White’s Tackle as it appears today. RUSTY DURHAM
These days, White’s Tackle calls this spacious, light-filled building at 1106 South U.S. 1 in Fort Pierce home, thanks to past owner Scott Crippen. Its design is specific to suit the tackle shop’s needs. RUSTY DURHAM PHOTOS
“It was very easy [the purchase] because we’re lifelong friends and it felt like he was negotiating on my behalf and vice versa,” said Smith. “It was probably one of the easiest deals we’ve ever done because we’re friends and wanted to do the best for each other.”
“I was just glad to keep it going,” said Crippen, who helped position White’s Tackle to ensure it will celebrate its centenary anniversary. “I sure hoped we would reach it; my goal was to keep the store rolling to see that. I can’t believe it’s already here.”
Crippen was pretty much born with a fishing pole in his hands. As soon as his parents learned they were expecting a son, his father commissioned the junior Raffensberger to build a custom rod for the yet-to-be-delivered fisherman. Crippen got a job at White’s before he could even drive, with his mom dropping him off after school.
“I was probably 15. It was just a summer-time job and I loved it,” Crippen said.
“I was a huge fisherman and enamored by it. I spent every paycheck there. I seriously never left with one dollar. I still go in there, almost every day, or at least a few times a week.”
White’s Tackle “crew member” Jon Repass ties a Bimini knot in preparation of spooling a reel of fishing line.
LONG WAY HOME
Customers of White’s Tackle in Fort Pierce get plenty of assistance from the expert “crew members” on hand, including, from left, Kadri Benton, Cody Moist and Repass. WHITNEY JOSEPH
After college, Crippen went to work at the family business, Atlantic Building Materials, in the Tampa area. When his family sold the business, Crippen was looking for something else to do; meanwhile, Raffensberger was looking to sell White’s. Crippen couldn’t resist.
“White’s was the best, because everyone there was happy to go fishing or had a fishing story to share,” he recalled. “Everyone had a common interest with everyone who walked in — it was great.” For Don Raffensberger, selling White’s to Crippen was “kind of like passing it on to a family member.”
David Raffensberger is not an avid angler like his late father or brother, Don, but he still grew up fishing Fort Pierce waters and has fond memories of White’s Tackle.
“Well, I was very young when my dad bought the business; my brother actually ran the business,” he said. His brother went to work at White’s right after high school; David went to college, and spent the next 40 years teaching high school and coaching football. Yet he treasures his time at White’s.
“That was awesome because I learned so much about fishing from my father and how to do just about everything, when it came to that hobby,” he recalled. “l didn’t make it a living, but it was great growing up around the tackle shop and all the people associated with it. I loved listening to those stories when they came in — though some were truer than others.”
While he “worked with Pop” for a few summers during high school, it was really his brother who held down the fort. “My brother worked there for, at least, 30-plus years,” he said. “It was a part of our family for 40 years; it became synonymous with my father. And the fact that Scott’s carried on the tradition to this point has been awesome.”
ON POINT
That point came to a peak for Crippen last year, when he was approached by some folks wanting to buy the tackle store.
“I wasn’t looking to sell,” said Crippen, “and then Trey got wind of it and I just kind of entertained it. A couple of people were looking to seriously expand their business and after Trey got wind of it he said that he’d really like to sit down and talk. It was kind of the right time at the right place.”
Smith said it was around the time that his family’s business, Leroy Smith Inc., which has done citrus exporting, packing and growing since 1947, was dealing with its volume and operations winding down in the face of the Citrus HLB Disease [also known as citrus greening]. While Leroy Smith Inc. no longer exports overseas, it continues to grow oranges and lemons in St. Lucie County for a contract with Minute Maid/Coca Cola. However, Smith wanted a local business that brought him back to his roots and could give his family the ties and community connections he experienced while fishing with his father when he was young. White’s Tackle did that for him.
“I always wanted to come back to the fishing or marine industry; that’s what I loved to do,” said Smith, his words emphasizing just seconds later how ardently he loves the water, his new tackle shop and the Treasure Coast fishing community. “We’re local, and when you walk into our shop, the associates, the managers, everybody, is an active outdoorsman who specializes in their certain area of fishing and you’re talking to somebody who might have gotten off the water yesterday and might be going back on the water tomorrow.”
White’s General Manager Geoff Quatraro has worked at the store for 26 years — one in a long line of employees with lengthy tenures. He noted customers recognize “there are companies like Orvis that have gone big box, but we’re still mom and pop — we’re all traveling — we’re all going to places where there might be fly-fishing or big-game or off-shore fishing, we’re traveling all over, seeing new places and meeting new people. This store is more of an experience; you’re talking to people versus going to some store where there’s just a clerk behind the counter that’s just ringing you up.”
Quatraro added he has customers who compete across the globe in tournaments with prizes that can go as high as $3, $5, even $8 million. “I’ve always been the guy for all the programs back in the States for the customers who fish in tournaments all over the world,” he said. “They’ll call me and say I need X, Y or Z and we have two days left of the tournament. Being able to provide those items and get them in a timely manner and understand the urgency … is kind of a big deal. You think, that was kind of cool. Not that you get part of the million bucks, but it’s still fun.”
Rods of every type imaginable line the walls of White’s Tackle, along with the monofilament and all of the other fishing paraphernalia necessary to make your next fishing trip a success. RUSTY DURHAM
FAMILY STEWARDSHIP
David Raffensberger added another reason he believes the business is so successful, with locations now in Vero Beach, Stuart and Jupiter, as well as Fort Pierce.
“Well, when people are poor, they turn to fishing,” he observed. “When the economy is down, they turn to fish for food. My dad took it over from what might have been, in today’s world, more
of a nickel-and-dime business. It wasn’t a big business; it had hooks and sinkers. He started turning it around and sold bigger ticket items. I don’t know how long it would have lasted if he hadn’t changed with the times. Then Scott took it to another level when he bought it from my brother. It’s a landmark, in my opinion, especially the old building.”
White’s draws people from Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, the Panhandle and elsewhere in the state, as well as around the U.S. and internationally. The website helped establish White’s global presence. “We ship stuff all over the place,” Crippen said, still feeling ownership after so many years at White’s. “We get calls from the Bahamas, Costa Rica, etc. People get on there and order stuff from anywhere; it’s like California is just up the road.”
“Sales-wise, I think we probably cleared 5 to 6 million bucks in 2023,” he added. “Sales increased a lot because we wound up with four locations; we built a bigger building; and we were able to triple our inventory.”
Large ticket sales also add up when sports fishing yachts request White’s to rig their boats for trips abroad, like a recent request to get a boat rigged for a trip to the Mediterranean. According to Quatraro, when the customer entered White’s, the boat didn’t have a “fishing hook or rod or reel or anything, and that’s what we specialize in, just getting people that need to be completely rigged up for a campaign around the world.” Outfitting that 50-foot boat to sail to the Mediterranean, which it will be doing alongside a mega-yacht, brought in a six-figure payday to White’s.
In addition to White’s vast and varied inventory, the tackle shop offers repairs, full rig set-ups and other services, provided by “crew members” such as Kadri Benton, Cody Moist and Jon Repass in Fort Pierce, along with other employees at White’s other locations. There are 17 employees in total.
“We have an overwhelming commitment to our customers and we go out of our way to do the best we can to provide the best product and best service to our customers,” said Quatraro.
White’s isn’t sitting on its laurels. According to Smith, one way White’s is planning to enhance its revenues is by offering instore fishing guides and inshore and offshore charter fishing-trip experiences. “We have clients come in who want to outfit their boats but need assistance or guidance going offshore or fly-fishing in the lagoon, and now we’re staffed in a way that we can offer those experiences by keeping the revenue inhouse.”
SPECIAL PLACE
Customers who enter White’s Tackle on U.S. 1 in Fort Pierce often enjoy a laugh thanks to the sign over the entry door, which reads, “White’s Tackle, Welcome Hunters, Fishermen & Liars.” WHITNEY JOSEPH
“We’re all good friends,” Repass said. “We don’t only work together; we fish together. It’s like family here and it makes us feel good when we can help people succeed.”
For many customers, visiting the store is a long-standing tradition. “This community already fishes — it’s generational — and guys have probably been shopping here since it opened,” Moist said. “The thing I love most is helping people. These guys took such good care of me during my fishing career that I decided to return the favor and help the cause.”
Benton agreed their expertise lures customers back, time and time again. “Customers rely on our knowledge, and everybody who works here has their specialty,” he said, listing off their individual skills. But he points out that they also have nature on their side. Fort Pierce has “the ocean and the river, where people can catch a snook and a trout — one is inshore and one is offshore — and you can catch both in the same day.”
“Fort Pierce is rare,” Don Raffensberger concurred. “It has the Indian River Lagoon, with brackish water where you can catch snook, trout, red fish. Then you can go offshore and catch dolphin, kingfish, wahoo, sailfish, grouper, snapper and tarpon. It’s kind of a diverse fishery.”
That unique ecology has drawn anglers here to fish and to shop. “It was always neat to see the connection that the local Fort Pierce people had with each other,” recalled David Raffensberger. “And I always loved their loyalty.
“Buying fishing tackle is like buying a car: you want it to be serviced and last. That’s why White’s is special. You can buy a reel anywhere, but you can’t get the service, the knowledge, from anybody else. It’s Buck; it’s Pop Pop; it’s Donny; it’s Geoff. Those are the ones that started it. Out of all of them, my brother and dad owned it the longest — they’re the ones that made it special.”
Crippen seconded that sentiment.
“I’m just glad to be able to continue what Donald and his family had done — and the Fort Pierce fishing history,” he said. “And it was nice to sell White’s to someone who wanted to carry that on. That was the main thing, to keep the history alive. That was important to me.”