In 1885, W.H. Wood caught what was said to have been the first big game fish, a silver tarpon, with an ordinary rod and reel. Articles in the London Observer and Scientific American about the feat launched big game fishing as a new sport and drew anglers from around the world to Charlotte Harbor. The sport employed hundreds of fishing guides in Southwest Florida and helped create a leisure industry of tackle shops, hotels, and restaurants. The variety of sport fish, habitats, favorable weather, and year-round fishing soon made the Charlotte Harbor area a premier fishing destination. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, wealthy anglers including Frederick Remington, J.P. Morgan, and several members of the Vanderbilt family came to Charlotte Harbor for the sport. Anglers traveled by rail to Punta Gorda and then by boat to the tarpon fishing grounds of Boca Grande Pass. In 1889, Scribner’s Magazine reported that many kinds of fish could be caught from the piers in Punta Gorda. Along with boats, piers and remnants of old bridges continued to be used for fishing, and over the years anglers displayed their trophy catches on Marion Avenue.