Bowling lanes to ocean waves — 87 year old mastering art of fishing

BY SUSAN HOUTS

On most days, spry, friendly and active 87-year-old J. Douglas “Doug” Miller can be found along a Space Coast beach pursuing his passion for fishing.

Known around his apartment complex for his unwavering love for reeling in big catches, the Indian Harbor Beach resident has also been well-recognized as a champion bowler in his home state of Ohio.

Throughout his lifelong fishing career, Miller has reeled in a number of fishing records. He has even become a bit of a local celebrity in his own right, with many of his fishing pictures hanging on the wall of Man Overboard Bait and Tackle, his favorite beachside bait shop.

A Mansfield, Ohio native, Miller moved to the beach with his son and family in 2016 after 15 years in the Atlanta area; his wife Karen passed away in 2015 after 50 years of marriage. Miller said he spent much of their time in Georgia fishing on Lake Allatoona, just north of Atlanta, and it was there where he caught a lake-record longnose gar, measuring 54 inches and 25 pounds, a record reportedly just broken in June of this year with a 27-pound fish.

Another record is possibly held by Miller, not for the size of the catch, but for the age of the fisherman: a 5½ foot, 70-pound bull shark caught from the beach on a 20-pound line, using an 8-foot surf rod after a half-hour fight by an 85 year old. According to Miller, this is just one of the 47 total sharks he has been able to land here in five years.

Miller said the key to success is knowing that “good fishing is fishing the right way in the right place,” and that takes “knowledge, experience and always luck.”

One of his most powerful memories on or off the water had to do less with fishing and more with lucky timing, paired with a life-saving decision he made on a sunny day in his boat.

“One summer afternoon in 2007 on Lake Allatoona in North Georgia, I was just heading out to Red Top Mountain St. Park Marina going

Fisherman

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