7 Tight Lines Bulletin - Spring 2016 more club news Nearly every fish and piece of memorabilia that is on public display inside the West Palm Beach Fishing Club has a story behind it.  Beverly Cowan’s recent donation of fish mounts has added yet more color to these entertain- ing fish tales. Beverly, and her late husband Bob, were active WPBFC members for over four decades.  The pair operated and fished together for years aboard their 46’ Post, Mal de Mer. They fished for tuna and white marlin off New England, they were regulars in local sailfish tournaments and trav- eled abroad to the Bahamas, Panama and Mexico pursuing billfish.  “About the only time we did not run the boat by ourselves was when we would go to Chub Cay and fish the Pocket,” recalled Beverly who is now in her 80s but just as spry as ever.  A jack crevalle, rainbow runner, blackfin tuna, tarpon, ladyfish, dolphin, bonefish and a swordfish bill have all found a new home at the WPBFC’s historic clubhouse thanks to Beverly.  Many are original skin mounts and in excellent shape.  The swordfish bill, from a 155 pound fish caught by Beverly in 1973, comes with a particularly good story.  “Bob and I were dating at the time.  We took a trip together to Cabo San Lucas and, as luck would have it, I caught a pending world record broadbill swordfish on 20 pound test line.  The captain spotted the fish finning on top and we baited it.  It was all very excit- ing.  Well here’s where the story gets interesting…Bob was going through a divorce at the time. He was worried that if we entered the fish the publicity would cause him problems in his pending divorce proceedings. So I never got my world record.  Wouldn’t you know I still married that little devil anyway!” laughed Beverly.  Included with the fish mounts was a pennant from the Big Game Fishing Club De France.  “Bob and I were traveling in France years ago and came across a tackle shop in Paris.  Naturally we were interested in seeing the shop so we went inside.  Bob really hit it off with the shop owner, Sasha, who happened to be the great grandson of renowned author Leo Tolstoy.  Well this began a long relationship with Sasha, who was also President of the Big Game Fishing Club in France.  They made Bob a member after he caught a record dolphin on light tackle.  "We invited Sasha over to billfish with us in the Bahamas later on and darned if we never caught a fish. But we sure had fun!" recalled Beverly. Cowan Mounts added to Club Collection Beverly Cowan with her 155 lb. swordfish caught in Cabo San Lucas in 1973. Missing Mounts… - Cero mackerel - Mangrove snapper - Schoolmaster snapper - Lane snapper - Yellowtail snapper - Horse-eye jack - Checkered puffer (toadie) - Sheepshead - Black drum - Skipjack tuna - Speckeled perch (Crappie) While the club is quickly running out of space on it’s walls for additional fish mounts, especially large specimens, there are still several locally caught species of fish that are missing from the club’s impressive collection.  If you can help fill any of these missing pieces just call the club at (561) 832-6780.