Angling for a good time

Robin McKelvie visits America’s happiest seaside town Stuart to learn about sailfish sport fishing.

Forging out in the hunt for the world’s fastest fish is a thrillingly surreal experience. Dolphins skip across the Atlantic on Florida’s shipwreck-ravaged Treasure Coast, as a SpaceX rocket blasts a trail into the heavens. Welcometo Stuart, the ‘Sailfish Capital of the World’, one of the best places in North America to drop a line and handily ‘America’s Happiest Seaside Town’.

“You don’t forget the first time you catch a sailfish. How could you?” smiles bronzed sunglasses-clad local skipper Fred of Treasure Coast Sailing Adventures (it’s always first-name terms in catatonically relaxed Stuart), wide-eyed as he paints a picture of a maritime monster that soars along at speeds of up to 80 miles an hour.

I’m taking a break from the adrenaline-pumpingly serious sports fishing on Fred’s traditional sailing sloop, but the talk – as it often does in Martin County – always turns back to fishing. “This is a serious sports fishing county and sailfish fishing is a real challenge with heritage.” Serious heritage. The Sailfish capital » moniker is not new, with the Stuart Sailfish Club one of America’s oldest, set up back in 1941 – a year when 5,000 sailfish were caught in local waters. The club was inspired by the search for this primordial-looking monster, with its massive dorsal fin and predatory harpoon-like bill.

"It's always first-name terms in catatonically relaxed Stuart"

Stuart has long been ahead of the sustainability curve and today the club’s pioneering push for ‘catch and release’ is the norm, ensuring the preservation of Stuart’s maritime golden goose. Sailfish await anglers a few miles out from the St Lucie River in the Atlantic, but you hear about the ultimate prize everywhere. The buzz of the boats heading out in search of sailfish ripples through Stuart and lingers on in the tall tales told in the local watering holes.

While the unique sailfish thrill is the big draw, there are mahi-mahi, kingfish, tuna and snapper too amongst offshore highlights; myriad more species lurk in the shallows around the sleepy inland waters. In inclusive Stuart, sports fishing is year-round and open to all, the swathe of local boats welcoming beginners and families. At Pirate’s Cove Resort and Marina, I meet a volley of cheery souls straight off a charter, celebrating their fishing successes.

"'Happiest seaside town' is just one of a flurry of accolades such as 'America's best coastal small town' awarded by USA Today."

The fishing hauls in anglers from all over America but doesn’t solely explain Stuart’s popularity: ‘Happiest seaside town’ is just one of a flurry of accolades, such as ‘America's best coastal small town’ awarded by USA Today. Stuart is a city only in name, with just around 2,000 residents, but it’s as perfectly formed as the seemingly endless sweep of white sands that fringe its coast. Turtles muddle down protected Bob Graham Beach upon hatching, but the real action is a postcard-perfect low-rise downtown that looks like a stylised Americana set from Back to the Future. Stuart is no film set, though, more a living, breathing community on a manageable human scale. It’s a delicious slice of Florida that evokes a gentler time away from soaring skyscrapers and gargantuan theme parks. Stuart is pedestrian-friendly too with development tightly controlled; the antithesis of many American cities. I savour a performance at the historic Lyric Theatre, just one string to Stuart’s burgeoning arts scene bow that includes galleries and the brilliant Elliott Museum. Then there are the downtown boutiques. Forget mega malls: this is Stuart and these are independent oases. A whopping 50 of them. Patti of Gumbo Limbo Gifts doesn’t sell tourist tack but talks of “being at the heart of things for locals and visitors alike, in a place where everyone tries to help each other out.”

Patti is the infectiously happy embodiment of Stuart, as are most people I meet. Not a Truman Show-esque faked warmth, but something that runs deeper in an affluent Florida outpost with roots deep back to its first major, JB Macdonald, who turned to his Scottish roots, naming the town after Scottish royalty in 1914.

The local restaurants put smiles on faces too. At Maki Sushi and Thai, I feast on boat-fresh tuna, while Hudson’s on the River, which overlooks Stuart’s boardwalk, conjures up seafood risotto that would pass muster in Italy. The waterfront Dolphin Bay & Shrimp House has heritage, opened by American singer and actress Frances Langford, known as the "GI Nightingale" for her wartime performances.

At the Stuart Heritage Museum, I hear of an ambitious bid to cut car traffic further and bring high-speed rail to the city with the opening of the new Brightline station on Flagler Street, where trains last ran in 1968. Local author and historian Sandra Thurlow shares the museum's eclectic collection and beams: “A stop on the Orlando-Miami line would really put this remarkable oasis on the map beyond America, and finally the rest of the world can share in the secret that is ‘America’s Happiest Seaside Town’.”

GETTING THERE Fly from London (LHR/ LGW) or Manchester (MAN) to West Palm Beach (PBI), generally with Delta or British Airways. Stuart is a 45-minute from PBI. GETTING AROUND For now, the best bet is to a rent a car at the airport and drive but the Brightline train (running between Orlando and Miami) will arrive soon, stopping on Flagler Street. BEST TIME TO GO February to May, or November to early December, offer warm, sunny days (roughly 25°C), minimal rainfall, and lower humidity. WHERE TO EAT Enjoy American classics with scenic views of the St. Lucie River and local marinas at Waterfront Dining ( thewaterfrontstuart.com ). WHERE TO STAY Hutchinson Shores Resort & Spa is the best place to stray, right on those starched white Atlantic sands ( opalcollection.com). FURTHER INFORMATION discovermartin.com visitflorida.com