Capt. Stacy enters its 63rd year as a family business

Capt. Sonny Davis and Matey

Capt. Sonny Davis is one of those Down East Carteret County boys who were fortunate enough to have grown up on the water during the 1940s and ’50s – learning how to fish and build boats from their father, uncles and other kinfolk. 

Sonny’s given name was Leslie M. Davis, and he was the youngest of 13 children born to Capt. Stacy Wilson Davis and Sarah Herman Lewis Davis of Harkers Island. Leslie was nicknamed “Sonny Boy.” 

He said he started fishing when he was “yay high” – extending his arm outward and positioning his palm about three feet above the floor. Sonny began running charter boats for his father as a young teenager. 

After high school, Sonny Davis’ grand plan was to get his 100-Ton U.S. Coast Guard Master’s License by age 18, enabling him to pilot head boats. He saw an opportunity to “work and learn” in Cortez, Fla., a small fishing village with easy access to the Gulf of Mexico about 35 miles below Tampa. 

He shared that there has been a “longstanding connection between Carteret County and Cortez.” 

Commercial fishermen from Carteret County were the first permanent settlers of Cortez. Beginning in the 1880s, families with familiar surnames such as Bell, Fulford, Guthrie, Lewis, Taylor and Willis from Beaufort and various Down East communities went to Cortez to fish for the jumpin’ mullet that were plentiful within that region. 

A number of those families chose to stay and began to “colonize” Cortez (originally named Hunter’s Point). 

Located near Bradenton, on the northern end of Sarasota Bay, the harbor at Cortez is protected during storms by Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key. About 5,000 people live in Cortez today, and the commercial fishing fleet remains active.

 

Capt. Sonny said “life was good” in Cortez, and he started courting Joyce Ann McDonald, daughter of John L. McDonald Sr. and Mamie Bonnell McDonald. Joyce’s grandparents were early pioneers from the Straits community who settled in Cortez. 

Sonny and Joyce were married in 1959 and opted to make their life together in Carteret County. 

It seems the entire Capt. Stacy Davis family was involved in an assortment of fishing and boating ventures based first on Harkers Island and then on the Morehead City waterfront. The Davises built and operated fishing boats, owned fish houses and offered charter fishing excursions.

 

Oliver Davis was a brother of Capt. Sonny.

In 1960, Capt. Sonny remembers that it was his job to “haul people over to Cape Lookout to build the U.S. Coast Guard Station dock. They said I could have the leftover timber, so that’s what I used to build my first head boat on the shore on Harkers Island in front of the old family homestead.” He named the vessel “Capt. Stacy,” a tribute to his father. 

Today, up to 80 people can fish on a head boat, as each passenger “pays by the head.” The head boat typically stops and anchors over wreck and rock formations, and everyone drops a line at the same time. Sometimes the captain will troll for a bit. 

“I figured I could make more money by running a head boat in addition to our charter boats,” Capt. Sonny said. It also made fishing more affordable for working families to experience the joy of bottom fishing in the Gulf Stream, “where some big fish – including grouper, trigger fish, black sea bass and amberjack – are anxiously waiting to strike,” he added.

 

“I remember that we started out charging our head boat customers $3 to fish and $2 to rent the reel, so back then, people could fish all day for $5,” Capt. Sonny said. (Today, a full day’s fishing on the Capt. Stacy IV costs $125 per person, while the going rate for a charter fishing boat ranges anywhere from $1,700 to $2,500 for a party of six.) 

Early on, Capt. Sonny’s wife, Joyce, ran Sonny’s Restaurant on the Morehead City waterfront. She’d go in at 3 a.m. to make up a slew of box lunches. She would have them ready for the boat captains who’d come by at 4 a.m. to pick up meals for their passengers that day. 

“Then, she’d set up a little stand beside the ticket booth and sell seashells,” said Loretta Davis Acree, the daughter of Capt. Sonny and Joyce. “Momma said getting to work at 3 o’clock got old fast. She eventually shut down the restaurant and converted the space into a gift shop.” 

Capt. Sonny built the second Capt. Stacy in the mid-1960s, and the Capt. Stacy III came along in the early 1970s. 

“I passed a beautiful head boat one day in 1976 at Beaufort Inlet,” Capt. Sonny said. “I learned the owner was a fellow from New Rochelle, N.Y. He invited Joyce and me up to look at his boat. We went out fishing in New York Harbor around all those skyscrapers; imagine that.” 

“The man’s boat was built in Stuart, Fla., on the Saint Lucie River on the east coast of Florida. Next thing you know, I’m having Stacy IV built by Lydia Yachts in Stuart. We took possession of the 83-foot head boat in 1979,” Capt. Sonny said.

 

In 1983, Capt. Sonny bought property along the Atlantic Beach Causeway. He opened the Capt. Stacy Fishing Center in 1986. “It was the best move I ever made,” Capt. Sonny commented. “We’ve got everything we need for the head boat and charter boats as well as our own parking lot.” 

“You can purchase live and frozen bait and fishing tackle here. You can get your fish cleaned and iced down. The gift shop occupies two levels.” 

Capt. Stacy IV made its first run of the 2023 fishing season on March 4. These days, the head boat is piloted by Capt. Maurice Davis, a son of Capt. Sonny and Joyce. He’s been at the helm of the Capt. Stacy IV for more than 30 years. Like his father, Capt. Maurice earned his license by age 18. 

The business continues as a family affair. Chief deck hands are Joe Davis, Capt. Maurice’s brother, and Trey Davis, son of Capt. Maurice.

Joe, Capt. Sonny, Trey and Capt. Maurice

 

Repowered in 2008, Capt. Stacy IV continues to receive “rave reviews” during regular inspections by the Coast Guard. “Maurice is a mechanical wizard,” Capt. Sonny injected. 

Loretta Davis Acree, who started as the company bookkeeper at age 15, has seen her role expand over the years. She is now in charge of all operations at the Capt. Stacy Fishing Center, assisted by her daughter, Laura White, who also manages the gift shop business. 

Loretta’s cousin, Faith Barbour, along with long-term employees Terry Willis and Kathy Peden, handle all the reservations for the fishing trips. 

David Spickett is another veteran member of the Capt. Stacy team. “He’s been with dad for a long time and pitches in wherever needed,” Loretta said. 

Capt. Sonny, who will celebrate his 84th birthday on April 1, is still referenced on the website as the “main man” at Capt. Stacy Fishing Center. 

His main duty is doing what he loves the most – going out to gather bait. Most days, he’ll spend a few hours on the Capt. Stacy Bait Boat, which he built himself. He putters about in the sounds, rivers and creeks with Matey, a handsome golden retriever, to bring in fresh, young shad.

 

“Using his specially weighted, over-sized and personally constructed cast net, Capt. Sonny puts the younger fellows to shame,” remarked son-in-law Don Acree. “Capt. Sonny’s a living legend when it comes to catching shad. He’s got forearms like Popeye, and everybody up and down the coast knows he’s the best there is.”

 

“One of his best-known clients is Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg, Tenn., the top-rated aquarium in the country,” Don added. “Their fish eat a lot of Carteret County shad.” 

Capt. Sonny continues to ply his boatbuilding skills as well. His most recent project was construction of the Capt. Stacy VIII, a 30-foot charter boat, which he launched in 2018.