Fashion
It Is ‘All About the Fish’ on Park Ave.
Avid and influential anglers turned out to honor Bob Rich Jr. at the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust’s annual gala in Manhattan.
On Tuesday night, on a quiet stretch of Park Avenue, some of the most illustrious figures in fly fishing, marine science, conservation and frozen food gathered to celebrate one of the things that brings them all together — the sea.
As Capt. Paul Dixon put it, the gathering, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust’s 13th Annual NYC Dinner & Awards Ceremony, was “all about the fish” at the events space 583 Park Avenue in Manhattan.
Like many of the more than 300 guests, Captain Dixon, a full-time guide mainly in Montauk, N.Y., chasing striped bass, and in the Florida Keys, chasing tarpon, bonefish and permit, is usually more at home on a skiff in fishing gear — Simms lightweight shorts and hoodie, and Costa sunglasses — than in a blazer and a tie.
“Not today,” he said with a laugh.
The gala raised $1.3 million for the Trust, which is involved in the preservation and restoration of waterways and conservation of three saltwater fish species — bonefish, tarpon and permit.
Its honoree, Bob Rich Jr., an avid angler, a philanthropist and an author, is the chairman of the Rich Products Corporation, the worldwide food products company in Buffalo, and appears on the Forbes list of billionaires. He is also in the Frozen Food Hall of Fame, along with his father. On Tuesday, he received the Lefty Kreh Award for Lifetime Achievement in Conservation, named for the celebrated fly fisherman, who died in 2018.
Fans of Mr. Rich said the honor was fitting.
“I love him, it’s well-deserved, he’s an inspiration for all of us and he has a good sense of humor,” said Capt. Abbie Schuster, a fly fishing guide who came in from Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.
