JOHNNY H PACE
“FAFA”
DEC 12, 1931 AUG 06, 2016
The Rusty Hook name came from all his family and friends that always made a joke that every time he would go fishing down at the houseboat all his fishing tackle would always be rusty and he did not care he would use anything in his tackle box and most the time he would have all the tackle spread all over the kitchen table or out on the deck of the Houseboat.
Johnny started fishing back in the 70’s and we all stayed on the King Ranch Shoreline in a tent with his kids for years. In the early 90’s David Pace bought a houseboat and had it built for his dad and was put in a special place in 9 Mile Hole. David also bought him a boat to take out fishing for many years until a hurricane took the houseboat out.
He was always down on the boat every weekend. In 2001 Esther his wife built him another houseboat and put it back in the same place as the last one and she also bought him a boat to go fishing. This houseboat was named the RUSTY HOOK and all his kids and grandkids would go fishing with him every chance they could.
Many long nights of Johnny staying the fish and making sure that all his family and friends had a good time and he made sure everyone came home with a boat load of fish. In his older age years, we had to put a gate in front of him and tie him to the chair so he would not fall in the water.
Even after he went to Heaven the chair and rope stayed in place. When Johnny passed away David Pace and Steven Jackson took control of the Houseboat and keep it going until 2019 when we received direct hit from a 155mph Hurricane, and we watched the eye of the storm pass over the Rusty hook and when we all went to inspect nothing was found it was like it disappeared. Friends say Johnny said he wanted more than us.
David Pace took a big step and asked a life – long friend Scott Hallmark & Mark Batton to join the fight to rebuild the Rusty Hook and keep the tradition going and with in 5 mins he said yes for sure Let’s do this. The new houseboat took five months to build, and I am so proud how it all turned out. If you ever get to go stay down at the Rusty Hook you will see that Johnny Pace and a lot of his stuff is still on the new boat. We hope you enjoy your stay and come back soon.
