About Old Salt

The Old Salt Fishing Foundation has supported family interaction & camaraderie through fishing, science, conservation and education for 50 years. The Foundation focuses its efforts on youth, family and community programs to promote and advance an inclusive set of recreational fishing opportunities. 

The Beginnings of the Old Salt

In 1971 the Gulf Oceanographic Development Foundation under the direction of Dr. Robert Smith, Director of the Florida Institute of Oceanography, began to explore the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico including the Loop Current.

Regional anglers joined forces with the scientific community for fishing expeditions organized to investigate theories developed by the scientists.

Since the initial fishing expedition and subsequent efforts were closely associated with the Loop Current’s unusual characteristics, a descriptive name was arrived at: Operation Loop Development – Suncoast Angler’s Loop Tournament – (O.L.D. S.A.L.T.) From this beginning the Old Salt Fishing Club was born and a partnership, one that exists to this day, between the recreational fishing and the scientific communities was forged.