We've been offering daily fishing trips out of Lewes, Delaware on the Delaware Bay & Ocean since 1937. But the story starts a couple years before that. The growth of Fisherman's Wharf coincided with the building of the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal and Roosevelt Inlet, both of which were built in 1935 under President Roosevelt's WPA (Work Project Administration) Act. The expansion and deepening of the canal as well as easier access to the bay and ocean through the inlet, helped make the area well-known as a fishing destination. Two years later, Captain Harry MacFadden Parsons started running fishing trips with one boat, a passion for the water and for giving people their money's worth of fun and fish. Four generations later, we're still doing the same thing. In fact, for the more than 90 years since Pappy began fishing, The Parsons Family has grown Fisherman's Wharf from a one-boat operation, into a full-fleet, full-scale fishing and cruising group that has been putting smiles on people faces one fishing trip and one cruise at a time.

In 1951, Pappy's son, Harry Dale Parsons, took on his captain's license and charters of his own, as lines to fish the Parson's boats kept growing. Then, in 1959, the Parson's opened Fisherman's Wharf, slightly further down the canal from where they originally began. This location became known as Fisherman's Wharf and is still their base of operations today.

As FW grew in size, more Parsons came aboard to fish and cruise. In 1979, HD Parsons, Dale's son, became a Captain and continued in the family tradition. And while Dale, HD & Crew worked the boats, Miss Olda, Dale's wife, tended to overseeing the growth of the Fisherman's Wharf itself. Responsible for it's design, the color scheme of the boats and even the restaurant they opened in 1981, she held down the fort while they fished the waters.

Today, Dale takes a cruise here and there, while HD still Captains, along with his daughter and his nephew, Captains Brinleigh Parsons and Captain Parker Powell. And while the newest generation has their eyes set on continuing to grow the FW Legacy, you can be sure it will be with the same focus on family fun and values as it has been for nearly 100 years.