Tim Hartman remembers growing up just a few blocks from Point Defiance.

As a young boy, he and his friends walked to the Point Defiance boathouse dock to fish for salmon.

As they grew older, the boys did odd jobs around the boathouse. In exchange, the manager would let them take one of the rental boats out fishing.

Then, at age 15½, Hartman landed a job as a seasonal boathouse employee. He launched and landed boats, put outboard motors on the boats, cleaned up, sold bait and tackle and manned the cash register.

Hartman has been doing the same job ever since.

But when he walks out of the boathouse this afternoon, it will be the last time. At age 57, Hartman is retiring as boathouse manager.

“It’s time to make a lifestyle change. I’ve been down here for too darn long,” he said with a laugh.

Hartman is thinking of buying a recreational vehicle and traveling the country. “I would like to go to all the marvelous places I haven’t been before.”

As he talks about his 42 years at the boathouse, it’s obvious Hartman misses the good old days. “It was a lot of fun. All I did was work here and fish out of here,” he said.

“The fishing was year round, with very liberal limits back then. There was wonderful fishing. The bottom fishing was great if the salmon fishing wasn’t too good.

“Friday evenings, you would have a line out the door of fishermen waiting to get herring.”

Hartman remembers seeing creel check records from the 1930s, which showed the anglers bringing in 200, 300, 350 salmon every day.

“You think what it used to be like, and it just boggles the mind, especially compared to these days,” he said.

As the manager, Hartman has battled to keep the doors open when fishing in the waters off the boathouse are closed three months a year and limits are smaller.

“It was a lot less stressful back then. Now, with the (seasonal) closures, you have to be creative with your business practices to get through those closures,” he said. “We’re supposed to operate like a private business. We’re not supposed to be supported by the (Metro Parks Tacoma) general fund.”

Like others in the fishing industry, the boathouse operation is greatly influenced by outside forces, such as season lengths and limits, as well as the economy. “I always tell people there are two things that affect our business the most, and we have no control over them: the fishing seasons and the weather,” Hartman said.

Still, he admits, it has been a memorable career.

There was the 1984 fire that destroyed much of the boathouse and the effort to get it rebuilt. There are the countless fish stories he’s heard over the years, including one angler who claimed to have hooked a great white shark. He’s also seen his share of big fish, including a 55-pound chinook salmon an angler caught just 100 feet from the boathouse dock in the 1970s.

But most of all, Hartman said, he’ll miss the people. “I’ll miss the staff. Working for Metro Parks has been a great ride,” he said. “I’ll mostly miss my customers. There are guys who’ve come in here every day since I’ve started.”

Jeffrey P. Mayor: 253-597-8640

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