The year was 1982 in the small town of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. The population at that time was around 14,000 folks. One of those individuals was a man named Mike Able. Mike spent the previous fifteen years growing up on Shem Creek and fishing any time he could.
Whether it was on the creek or over at the Pitt Street Bridge he had a passion for fishing. While his father didn’t have that same urge, his uncle Jimmy did, and that’s who really got him into fishing. In his early thirties he was working at a local lumber yard in town, but knew that’s not what he wanted to do the rest of his life. He got together with a friend, John Royall, and that’s where this story really gets going! They knew of other tackle shops in the surrounding areas, but none in Mt. Pleasant. They saw a need for a tackle shop in town, hence Mike and John opening Haddrell’s Point in September of 1983. As with any small business, there are challenges. The first five years proved to be just that. Whether the business would survive was sometimes a question. On top of that challenge, the business and the entire state would be hit with the most notorious named Hurricane to hit, Hugo. Hurricane Hugo arrived in September of 1989 and left a trail of destruction. There were many devastating stories and events involving Hugo. Many residents had to rebuild their businesses, homes, and lives after such a powerful storm.
Years later the shop continues to grow little by little. The next big thing to happen to Haddrell’s was Mike making the cover of Saltwater Sportsman in 1992. Mike and good friend, Jack Golden, discovered catching tailing redfish in the grass. Being on the cover of the magazine had business booming. As the redfish scene in Charleston exploded, at the same time fly fishing was really on the rise. Mike was traveling to fly shows in the southeast for seminars and instruction…