For well over a decade, Ron McManus relentlessly spent much of his time building the Jim Caudle Reef, which in turn provided a boon for tourism through fishing and diving in the Little River/North Myrtle Beach area.The Jim Caudle Reef, a permitted artificial reef area located 2.7 nautical miles off Little River Inlet, was named in honor of McManus’ friend – Jim Caudle – a well-known member of the
Little River fishing community who passed away in 2000.After McManus passed away this year on Feb. 13 at the age of 70, his friends and cohorts in the area’s fishing and tourism communities wanted to do something to commemorate him.It is now official – the Ron McManus Memorial Reef has been established as Permitted Area 04, or PA 04, of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources’ Marine Artificial Reef Program.The reef already has some structure on it. In fact, the site for the reef was selected – and subsequently approved – because a 90-foot steel hull shrimp boat named Lady Geneva accidentally sank there several years ago.Fittingly, the site is located about four miles straight off Cherry Grove Beach, within sight on a clear day of a beach house belonging to McManus and his surviving wife, Kathy, who worked tirelessly with her husband on his many projects.“We wanted to do something to honor Ron for all the work he’s done not just for the reef program, but conservation and cleaning up the waterways also,” said Bob Martore, Artificial Reef Coordinator for S.C. DNR. “He really helped promote sportfishing in the Grand Strand area and he got people aware of and interested in marine conservation in general.”With a centerpiece of the reef already resting on the bottom, plans are in place to start building up McManus’ reef.On Oct. 31, a ceremony which is in the planning stages will be held on shore to dedicate the reef site and honor McManus.After the ceremony, a bouy marking the reef site will be put in place on PA 04. Then, a yet-to-be-determined number of concrete reef cones, 5-foot tall concrete boxes and assorted other concrete material – in all a barge full, Martore said – will be placed on the bottom at the reef site.“Everybody knows what Ron has done for the area,” said Martore. “There should be a lot of interest and a lot of turnout I think.”Capt. Mark Dickson, operator of Shallow-Minded Inshore Charters in Little River, was a close friend of McManus and has been involved in getting the new reef established.“He did more for the fishermen in Little River than anybody else has ever done,” said Dickson. “And, Kathy. The character, the charisma of Ron and Kathy – you can’t replace somebody like that.”
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