To Fish as Well as Fight
General Dwight Eisenhower - an avid fly fisherman. Photo credit Library of Congress
When thinking that this post would publish a day before Veterans Day, I couldn’t help but think about all the people who served in this country’s military. I’m thankful for their service and the sacrifices they made so that I can sit here in a free country and write and draw what I please. Below is my curated collection of what I found about soldiers who also loved to fish.
Gone Fishing: Troops on Both Sides
By Brian E. Stamm
It wasn’t surprising, therefore, that the Ocean State boys of the 2nd Rhode Island Cavalry chose to pass the time with a little “fishing” as they sailed through the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans in the summer of 1863. Captain William Stevens, of Company C, recalled that his fellow troopers decided to alleviate their boredom during the voyage by tying chunks of meat to strings and throwing the lines over the side of their transport ship, hoping to entice sharks to bite and perhaps grab on for a ride. For the accidental sport fisherman, the pastime would prove unsuccessful. Stevens, however, couldn’t help lament that several of the regiment’s horses had died during the voyage and were thrown overboard. The unfortunate beasts, he noted, provided a veritable “feast” for the finned predators who then had little appetite for the offered bait.
Continue reading the rest of the article here.
Anglers at War
by John Mundt, Jr. - The American Fly Fisher 2002
At the outbreak of hostilities in 1914, Henry van Dyke (HvD) had been living a charmed life. He was a prominent member of the Presbyterian clergy, a respected Princeton professor, and a widely read author whose fifty-second book, Fighting for Peace, was the aforementioned volume in my possession. He would go on to publish a total of seventy-five books and twenty-two leaflets to his own credit and assist with thirty others. His famous angling titles, Little Rivers (1895), Fisherman’s Luck (1899), and A Creelful of Fishing Stories (1932), earned him an honored position among America’s great angling writers.
Continue reading the rest of the article here.
The Day I Fished With Ike
By Ben Schley
A 9-foot tall statue of Ike is fishing in a small pond in the Fraser fishing ponds. Looks like an angry Ike but still commemorates the 34th president's favorite fishing spot in once-remote Colorado.
Even a slow day on the water can net wonderful results, especially when the fisherman is President of the United States.
Continue reading the rest of the article here.