A History of Baitcasting in America - Paperback

by Stan Fagerstrom (Foreword by), Emmett J. Babler (Author)

Surprisingly, A History of Baitcasting in America is the first comprehensive history ever written about this truly original American angling method. It tells the story of a major component of sport fishing, beginning in the days of King James I, when British methods of still-fishing and fly-fishing migrated to the American colonies.The story travels through the frontier days in the Blue Grass Region of Kentucky, where a new kind of fishing reel, handmade by gunsmiths, watchmakers and silversmiths, launched a revolution in sport angling. There, along the shoreline of Kentucky's 62,000 miles of streams, baitcasting was born.Later, baitcasting became a beneficiary of the Industrial Revolution, our country's westward expansion, and the support of some of America's most esteemed and influential citizens who championed the new sport. During the Civil War days in Kentucky, some of the most revered anglers in the country met and fished there and the impetus for transforming American freshwater angling had begun in earnest.Following the Civil War, when the Smith Age of hand-made tackle production ended and mass production methods began; new business models (used by Apple over a century later) facilitated baitcasting's growth and guided it to national prominence. Throughout the latter 19th and early 20th centuries, the sport grew exponentially as new, affordable tackle became available for the everyday person on the street.By the onset of World War II, baitcasting was the most popular angling sport in America. Prior to and following the war, development of newly engineered materials and advanced manufacturing processes further improved the baitcasting system and the watercraft that carried the anglers deploying it.In the twenty-first century, millions of Americans practice the now-global sport.Some major themes addressed in the book: -Colonial and Post Revolutionary Angling -The Legendary Kentucky Reel-Transition from Still-Fishing to Baitcasting-Forging American Angling Ethics-Anglers Making the Most of Possibilities-Mass Production and Advances in Tackle -Fishing Lures that Added Functionality-New Techniques to Improve the Sport-Watercraft from 1881-2017-Coming to Grips with the Baitcasting Reel