ABOUT THE BOOK
Baitcasting is the only truly original American angling method and my book, A History of Baitcasting in America, reveals its story. Baitcastinghistory.com is the companion website to the book.
Individuals interested in exploring the origins and development of baitcasting eventually come to realize that books mentioning parts of its story are scarce and generally written in a much earlier era. Most often, those readers who already possess an understanding of the history have assembled their information from a wide variety of sources ranging from antiquarian fishing books and periodicals to present-day commentary published by tackle collectors, angling clubs, history buffs or numerous Internet websites dedicated to all aspects of fishing history.
My reason for writing A History of Baitcasting in America and for creating this associated website is to provide baitcasting’s saga in the form of the first broad, single-volume history ever written on the topic along with the fascinating story behind the facts. Although obviously connected with fishing, the book documents the historical milieu from c1618-2017 that made American freshwater angling a possibility. The resources provided here supplement the written narrative, photographs and illustrations found within the book.
From its English origin and the days of King James I, when angling migrated to colonial America, to the frontier days of Kentucky where it became an art, baitcasting was poised to become a beneficiary of the Industrial Revolution and America’s westward expansion. By the mid-1800s, some of the most esteemed and influential citizens in America supported the new method of angling, and their advocacy guided the sport to national prominence.
The availability of tackle originally handmade by gunsmiths, watchmakers, and silversmiths and later mass-produced in the mid to late 1800s using business models employed by Apple a century later, fueled baitcasting’s immense growth. By World War II, baitcasting was the most popular angling sport in America. Immediately 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, hundreds of thousands of Americans practice the now-global sport.
Three years of careful research led to the discovery of a quantity of information previously unaddressed by earlier writers. I believe that this new information helps improve the understanding of how baitcasting developed in America. The expectation for the reader is that together, the book and this associated website will become helpful and trusted go-to sources for baitcasting history.
Thank you for visiting the website, I hope you find it interesting and informative.
