In addition to the survival aspect of fishing, military personnel were encouraged to fish, not only as a means to relieve the tedium of traveling on a ship or during downtime, but also as simply a way to get food. The healthy stocks were easy pickings for many of the men stationed near the water. In the summer of 1944 servicemen on Midway Island caught over 40,000 pounds of fish, including tuna, bonita, and wahoo. Their success was so great, they provided 2 meals a week for over 6,000 men stationed there.
Space is given to the pioneers in angler writing. S. Kip Farrington was the editor for Field and Stream while his wife Chisie Farrington was one of the premier female anglers of her time, penning the best-selling Women Can Fish. Erl Roman was a fixture in the Miami sport fishing scene; during the war he frequently kept readers up to date of the charter captains who went off to fight.
Rivkin’s crisp writing adds a great depth to his exhaustive research. Angling and War is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of photos, magazine covers, postcards, and brochures. But the best feature is an incredible collection of vintage tackle ads from the war years. The ads, above all, show the united front that America had during World War II. With rationing hitting all aspects of homefront life, many tackle manufacturers took up production for military purposes. Some advocated fishing as a way to beat the rationing shortfalls in some food items and show your patriotism. Pflueger said, “Food Rationed? Icebox Empty? Use Your Pfleuger Reel. Catching game fish puts food on the table -- helps save meat and other foods.”
This is a book for any avid outdoorsman. Like the vintage tome Profiles in Saltwater Angling, Angling and War is a classic of the genre.
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