Fly Fishing Gear of President Eisenhower

President of the United States and General of the Armies Dwight Eisenhower was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed a wide range of shooting and fishing pursuits. His retirement home here in Gettysburg is managed now by the National Park Service as a museum and historic site. NPS archivists and historians currently hold many of Ike and Mamie’s personal possessions in a separate storage area where they’re being conserved and catalogued. I was able recently to get access to this storage site to photograph Ike’s fly rod and some of his other fishing gear. Also on display at the farm’s reception center is a fly/spin combo rod.

Ike undoubtedly owned a good many rods and reels and some have perhaps been lost to history, held in private collections, or may be stored at Abilene. While he enjoyed all manner of fresh water fishing, Ike was particularly fond of fly fishing for trout. Local rumor has that streams around Camp David were stocked with trout whenever Ike was visiting and local anglers, upon hearing that Ike had been at camp, would flock to fish the downstream areas of these creeks and catch the remaining fish.

I’m not sure if he spent much time salt water fishing however there are three different sand spikes and a chum pot in the NPS collection. The fly rod is a Pflueger R3780 in eight foot length and made of fiberglass. The White House tag can be seen on the rod bag. The small bottle is dry fly treatment and labeled Silicote Dry Fly Dressing, copyright 1946. I’d like to believe that this fly rod and some of the other gear might have some neat stories to tell. Ike loved fishing and, with the great responsibilities he carried on his shoulders, one certainly can’t begrudge him his days on the stream.

For Eisenhower, like many of us who love fly fishing, the sport probably served as way to make a point about something else. In the next photo, Ike has just been nominated and is getting acquainted with his new VP Richard Nixon in Fraser, Colorado. The renowned historian Stephen Ambrose wryly wrote of this photo, In casting, as in politics, Eisenhower was terribly earnest in his attempts to educate Nixon, with frustrating results in both cases.

(Photo and quote courtesy Eisenhower Soldier, General of the Army, President- Elect 1890-1952 by Stephen Ambrose, p 170

Perhaps the most famous wartime photo of Eisenhower is just before D-day when he’s chatting with paratroopers from the 101st Airborne getting ready to jump into Normandy. For years I’ve wondered what sort of pep talk was he was giving them? Well it turns out that the tall lieutenant on the right in the photo was from Michigan and later told the story that, when he told the general where he was from, the discussion turned to – no surprise – fly fishing. The cameraman just happened to shoot the photo as Ike was demonstrating the intricacies of fly casting to his rapt audience of Soldiers. Perhaps we can hope – and I’d like to believe – that this brief focus on fly fishing, at least for a few moments, served as a brief escape for these troops from the onerous duties awaiting them over the next days.

The author would like to thank Mike Florer of the NPS for assistance with access to these artifacts. For more information on the Eisenhower National Historic Site or to plan a visit, please visit Eisenhower National Historic Website.

 

Awesome!

 

Very enjoyable read, got my part-time hobby historian fix! Especially enjoyed the description of the Normandy pep talk. I wonder if Truman and Ike ever fished together?

There is lore that Harry stated 'I only fish with Horrocks-Ibbotson rods', when asked what fly rod he used: supposedly a nod to blue collar gear of the day, to appeal to the comman man at the time of his campaigning.

Joe

 

I don't know about Truman, but Ike went fishing with Herbert Hoover in August/September of 1954.

I have a copy of Hoover's book "Fishing For Fun and to Wash Your Soul" in my library. Unfortunately that fishing trip isn't documented.

In "Fishing with the Presidents," Bill Mares wrote that in Eisenhower’s eight years as president he would fly-fish over forty times in Colorado, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, Maryland, Georgia, Pennsylvania and even once in Argentina.

One chance to fish came in August of 1954 when Eisenhower invited former President Herbert Hoover to come to Colorado and fish. From the letter Eisenhower sent Hoover:

"Dear Mr. President: I was delighted to receive your telegram this morning saying that you would plan to go back with me to Denver on August thirtieth. If you are in Washington that day, I suggest that we be ready to leave shortly after lunch. If you should be elsewhere, we can still easily work out the details of getting together.​

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I hope that on our way to Denver, you will not greatly mind making a short stop in Iowa, where I have promised to attend the State Fair for a matter of an hour. In fact, I could think of nothing that would please those people more than if I could have the privilege of appearing at the Fair escorting the only living Republican ex-President (especially because it would be in the state of your birth). Note: it was Hoover Day at the Iowa State Fair. ​

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As to fishing: there are a number of varieties available to us in the Denver area. My own choice is to go over Berthoud Pass to Fraser. The altitude of my friend’s little ranch there is under nine thousand feet. There is a small stream on which we catch ten and twelve inchers, and of course there is always the change for the occasional big fellow of something on the order or sixteen or seventeen inches. ​

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I assure you that you don’t need to be especially terrified at the prospect of living on my cooking for a couple of days. My culinary reputation is pretty good, but my repertoire is limited. It is only after about four days that my guests begin to look a little pained when they come to the dinner table. It is a grand place to loaf and we will have absolutely no one with us except my great friend who owns the place, and possibly my brother Milton.​

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The little stream has many pools that can be fished easily from the bank. Even if you should be compelled to cross the stream occasionally, you will find it remarkably easy to wade. I cannot tell you how delighted I am at the prospect of the two of us having a period together in such a quiet retreat. With warm regards, Sincerely…” ​

 

This is an old article I wrote some years ago. Nice to see it reposted.

The Normandy pep talk description comes from Stephen Ambrose.

Small correction: Ike was a General of the Army (not "Armies" - that would be Pershing). I teach military history and need to get these things right (ughh!).

 

It was always rumored that when Ike went to fish in the Poconos the streams were stocked like crazy and the state let Ike have a game warden as a guide. The day after he was supposed to have fished a section it was mobbed with locals. Just scuttlebutt I heard as a kid in the 60's.

 

It was always rumored that when Ike went to fish in the Poconos the streams were stocked like crazy and the state let Ike have a game warden as a guide. The day after he was supposed to have fished a section it was mobbed with locals. Just scuttlebutt I heard as a kid in the 60's.

I know that happened when he went fishing at Big Hunting Creek in Maryland and folks would also flock to downstream sections of the creek to catch escapees but I never heard mention of the Poconos.

 

Great story and pictures! Thanks Dave!

 

Really neat article, thanks so much for sharing.
Their retirement home and the grounds in Gettysburg are a beautiful and peaceful setting, well worth visiting when in the area.