Loved fishing

A Closer Look

Henry Whipple often wrote with great enthusiasm about his fishing exploits around the globe. Here are some Henry Whipple fish stories:

Minnesota, 1862. Diary entry:

"From Cass Lake we went by canoe down Cass Lake River to Lake Wi-ni-bi-gosh-ish. River filled with fish. I stocked our canoe with beautiful wall-eyed pike, weighing from two to four pounds each.”

Scotland, 1864:

"My dear wife,
You see by the date that we are still lingering in Scotland. Mr. M. and daughter are both passionately fond of fishing and it did not require any great argument to coax me to remain over…. The next day I hooked [a salmon] with a small fly hook – he was a noble fish and weighed over 13 pounds. He was full of game and would dart to and from like a race horse. Of course I had to give him play– he took me 3/4 of a mile down river and it was over an hour before I could kill him… before I was through I was as weary as if I had been chopping wood all day. I received the [congratulations] of my friends as modestly as possible…”

Lake Superior streams:

"I have fished in every stream on the North Shore as far as Prince Arthur’s Landing, and also in the far-famed Nipigon…Trout weighing over five pounds were taken in the Nipigon by every member of our party on one occasion. There is nothing which sends such a thrill along an angler’s nerves as to fell a four-pound trout on a six-ounce rod… I have caught salmon in Scotland, bluefish off Nantucket, kingfish in the Gulf, tarpon in Florida, trout in Yellowstone Park, but for the perfection of the angler’s craft, give me the clear sparkling waters of the streams which flow into Lake Superior. Many daydreams, many plans of work, many sermons have come to me as I have waded in those crystal waters.”

In Yellowstone Park:

"The Yellowstone River is the most prolific fishing ground that I have ever known– silver trout, salmon trout, rainbow trout, and mountain trout swarm everywhere. My four grandchildren caught in less than a day one hundred and seventy trout which weighed one hundred and sixty pounds.”

In Florida, 1892:

"I celebrated a recent birthday by taking a tarpon which weighed one hundred and twenty-four pounds and which measured six feet and eight inches in length…The line used was a number eighteen bass line, with a large hook and wired snood, and the bait, a third of a mullet. The cast was about one hundred feet from the boat.

It is often weary waiting for this prize, but expectation fills the soul. At last the line moves; waiting until the bait is swallowed and the slack out, a quick sharp jerk is given and the monster is hooked…The one here mentioned was fresh from the sea; he made twelve leaps and took me over a mile…

Lest male anglers should be overfull of pride, it must be stated that the largest tarpon ever taken was taken by a woman. It weighed two hundred and five pounds and measured eight feet in length. After Mrs. ---- had played him a long time, her husband offered to take the rod, but with true pluck she exclaimed, ‘If you touch that rod I shall apply for a divorce.’”

Loved fishing

A Closer Look

Alexander Faribault

Mary Whipple

Taopi

Henry Whipple