Happy 45th Birthday, Dr. James Henshall!

180 years ago — on February 29, 1836 — the legendary Dr. James Alexander Henshall was born. Yes, the “Father of Bass Fishing in America” was a leap year baby, born in fact, on Leap Day itself. Since his birthday came around only once every four years, we get to celebrate this day as his birthday.

Happy 45th Birthday, Dr. Henshall! And thank you for everything you did for the American angler.

-- Dr. Todd

Happy Birthday Lady!

Happy Birthday -- it's been a great 25 years. Here's looking at fifty more.

Happy 7th Birthday to Fishing for History!

This past March 26th, we passed another milestone here at Fishing for History. It is now been seven years since the blog was founded, and 2500+ posts and more than a million words later, we are still chugging along, albeit a bit slower than in years past. The numbers are still good and having passed a million unique visitors a couple of years ago, we are closing in on some new milestones.



As I wrote for the fifth birthday of the blog, "I wish I had time to develop all the ideas I have for the blog, but alas, I struggle to find the time to do what I am doing right now. But I will try to keep it as fresh as I can." I still agree with this statement. I have many, many ideas for new and cool things, but time gets in the way. Hopefully I'll be able to incorporate them all before too long.

I am most proud of the fact that I went over four years without missing a post. That means creating content every single day, 365 days a year, non-stop for four years. I recently stopped trying to do that, and now get about six in a week most weeks, but even the big guy needed a regular day of rest …

The last year has seen some changes; Bill Sonnett retired from his "Deconstructing Old Ads" column after over three years at the helm, and I retired the "News of the Week" column a couple of months ago as news aggregators do a much more efficient job of finding stories about tackle

As we enter Year 8, I must give my sincere thanks to everyone who has written for the blog over the course of the past seven years. From Bill Sonnett and Jim Jordan to Elissa Ruddick and Dick Streater and everyone in between, we've been blessed with some of the brightest minds in the tackle field here. I hope to post more content from readers over the course of time in an effort to expand this roster of great minds.

Thanks to everyone who's stopped by in the past, and here's looking forward to a successful future!

-- Dr. Todd

Fishing for History Turns 5 Today!

Well, folks, five years ago today Fishing for History began. Hard to believe it's been five years -- honestly, it sometimes feels like I've been doing this for a decade or more. At times it has frustrated me, at times it has made me want to pull out my hair, but mostly it's been a ton of fun. I get to share something I am passionate about and am lucky enough that there are a lot of people who want to read it. So my sincere thanks to everyone who stops by and takes a look at what myself, and some very talented other folks, write about our favorite past time.

I wish I had time to develop all the ideas I have for the blog, but alas, I struggle to find the time to do what I am doing right now. But I will try to keep it as fresh as I can.

1800 posts and a million or more words and unique visitors alike...1000 days in a row with a post with no breaks...zero advertisements or pop up ads...even the occasional angry email. Along the way we've lost some of our best friends, and picked up some new ones. It's all been a strange and wonderful ride.

I think I'll let Marilyn sing Happy Birthday this year, as we celebrate our 5th Birthday.



Here's to many more!

-- Dr. Todd

Fishing For History Turns 4!

Four years ago today the Fishing for History Blog started as a solitary voice in the wilderness. Now, as we close in on a million visits and many more than that page views, it has certainly grown into something I could never have anticipated. I could not have done it without help from contributors like Bill Sonnett, Dick Streater, and numerous others who have sent in material. Trust me, there are times when it is a huge p.i.t.a. But overall, it is a phenomenal experience and I truly enjoy getting to know people through it.

When it comes down to it, what I am appreciative of is people like you who come and read what we have to say every day. So thank you for indulging me and everyone else who contributes to the blog.

My goal for 2011 is to try out some new things, and to try and find at least one more weekly writer...hint hint.

So happy birthday to the Fishing for History Blog! Four years is a LONG time but it's been a lot of fun and I look forward to running the blog well into the future.

-- Dr. Todd

Happy Third Birthday to Fishing for History!

Happy Third Birthday to Fishing for History!



March 26, 2007 -- it was a different world. Radio dominated our lives (television had yet to be invented), President Calvin Coolidge presided over the goldenest year of the decade, Babe Ruth was preparing for an epic season that would see him...

Oh, wait, that was March 26, 1927. My bad.

March 26, 2007 -- it was a different world. Twitter was still just emerging from its egg while the universally beloved Tiger Woods prepared for the Masters, and our watchdog media, ever vigilant, declared that the sub-prime risk was much lower for big banks.

Yes, there was this new thing called "blogs," of which -- if you can even believe this -- there were only seventy million as of August 2007. Ridiculous, I know. Always in tune with the latest breaking trends, one intrepid fishing historian decided to jump into the shallow end of the pool and start the first fishing blog dedicated to preserving fishing history and disseminating fishing news. Apparently, only 120,000 people had the exact same idea of starting a blog on the exact same day.



Well over a million words, a thousand posts, a half million visitors from 100+ countries and nearly a million page views later, we are still here. Exhausted, but still alive and kicking. And according to Alexa, Fishing for History is currently the fifth largest fishing blog in the world. Yikes. Perhaps that's a comment on the fishing blogosphere more than anything else.

Of course, it is not just me who should celebrate this achievement. Over the course of three years, over a hundred people have contributed in the form of guest articles, features, photos, etc. I can't possibly list everyone but you know who you are. A few, however, stand out for their exceptional (and welcome) contributions. They include Wild Bill Sonnett, who gives us the awesome "Deconstructing Old Ads" on Saturdays, Dick Streater, who contributed a host of "Thought of the Week," and Doug Jobe, Peter Nilsen, Warren Platt and others who contributed to "1000 Words."

Three years is not a very long time when it comes down to it, but in the world of blogs it is a true milestone. Trust me when I say how incredibly difficult it can be to stay motivated to do this day in and day out. I started thinking I'd do it once or twice a week, soon moved to every weekday, and then every single day and now haven't missed a day in over eighteen months.

So my sincere thanks go out to everyone who's come by and stayed a moment or two to read the News of the Week, played around in the Friday Funhouse, or read one of the features or a Voices from the Past. Thank you for indulging me and my friends. Thank you for helping preserve fishing history. And thank you for just being you.

I hope to be here for another three decades or more, but for now I'll settle for being here tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that.

-- Dr. Todd