"Bill Mares has given us an anecdotal history that is as entertaining as it is authoritative, as delightful as it is informative. It is also beautifully illustrated."
—James MacGregor Burns
"Bill Mares has written a unique book about the fishing habits of the United States presidents - good, bad, or indifferent. A fly fisherman himself, he writes with vigor and perception. When you read this book, you too will be hooked."
—Stephen E. Ambrose
The origin of this book was an incident on the last day of a legislative session in May, 1989. As a lower-tier representative, I was not part of the negotiations between Senate and House versions of individual bills. I decided to go fly fishing in the meandering Winooski River two hundred meters away. What a great escape! As the golden mote of the State House dome caught my eye, I got to wondering if there was anything other than lying and tall tales that was shared by politicians and fishermen.
A visit to American Museum of Fly Fishing in Manchester helped to give me focus. There, I found artifacts from several U.S. Presidents, books by Herbert Hoover and Grover Cleveland, and rods from Jimmy Carter and G.H.W. Bush.
The book is about presidential recreation, not statecraft, although the inescapable backdrops of war and peace, boom and bust, promise and deceit, and the aching, lonely responsibility of the office give many of the Presidential fishing stories luster and life. The project took five years and a lot of permissions to complete. It was perhaps my favorite book for style, originality, and illustrations. The blurbs from people like historians Stephen Ambrose and James McGregor Burns were icing on the cake.
To Purchase this Book:
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