The American Fisherman by Willie Robertson

Author:Willie Robertson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780062465665
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2016-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby, America’s first female fishing superstar.

(Maine Historical Society)

For the next Sportsmen’s Exposition at Madison Square Garden, in 1896, Crosby staged a bigger extravaganza. She even talked the federal government into sending the special-purpose railway fish tank “U.S. Fish Car No. 1” from Washington, D.C., all the way up to Maine to pick up one hundred trout and salmon, then ship them down to the show. The New York Times raved: “From the State of Maine there is to come to the exposition one of the most marvelous exhibits that was ever attempted in a show of this character. So effective was the display made by the people of the State a year ago in attracting sportsmen to the woods of Maine, that those interested in catering to the sporting visitors have combined to pay the expenses of a most complete exhibit, in the charge of Miss Cornelia T. Crosby, who is known to readers of sporting literature by her nom de plume of ‘Fly Rod.’ Miss Crosby is adept in the use of the rod and the reel, as well as an authority on the trout and salmon. In order to aid her exhibit, the [federal] Government, for the first time in the history of the Fish Commission, has placed at her disposal one of its fish cars, so that she might bring here a number of salmon and trout for exhibition. These have arrived safely and will be shown alive in the five glass tanks that have been provided.”

The new show was another smash hit, proving that Crosby wasn’t just a champion backwoodsman—she was a show business genius. As she gracefully demonstrated fly-casting into the fish tanks for the Madison Square Garden crowds, Crosby wasn’t just fishing, wrote one fishing historian: “she was toppling the shaky foundations of conventional arguments about a woman’s proper ‘sphere.’ ” She was blazing a trail for all women.

Crosby’s triumph coincided with a new wave of interest in fishing among American women, powered by improved rail access to remote fishing spots and the availability of new generations of fishing gear. “By the end of the nineteenth century,” wrote scholar David McMurray, “fisherwomen were able to be more active and aggressive in seeking out new opportunities for adventure within the North American wilderness as compared to the more sedentary demeanor of past generations of female anglers.” He added, “Victorian women benefited from the mass production of fishing tackle which made angling accessible to those urbanites who had no experience in tying their own flies, making their own lines, or building their own rods.”

Soon Crosby and her exhibits were credited with drawing thousands more new tourists and sportsmen to Maine. Hotel and camp owners and wilderness guides were overbooked—and overjoyed. Maine’s economy boomed. Tourists poured in, from as far away as England and India, with lots of repeat customers coming from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Heeding Crosby’s call, thousands of women flocked to the Pine Tree State to camp, canoe, hunt, and fish.

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