Gone Fishing - American Philatelic Society

Gone Fishing!FishingNational Parks Centennial: Cape HatterasYou don’t need a boat to enjoy ocean fishing. Surf fishing from the beach is as thrilling and entertaining a sportas any form of angling. It requires an ability to read the movements of small fish and sea birds offshore, anunderstanding of weather patterns and feeding conditions, and much more. Surf rods can be up to 14 feet longand are designed to throw a weighted line and bait as much as a hundred yards out into the calmer water beyondthe breaking surf. The good news is that the new graphite and composite rods, plus innovations in lines and lures,mean that surf fishing is no longer just for the physical giants among us. Anyone can go out for a day on the beachand, with any luck, bring home supper.Winslow HomerWinslow Homer (1836–1910) washimself a passionate fisherman andpainted nearly as many scenes offishing for sport in the New YorkAdirondack Mountains as he didof the men and women whose livesdepended on the bounty of the sea.Two of his sea scenes have appearedon stamps. Breezing Up (also knownas A Fair Wind), oil 1876, shows threeboys and a man sailing home in acatboat with their day’s catch of fish.Four Centuries of AmericanArt: Winslow HomerThe life of fishermen who ply thecold waters of the Atlantic Oceanhas always held a strong element ofperil. In The Fog Warning, oil 1885,a lone fisherman rows his dorythrough choppy seas with his catch ofhalibut. The mother ship is seen in thedistance against a rapidly approachingfog bank.