Roosevelt and Fishing
In the spring of 1917 TR was off to Florida to catch a Devil Fish. He wrote, “The one thing I most desire to do is to harpoon a devil-fish, and I am pleased down to the ground, that everything is to be subordinated to that one consideration—until I get my harpoon into one.”
TR boarded a train to Punta Gorda and then caught a steamboat for the 60 mile trip to the east coast of Captiva Island. There he stayed in a one room barge that became his main base of operations. Two years earlier he nearly lost his life exploring the River of Doubt and now at 58 he was pushing himself again.
Most see Roosevelt as a “Big Game Hunter” with little consideration for his interest in fishing. Yet, Roosevelt was an avid fisherman and saw fishing in the same way he saw hunting Big Game. To TR it was all part of conservation and it built character. At first Roosevelt saw conservation in terms of saving land and forests and water and monuments. In 1907 he expanded that initiative to include mankind. To TR if we were going to save a tree, we should also be saving human beings. It was all part of his stewardship and responsibility of citizenry. By 1912 Theodore Roosevelt was promising America he was dedicated to guaranteeing everyone would have places where they could go to hunt and fish.
In the week he was at Captiva Island TR hit pay dirt and landed his Devil Fish.
Roosevelt is seen here with one of the giant manta rays he harpooned in the waters off Captiva Island. Today that body of water is known as Roosevelt Channel.
