This is a tribute to Wilford Woodruff, on the 201st anniversary of his birth.
I enjoy hearing details about the lives of our church presidents which hint at what sort of men they are underneath the suit and tie. Although often the information is trivial, I’m interested to know, for example, that Gordon B. Hinckley enjoyed remodeling the house, and one of my favorite pictures of any of our prophets is the one of David O. McKay riding horseback. BYU Studies did us all a favor when it published “I Dreamed of Ketching Fish”: The Outdoor Life of Wilford Woodruff (BYU Studies 37, no. 4, 1997-98).
We learn that President Woodruff was an avid fisherman. He learned how to use flyfishing tackle on one of his missions to England, and before coming home, he bought a set of tackle for himself. His bamboo rod and flyline made the trip west in a wagonbox, and he was thrilled when they reached the mountains and he began to see clear water that held trout. Somewhere west of Fort Bridger (Bear River? Ham’s Fork of the Green?) he caught fish he called speckled salmon, but which were probably westslope cutthroat trout, or Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi. When Brigham Young was ill and suffering from Rocky Mountain fever, Woodruff caught and prepared fresh fish in an effort to stimulate his appetite. At least one history of sportfishing in the United States credits him with being the first person to practice the craft of flyfishing west of the continental divide.
This is what I find so interesting: Flyfishing is a sport that entails some expense. I just took a quick look at the L.L. Bean site, and a new bamboo rod will set you back $1,495.00. It is hard to justify that expense in the family budget when you know fiberglass rods are on sale at the WalMart for $35.00. A man who will spend money on expensive, fragile tackle, ship it across the Atlantic, and carry it with him in his wagon across the plains is a man with a serious jones. He is the 19th century equivalent of a man today who would run back into a burning house to save his golf clubs.
If you read the article, you will learn that President Woodruff was a Sunday fisherman. In his diary, he often records going to meetings on Sabbath morning, then fishing in the afternoon. Within two weeks of the occasion when Brigham Young called the Camp of Israel together, read them the riot act over Sabbath-breaking, and told them they would be a stench in the nostrils of the Lord until they cleaned up their act, Elder Woodruff was spending a leisurely Sunday afternoon catching fish. In his missionary work, he often took his investigators fishing, and he records in his journal how he prepared clambakes and fishfries on the beach for his friends. Is it any wonder he was so successful? I prophecy that if the missionaries today had boats and took their investigators out fishing after church on Sunday, they would have a lot more investigators, and the male:female imbalance in the church would resolve itself overnight.
When President Woodruff was 85 years old, he went on a 10 day camping trip into the Uinta mountains. His party camped near the headwaters of the Weber River, at Smith and Morehouse creek. They fished and hunted grouse, and Woodruff, always a stickler for detail, duly records how many fish each person caught. While camped there, he took time to write a letter to the editor of the outdoor magazine Forest and Stream. He wrote:
I was born on March 1, 1807 at Avon, Hartford county, Conn., on the banks of a trout stream. . . As soon as I was old enough to carry a fish-rod I commenced catching trout, which I have continued to do, from time to time, for nearly eighty years.
It thrills me to know that a man who was president of the church, and who was in hiding from the law just a few years previously, took the time to read Forest and Stream. It pleases me to know that a man who knew so much adversity in his life also was able to recall the innocence of his boyhood, and that he was able to retain a desire and ability to do things that brought him pleasure.
By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog 
I happened to stumble upon Woodruff’s initial experience with fly fishing in the last couple of months. I hope you will excuse the long excerpts, but they are wonderful. While in England, on May 8, 1845 he wrote:
Then during the vangaurd trek to Salt Lake (July 4, 1847) he wrote of his use of the technique:
I also remember Charles Ora Card writing in his diary when he was Stake President in Canada about Woodruff coming up to visit and them fishing for a lengthy time. If I remember correctly, Woodruff embarrassed everyone by catching so much.
Fantastic quotes, J.
On one of his missions to England, he was fishing with some investigators when they were caught by the game warden, fishing on closed waters. He was outraged, and records the incident in his journal without guilt or shame.
A wonderful tribute; thanks. And I agree with the comments about missionary work!
Our prophets can not ever be “hiding from the law” because we believe in honoring, obeying, …. blah, blah blah.
My testimony is strengthened. Thank you.
thanks for the excerpts Mark & J. Stapley. Speaking of fishing, do you think the Lord asked the fish that swallowed Jonah if he wanted to be a fisher of men?
Well, that’s the coolest thing I’ve read in ages. Thanks.
Exactly what Norbert said. This simply was cool.
I used this to introduce the Pres. Woodruff manual in priesthood. As the son and grandson of passionate fishermen, I loved knowing this about Pres. Woodruff.
For those interested, a good book in this genre is “Fly Fishing Through The Midlife Crisis” by Howell Raines, former editor of the N Y Times.
Sorry to break into this male discussion.
I have a book called Three Mormon Classics. It includes “Leaves From My Journal” by Wilford Woodruff and also sections on George Q Cannon and Jacob Hamblin.
I’ve read it many times but never picked up on the fish thing. I did have a memory of a lot of water stories though, so on opening the book randomly I find an account of Wilford Woodruff’s missionary work in the Fox Islands off the coast of Maine. He describes the field of his labors including the following:
Definitely someone who would take naturally to the field of oceanography or limnology.
A little later he tells the following story:
(I’m sure we don’t need to spend much brainpower wondering whether he saw himself as a hunter or fisher.) He continues:
I could keep looking for more examples, but this comment is long enough already. Thanks for the fun discussion!
Brilliant post. I’m sending this around to my friends.
What a great tribute to a wonderful man. Like Brighan Young, I shake my head when I think of the time Wilford Woodruff presided over the church and how much he did in the circumstances. Not to highjack the thread, but I couldn’t help but think of some quotes from A River Runs Through it:
” In my family, there was no clear division between religion and fly fishing.”
“My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. To him, all good things – trout as well as eternal salvation – came by grace”
“…there’s three things we’re never late for: church, work, and fishing.”
“…there’s three things we’re never late for: church, work, and fishing.”
That describes my dad and my maternal grandpa perfectly.
A relative of the emeritus GA Royden Derrick reported that other GA’s gave him gas over his perpetual absence from the first session of General Conference in the Fall. Why did he miss the session? It’s the opening day of the Duck & Goose hunt in Utah.
I’ve used that story as an excuse (along with, “I’ll read it later,” or, “I’ll just TiVo it”) many times, myself, for the same activity.
I believe Pres. Monson enjoys fly fishing. I remember recently reading that he and Jon Huntsman fished together.
Another reason to go fly fishing, so I can follow a prophet.
At this time of the year in 1838, Woodruff was in Maine records gathering clams in low tide.
This weekend we’re headed to Maine, not for clams but to go smelt fishing on the Kennebec river. We’ll fish the late tide (9:48 pm to 4 am) from an ice shack (the river still has 30 inches of ice). Mark,iIf you’re available and interested let me know and we can talk details.