WOODS, WATERS, AND WILDLIFE
Something fishy Ohio boasts a few connections to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s anniversary celebration. BY W.H. “CHIP” GROSS
150 years
James Henshall (center) aboard the U.S. Fish Commission ship, Grampus, circa 1890.
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n February, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USF&WS) turned 150 years old, and to celebrate its sesquicentennial, it has released a new book of its many finny accomplishments titled America’s Bountiful Waters. A compendium of all things piscatorial, the book details the long history of fisheries management in the U.S. and highlights many of the service’s most wellknown employees — including two Ohioans who are prominently featured: Bob Hines and James Henshall. Henshall (1836–1925) is known as the father of bass fishing in the U.S. He was born in Maryland and moved to Cincinnati after graduating high school. He finished medical studies in 1859, just in time for the Civil War, and promptly joined the Union Army medical corps. One of his most memorable adventures was a run-in with Morgan’s Raiders, a Confederate cavalry unit that crossed the Ohio River and was eventually captured near West Point, in Columbiana County.
10 OHIO COOPERATIVE LIVING • JUNE 2021
In addition to his interest in medicine, Henshall began studying fish culture after the war, and he became one of the earliest American authorities on sport fishing. A dedicated angler all his life, he was also a prolific writer — one of the most famous fishing writers of his day — contributing articles to both Forest & Stream and The American Angler, the premier outdoor journals of the era. He is most remembered for his magnum opus, Book of the Black Bass. Published in 1881, it sold nearly half a million copies, with more still being sold today. Hines (1912–1994) was born in Columbus and became interested in the outdoors at a young age. He made it his life’s work while hunting, fishing, and camping close to the Sandusky River near Fremont, Ohio. He was a young staff artist for the Ohio Division of Wildlife in 1948 when he was lured away to work for the USF&WS. No doubt he had gained attention of the agency by designing the art for the 1946 Federal Duck Stamp with his image of redhead
