Fishing has always involved a certain amount of patience. You can spend hours preparing, travel miles to find the right spot, and still come home with nothing but a good story. That part probably has not changed much. What has changed is everything around it, from the boats people used to the gear they trusted when they headed out on the water.
Some of the scenes feel rugged, others almost peaceful, but all of them show the connection between fishermen and the water. For the people in these photographs, fishing was sometimes a job, sometimes a way of feeding a family, and sometimes just a reason to spend the day outdoors.
1. Fisherman Buck Craske, 1910
2. A Turkish fisherman returns to his family with a prize, 1930s
3. “My Gramps, a fisherman in Sweden, 1950”
4. A fisherman in Gloucester, Massachusetts, 1900
5. “My Grandfather in the ’70s was a commercial fisherman in Alaska”
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6. Steve McQueen, one of the most successful fly fishermen, 1972
7. A young fisherman, 1930s
8. Fishing off a skiff at Monterey’s Fishermen’s Wharf, 1960s
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9. Plateau Tribe fisherman on the Columbia River fishing for salmon, 1954
10. “My Grandfather was a commercial fisherman by horse, Belgium, 1952”
11. A fisherman in Santa Marta using a fishing net, 1945
12. A Cape Ann fisherman mending his nets, 1900
13. A spear fisherman watching for salmon, 1923
14. Mexican fishermen casting nets, 1956
15. Birds waiting for an easy meal in China, 1946
16. Japanese fishermen photographed in Numazu, 1970s
17. A fisherman preparing his net in Kerala, India, 1920s
Want to see more vintage content from the 1900s?
Check out 20 Colorized Street Scenes from the Early 1900s, or if you’re interested in aviators, check out 19 Colorized Photos Of Aviators (1900s). Finally, if you want to see photos of safari trips in the 1900s, check out 20 Vintage Photos of Safari Trips in the late 1900s.
