A Brief History of Famous Fishing Facial Hair

Facial hair and fishing have much in common.  To begin with, having hair on your face is manly and so is fishing.  Going fishing with while sporting a beard...even manlier.

The evolution of facial hair parallels the history of fishing.  It is very important to note that this is a very serious post.  It is not fun, it is educational.  Please don't laugh or smile as you read this.

Pre-History

Uhggalla

As humans were beginning to spread out around the world, he began to encounter new species of fish that were begging to be caught, and species of man that had been catching them for years.  These amazing dudes would kill animals and catch fish to eat.  Their amazing facial hair may have been a result of their manliness, or possibly the source of their manliness.  Either way, it doesn't matter.  They would influence the humans to come.  In some areas of the world Neanderthals helped to show humans how to grow awesome beards and catch the native fish.

Neanderthals were eventually killed off and out spawned by man, but there legacy lives on.  In fact, science has shown that there is some Neanderthal DNA still surviving in modern day Humans.  No wonder some of us can still catch fish and grow great beards.  Pictured above, Uhggalla shows off his full face of hair and a hand made spear he built to catch his fish.  Uhggalla was the most sucessfull of all the Neanderthal anglers.

The Dawn of Civilization

Gilgamesh

The first civilization in history was also a group that sported bad-to-the-bone facial hair and could enough catch fish to feed the community in Mesopotamia.  They may have had some of the best beards in history.  Check out this picture of Gilgamesh:

Living between the Tigris and Euphrates provided good river fishing for the Sumerians.  Possibly they were fishing from kayaks, maybe they invented the predecessor to the Jackson Coosa, and maybe this is what helped them catch their fish.  Probably it was the beard that helped them catch more fish.

Noah

Noah may have learned to fish from Gilgamesh.  He surely learned the secrets of great facial hair from Gilg.

It's a good thing he learned to catch a few fish, with the whole world flooded, fish wold have been an excellent source of protein.  And imagine the beard that Noah had after 150 days on a boat.

Ancient Times

Odysseus 

Odysseus spent something like 10 years drifting at sea.  That is even longer than Noah did.  Crazy.  I am sure he grew a great beard during that time.  Sure he spent some time with the ladies and fighting, but I am sure much of his time was spent fishing with his buddies on board his ship.

Notice Odysseus standing up, leading his men, and commanding great presence with his facial hair.  He was a fine fisherman and a fellow bearded brother.

Peter, Andrew, James, and John

Of Jesus' 12 disciples, at least 4 were fishermen, Peter and his brother Andrew, and James and his brother John.  

Jesus calling on Peter and Andrew

Jesus, James, and John

Fish were an important food source around the Sea of Galilee.  Beards were customary for men in those times.  It is only fitting that Jesus would have chosen four bearded fishermen as disciples.  

Age of Explores

Marco Polo

Marco Polo was one of the first world travelers.  Most historians are unaware that the reason for his journeys was to fish.  He loved to fish for and catch exotic species in their native waters.  He also had one of the best facial hair growings, spreading the popularity of the beard around the known world.  Check out this mosaic of Marco, prominently displaying the beauty of his beard:

With stops in the Middle East, India, China, among others, Marco Polo was able to catch numerous species of fish in both fresh and saltwater. Some believe that Steve Wozniak was the first angler to catch 1000 species of fish, but that is simply untrue.  The true first to accomplish this feet was Mr. Polo himself.  A great bearded angler, Marco Polo never was a Fish Out Of Water!

Francisco Pizarro

After Christopher Columbus, there were several famous explores and conquistadors that traveled to the new world.  The greatest fisherman of these was Francisco Pizarro, and he had mighty fine facial hair to go along with those angling skills.

As seen in the picture above, even the Natives had a high regard for his ability to catch great fish at first.  Eventually he began to catch all their fish, turning the Native Peruvians against him.  But unfortunately, instead of respecting the native anglers, Pizarro decided to conquer them so that he could continue fishing.  Although he was not the best of characters, he still makes this list due to his fishing prowess and beard.

Izaak Walton

Izaak Walton is best know for his work, The Complete Angler.  But he should also be known for his trademark facial hair.

It was a unique mustache with a small tuft of hair growing under the lip, a sort of modified goatee, a style that is still popular today.  Izaak did dabble in fly fishing, although he never claimed to be an expert.  His expertise was in the are of live bait fishing.

Recent History

Frank Buckland

One of the pioneers in the field of "Fish Culture," which went above and beyond just the hatching and rearing of fry.  Frank Buckland also "cultured" a great beard while promoting fishing thought England.

Frank Buckland dedicated his life to improving the commercial fisheries of the British Isles.  His legacy can still be seen today in the Buckland Foundation.

Charles Holder

Charles Frederick holder was the "inventor" of Big-Game Fishing among other things.  He was a passionate angler who sported good looking facial hair.

Charles is pictured in the photo above with what was then the world record Bluefin Tuna.  It is a good looking fish.

Theodore Roosevelt

There is no question, Theodore Roosevelt was an accomplished outdoorsman and conservationist.  He also sported great facial hair with his trademark mustache.  Teddy is pictured below holding a giant trout.  Although the picture is borrowed from another blog (Roderick Hawg Brown), and I don't know if it is real or not, it is still cool.

"Walk softly and carry a big stick."  That sure sounds like a fishing reference to me.

Leon Trotsky

Although Leon Trotsky may have been a Marxist and the founder of the Red Army, he was still an avid angler with a knack for growing impressive facial hair.

He is pictured above deep sea fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.  His trademark goatee is also on display in this picture. Trotsky, when not leading the communists and before his split from Joseph Stallin, was an avid ichthyologist.   In fact, it was a Rockfish, that lead to the final confrontation between Trotsky and Stalin.  Either way, Trotsky had much better facial hair.

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway's facial hair changed from time to time.  Sometimes it was a mustache, sometimes it was a beard.  He was a journalist, author, and avid outdoorsman.  He enjoyed the pursuit of game, fishing often. Much of what is wrote was fishing stories.

The Old Man and the Sea might be Hemingway's most famous fishing story, however he has written many more stories about fishing.  In 1960, Ernest met another bearded fishing lover, whether they were friends or not doesn't matter for this article, Fidel Castro.

Fidel Castro

The dictator and leader of the Cuban communist revolution, Fidel Castro is also a lover of fishing and has a pretty good beard.

Castro is seen in the picture above with what looks like a version of Abraham Lincolns chin strap beard.  Here, Fidel adds in a mustache to make it his own style while he is out on the water.

Who is Next?

The late Spanish Fly TV show host Jose Wejebe, sported a mustache from time to time, but not long enough to be included in this countdown.  There are several current BASS Pros who sport facial hair including Michael Iaconelli, and more recently Aaron Martens. Is there some currently unfamous fishing hipster who will one day make it big on TV.  Will Eric Young become more famous for his beard and fishing that wrestling   Maybe their is some Semi-Pro, fishing a Redfish trail somewhere who will make facial hair headlines.

I don't know who is next, but there will be more.  Fishing and facial hair just go together.