You might not recognize the name Art Neumann, but he arguably had as much an impact on the sport of fly fishing as anyone else ever has. He wasn’t known for writing books, or designing catchy fly patterns. But Neumann gave anglers something far more valuable–he gave all of us a conscience.
Neumann was one of a small handful of anglers from Michigan who in 1959 founded Trout Unlimited. He was the person who coined the adage, “Take care of the fish and the fishing will take care of itself.”
“What Art did was to build an institution–an institution that began with him and a handful of other people along the banks of the Au Sable River, who were tired of the state’s masking habitat degradation through stocking,” said TU president and CEO Chris Wood. “Today, the ‘house that Art built’ includes 400 chapters, over 155,000 members, and 240 scientists, biologists, and other professional staff who serve to make fishing, and the places that fish live, better.”
Neumann passed away in Michigan on Monday March 21. He was 99 years old.
