[The Dad Fisherman]

Hal Lyman is perhaps best known as the man responsible for the growth and popularity of salt water fishing in the U.S., which he promoted through Salt Water Sportsman magazine. His illustrious career in the publishing industry began simply enough as a reporter for the Cape Cod Colonial newspaper in Hyannis, Massachusetts, and then for the Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, following his graduation from Harvard University in 1937. But World War II soon intervened and Lyman spent six years serving aboard Navy destroyers. Released from active duty in 1946, he soon purchased Salt Water Sportsman. Originally launched by Ollie Rodman, Tap Tapply and Hugh Grey in 1939, the regional weekly cost five cents and covered the summer saltwater fishing conditions in New England. Lyman started as editor, then took over as publisher several years later, the title he held for a half-century. When he was again activated for military service during the Korean War, a young ex-GI with a love of surf fishing, Frank Woolner, agreed to become Salt Water Sportsman’s editor. Eighteen months later, in 1953, Lyman retired from the military with the rank of Commander and returned to the magazine. As the years passed Salt Water Sportsman evolved into a monthly publication with coverage expanded from the Maritimes to the Bahamas, then to the Gulf of Mexico, then to the Pacific. Hal Lyman and Frank Woolner had fulfilled the weekly’s original slogan; they had indeed created “The Voice of the Coastal Sport Fisherman.” Always believing that fishing and conservation should go hand-in-hand, Hal Lyman promoted marine conservation long before it became popular by printing some of the earliest pieces about the subject on Salt Water Sportsman’s pages. He was always interested in helping the good, young writers and many of today’s well-known fishing authors and personalities credit Lyman for giving them their first break. Fishing is not only Hal Lyman’s business, it is also his hobby. He caught his first saltwater fish at the age of 6. Since then he has fished the world for everything from giant bluefin tuna to peacock bass, salmon and striped bass. He is the author of nine books -- seven on saltwater angling (five with Woolner) and two on bluefishing, a subject on which Lyman is considered an authority -- and has written hundreds of magazine articles and editorials for a variety of periodicals and technical journals. Known for his quiet, reserved but effective activism, Hal Lyman has been responsible for substantive changes to both commercial and recreational fishing practices while serving on many private and government boards, panels and committees, including the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, National Coalition for Marine Conservation, Atlantic Salmon Federation, New England Fishery Management Council, and the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of Commerce. As Publisher Emeritus of Salt Water Sportsman, Hal Lyman continues to go into the office weekly, and he has remained an ardent sportsman and conservationist. Accepting the 1996 John Rybovich Lifetime Achievement Award from The Billfish Foundation and Power & Motoryacht magazine for his dedication to conserving marine resources, Lyman stated, “It’s so important - even more than it was in my time. We’ve got to keep getting people involved in protecting our oceans. Our lives really depend on it.” In recognition of his lifelong devotion to conservation and responsible fishery management, his development and leadership of Salt Water Sportsman magazine, and his countless other accomplishments on behalf of the world’s sportsmen, Hal Lyman will be remembered.