photo by alfred eisenstaedt, 1952
as a kid I was always enamored by the fishing stories of Ernest Hemingway. he was a crusty old man with a sharp pen and a unconditional love for the outdoors. the old man in the sea was actually written about his first mate, Gregorio who was with Hemingway from the early 30’s. the stories of cuba and fishing on the Pilar during the hey day of marlin and big game fishing must have been insane. Lefty Kreh’s first fly caught bonefish was caught in Cuba and he always said the fishery there was fantastic. Lefty also said that Castro liked to fish and was actually quite an angler. He won Hemingway’s marlin tournaments from time to time. I can imagine how primitive and adventurous is was back then when the ocean was filled with large pelagics. it is always fun to look back to the past and be reminded of the contributions these pioneers made in our sport the old school way sans fish finders, gps and braided lines…
story about the “old man” cuban fisherman, Gregorio Fuentes who died at the age of 104.
flies, sand & surf 
I’m Lefty Kreh’s nephew and we just had a mini family reunion. I finally got to hear the story about the tournament with Hemingway, Castro and my uncle. Must have been great times fishing those waters back then.
Hey Tim, thanks for your reply, your uncle has many
Great stories, he’s a living excyclopedia on fishing, hunting and photography. He is also one of the funniest guys I know, I think that’s what keeps him so young! Your a lucky guy to have such a cool uncle!