Field & Stream and Cabo Blanco Pins, Tournament Medals
Casting tournaments were a popular sport. Medals were awarded for accuracy and distance for both fly and plug casting. Field and Stream and fishing club organizations like Cabo Blanco offered award and honor badges if the fish caught met the minimum weight requirements. These medals and badges are sought after by collectors today.
Field & Stream magazine carried on a program for about 40 years of providing badges to fishermen that caught and registered their fish with the magazine. From 1937 to 1977, Field and Stream would send you a badge if you met their minimum size requirements and documented it on their application form. The program started out with 28 different fish categories for prizes. In 1962, this was expanded to 74 fish species. The earliest badges have no markings other than "Field & Stream." The weight of the fish was not on the back of the badge either. Later, applicants that met the minimum requirements would get a badge marked "Honor Badge" and the winner for the year in each category would receive an "Award" badge. The weight of the fish was also stamped on the back of the badge. The older badges are found in bronze and sterling silver. Later badges were awarded in gold, silver and bronze. The largemouth bass badges below show some of the variation in markings and metal. The stylized bass is the earliest one and the realistic one came later. If you have a Field & Stream pin, please contact me.
Field & Stream Pin Collection
Large Mouth Bass Pin Variations
Offshore Game Fish Pin Variations
Intercostal and Bay Fish Pin Variations
Northern Stream and Lake Fish Pin Variations
January 1938 Field & Stream Contest Ad
Giving out award and honor badges by fishing organizations has always been a tradition. Below are some examples of the badge variations. The Tuna Cup Match in Nova Scotia was held in the 1940's with teams competing from the US, Canada and the UK. Kip Farrington's participation made the event receive world wide attention. The Cabo Blanco Fishing Club in Peru was the exclusive fishing club where the world record marlin was caught. Founded in 1951, membership was limited to 20 members with a yearly fee of $10,000. Once again, Kip Farrington's participation and the availability of large marlin made the club famous. The gold Tuna Club pin and the Cabo Blanco pins are very collectable. Anyone that has one of these pins, please contact me.
Kip Farrington's Tuna Club Badge
Cabo Blanco Fishing Club Award Badges
Cabo Blanco Fishing Club Booklet and Decal
Fishing Club Pins
Massachusetts Fishing Club Award Pins (circa 1960)
Cat Cay, Orvis and Other Award Badges
Casting tournaments were a very popular sport at the turn of the century. The popularity continued up until the 1960's. Prize medals were given out for fly and plug casting for distance and accuracy. The medal from the Southern States Casting Tournament in Orlando, Fla is from 1929.
Tournament Casting Medal Awards