Don Martinez

Donald S. Martinez (Jan. 10 1895- Jan. 1956), was an American sports author contributing the "Western Trout Fishing" section to the Wise Fisherman’s Encyclopedia, Illustrated (1951).^[1]

A Founder of the Izaak Walton League and Modern Fly-Fishing

Martinez was also a founder of the Izaak Walton League and is credited with introducing dry fly fishing to Yellowstone National Park in the 1930s.^[2] To Martinez has been attributed the marketing of the Woolly Worm (imitation) lure for western waters. Northwest Fly Fishing Magazine named Don Martinez to its 'Pioneers & Legends' distinction in the fall of 2004, two years before Zane Grey. Don Martinez has also been featured in the book, Fly Fishing Pioneers & Legends of the Northwest. Don’s promotion of Angling in Yellowstone National Park occurred in the mid 1930s when he opened a seasonal, one-room fly shop, later to become Bob Jacklin's Fly Shop on the corner of Yellowstone and Canyon streets. Born in Chicago and later relocating to southern California, Martinez was a real estate executive, and son of George D. Martinez and Alice Shillman Martinez. He and his spouse Nola had two children, David G. Martinez and Mary M. Martinez.

Education

Martinez graduated from Cornell University in 1918, and was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.

References

1. ^ Popular Science Monthly (158:4)(April 1951). Lt. General Walter Bedell Smith contributed the section on "Fresh Water Tackle."
2. ^ Annals of Wyoming, "The Past and Present of Fly-Fishing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming: An Interview with Jack Dennis" (76:2)(Spring 2004).