Bud Lilly

Last updated
Bud Lilly
Born
Walen Francis Lilly II

August 13, 1925 (1925-08-13)
Manhattan, Montana
DiedJanuary 4, 2017 (2017-01-05)
Bozeman, Montana
Alma materMontana State University, bachelor's degree in Applied Science; University of Montana, master's degree in education (1951)
OccupationFly fisherman
Known forFly fishing guide and owner of "The Trout Shop" in West Yellowstone

Bud Lilly (1925-2017) was the owner of the Trout Shop in West Yellowstone, Montana as well as an accomplished baseball player, fly fishing guide, and conservationist.

Contents

Early life and career in education

Walen Francis “Bud” Lilly II was born on August 13, 1925, in Manhattan, Montana. [1] to Violet Collins, a hotelier, [2] and Walen Lilly, a barber. [3] Bud graduated from Manhattan High School in 1942. [4] After some time serving in the United States Armed Forces, he enrolled in Montana State University in Bozeman in 1946 and earned a Bachelor's degree in applied science. [5] In 1951, Lilly earned his Master's degree in education from the University of Montana in Missoula. [4] He then became a public school math and science [6] teacher in Bozeman and Deer Lodge [4] until his retirement in 1970. [3] He briefly also worked as a teacher in Scottsdale, Arizona. [1]

Involvement in baseball

Bud's father, Bud Sr., was a fan of baseball and taught Bud to play. At age five, Bud received his first bat and glove, and he began playing in sandlot games. At age twelve, Bud began playing organized baseball, [4] playing in both American Legion and town-team baseball. [6] He rapidly gained more experience. At fourteen, he became the youngest player on the Gallatin Valley Men's Team, an independent baseball team whose players ranged in age from fourteen to fifty. Bud played second base. [4]

While in the Gallatin Valley Men's Team, Lilly played in an exhibition game against “a Negro League traveling team," [6] including Satchel Paige, a pitcher who was later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and became the oldest rookie in Major League baseball. [7] Lilly managed to get a hit on a pitch from the famed player and make it to first base, but got out when he attempted to steal second. [6]

In 1940, two men from the Cincinnati Reds scouted the team. He was not given an offer at the time. In 1942, the men returned to watch Bud play again. They offered him a minor-league contract [8] to play with the Cincinnati Reds farm team, the Salt Lake City Bees. [9] Instead, with World War II ravaging the country, Bud joined the military. [4]

Military career

In 1942, Lilly joined the U.S. Armed Forces and travelled to Butte, Montana to train in the V-12 program for U.S. Navy Officers. [4] After two years in the program, Lilly received his commission and “reported to St. John’s Cathedral in New York”. [4] He then journeyed to Bainbridge, MD to go through Navy boot camp.

Lilly trained in Miami from May–July 1945 on destroyers, sub-chasers, and PT boats. Following this training, he shipped out to Italy on the way to invade Japan with the U.S. Forces. [4] During his service, Bud Lilly was assigned to the USS General R.M. Blatchford. He visited Hiroshima, Japan after its bombing by U.S. forces. [1] In 1946, Lilly left the military and returned to Montana to continue his education. [10]

Fly fishing and The Trout Shop

During his time as a public school teacher, Lilly began working another job in West Yellowstone and washed cars for extra cash. [5]

In 1961, Lilly purchased a “trout fishing tackle store” in West Yellowstone that became a great success. The shop gathered information about local fishing conditions, provided a space for fishermen to congregate, and offered fly fishing services and items like tackle and flies. [5]

Lilly also sent out promotional literature and catalogues for fly-fishing and taught fly-fishing lessons. [5] He became a guide on the Madison, Gallatin, and Yellowstone rivers. [3] Some of his clients included Tom Brokaw, Jimmy Carter, [10] and British Ambassador Sir Peter Ramsbotham. [1] He also advocated for catch-and-release fishing and created a club at his shop to encourage the practice in Montana [3] that gave fishermen silver buttons for releasing trout of various lengths. [11] In addition, he supported women's involvement in fly fishing by offering “women-only fishing trips” and assisting in creating “women’s fly-fishing clubs”. [11]

“I was always engaged by the instant of the strike,” he wrote in his autobiography, published in 1988. “It doesn’t matter how many thousands of trout I’ve taken since. I still have the same excitement when I put a fly over a trout and a miracle happens.” [12]

The shop also published several editions of a merchandising catalogue and a fishing map of the area in tandem with California businessman David Bascomb. [1] When Lilly's first wife, Patricia, grew ill in 1981, Lilly decided to sell the shop in 1982, although the shop still bore his name during the tenure of the next few owners. [3]

Personal life

Bud Lilly married Patricia Bennett on March 15, 1947. The couple had three children: Gregory, Michael, and Annette. After Patricia died in 1984 [13] of lung cancer, [9] Lilly then married Esther Simon. The couple had two children: Christopher and Alisa.

Work in conservation

Bud Lilly also had an active career in conservation work. He was a director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, a director of the Whirling Disease Foundation, a director-at-large for the American Wildlands, a board member of the Montana Land Resilience, a member of the National Federation of Fly Fishers, [14] and a member of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. [1] He has also worked with Trout Unlimited, which he helped found, since its inception [14] in 1962. [4] Lilly also served as the organization's first president. [15]

Following his work with the Trout Shop, Lilly continued his activism in conservation. Lilly's main causes were protecting trout and restoring waterways through preventing overgrazing and extensive logging near headwaters and major bodies of water. [5] He also worked to modify standard practices concerning stocking of hatchery fish and campaigned for increasing wild trout populations in Montana. [14] He was also “credited as one of the pioneers of the catch-and-release movement”, [9] which he began in the 1950s, “long before it became the norm”. [8]

Awards and recognition

Lilly received an honorary doctorate from Montana State University. He was also inducted into the Federation of Fly Fishers Hall of Fame and awarded the Heritage Award for lifetime achievement from the American Museum of Fly Fishing. [16] Bud also helped assemble the almost 10,000-volume collection of books, manuscripts and personal papers at Montana State University known as the Bud Lilly Trout and Salmonid Initiative. [6]

Later years

After his mother's death in 1994, Lilly remodeled “The Angler’s Retreat,” a lodge in Three Forks, Montana, to create an eighteen-room retreat for fly fishers in Montana. [5] He also founded the Western Rivers Club, an organization he created to “keep his former customers in touch”. [1] Lilly volunteered as a Montana Ambassador, [10] a state-sponsored program to encourage tourism and recreation in the state, and worked as a river keeper for Baker Springs, a land development company near his hometown of Manhattan, Montana. [1]

In his later years, Lilly's vision deteriorated due to macular degeneration, but he continued to fish frequently with friends. He also founded the Warriors and Quiet Waters Foundation, which “brings disabled vets to Montana to introduce them to fly fishing and the therapeutic power of ever-flowing waters”. [16] Bud Lilly died in Bozeman, Montana on January 4, 2017 [14] from heart failure [3] at the age of 91.

Publications

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Scott, Kim Allen. “Biographical Note.” Bud Lilly Papers, 1926-2008. Montana State University, Special Collections and Archival Informatics, 2013.
  2. ↑ Admin. "Bud Lilly to Honor Japanese-Americans Who Fought in WWII." Explore Big Sky. March 17, 2015. Accessed July 27, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sandomir, Richard. "Conservationist Bud Lilly, 'a Trout's Best Friend,' Dies at 91." The New York Times. January 15, 2017. Accessed July 27, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Admin. "Stealing Third: Bud Lilly's True Story of War, Baseball, and Coming Home to Montana." Explore Big Sky. March 17, 2015. Accessed July 27, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 England, Mike. "Bud Lilly, Father of Fly Fishing." Outside Bozeman. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://www.outsidebozeman.com/activities/fishing/fly/bud-lilly-father-fly-fishing.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 McCumber, David. "At Almost 90, Bud Lilly Is Still a Trout's Best Friend." The Billings Gazette. July 30, 2015. Accessed July 29, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Satchel Paige." Biography.com. January 30, 2020. Accessed July 29, 2020. https://www.biography.com/athlete/satchel-paige.
  8. 1 2 K&E Outfitters. "Legendary Montana Angler Bud Lilly Passes at 91." K&E Outfitters. January 31, 2017. Accessed July 27, 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 Wright, Michael. "Bud Lilly, Prominent Fly Fisherman and Conservation Advocate, Dies at 91." Bozeman Daily Chronicle. January 05, 2017. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/bud-lilly-prominent-fly-fisherman-and-conservation-advocate-dies-at-91/article_ee170491-c9a2-5ed2-91df-e17b4754ce43.html.
  10. 1 2 3 The Associated Press. "Fly Fisherman, Conservationist Bud Lilly Dies at 91." Great Falls Tribune. January 07, 2017. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2017/01/06/fly-fisherman-conservationist-bud-lilly-dies/96271000/.
  11. 1 2 David Smith. "Historic Outdoor People: Bud Lilly, Fly Fishing Icon and a "Trout's Best Friend"." Wide Open Spaces. April 27, 2019. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://www.wideopenspaces.com/historic-outdoor-people-bud-lilly-fly-fishing-icon-and-a-trouts-best-friend/.
  12. ↑ Sandomir, Richard (2017-01-15). "Conservationist Bud Lilly, 'a Trout's Best Friend,' Dies at 91". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  13. ↑ The Associated Press. "Fly Fisherman, Guardian Bud Lilly Dies at 91." The Belgrade News. January 10, 2017. Accessed July 27, 2020. http://www.belgrade-news.com/news/feature/fly-fisherman-guardian-bud-lilly-dies-at-91/article_d71ff3e6-d6b5-11e6-a7ba-d7c97986dd84.html.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Wright, Jonathan. "Bud Lilly." Fly Fisherman. January 10, 2017. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://www.flyfisherman.com/editorial/bud-lilly/152114.
  15. ↑ Vallejo Times-Herald. "Fly Fisherman, Conservationist Bud Lilly Dies at 91." Times. September 06, 2018. Accessed July 29, 2020. https://www.timesheraldonline.com/2017/01/06/fly-fisherman-conservationist-bud-lilly-dies-at-91/.
  16. 1 2 Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame. "Bud Lilly." Bud Lilly. Accessed July 29, 2020. https://mtoutdoorhalloffame.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Bud-Lilly.pdf.
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