From Barbed Wire to Bait Hooks
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 12:18PM 
Cory Shiozaki is compiling information for a project documenting the history of Japanese-American internees who snuck out of the Manzanar internment camp under the noses of armed military guards to go trout fishing. Shiozaki's documentary, “From Barbed Wire to Barbed Hooks,” will tell the stories of how internees risked life and limb to experince a feeling of feedom, albeit brief, fishing Sierra rivers and lakes.
Manzanar was the first of ten internment camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in California's Owens Valley between the towns of Lone Pine to the south and Independence to the north, it is approximately 230 miles (370 km) northeast of Los Angeles, Manzanar would hold more than 11,000 internees. LINK
fishing history, legends of fishing in History
Reader Comments (2)
I read a story of this guy in the los angeles times a couple years back. If I remember it right, some of the guards new about his fishing and just turned away. I pass Manzanar every time I head to the east sierras to fish, From that location, these guys had to start early to get to the water - not to mention sneaking under barbed wire and armed guards
There is a nice museum at Manzanar now. It is well worth stopping there to see the exhibits. For me, a third-generation Japanese-American, it is always a very moving experience for me. It's very important for everyone to learn about America's concentration camps, so they will never happen again.