A book begins with an image or character or situation that I care about deeply.
Accurately recalling an entire day of fishing is like trying to push smoke back down a chimney, so you settle on these specific moments.
Fly tackle has improved considerably since 1676, when Charles Cotton advised anglers to 'fish fine and far off,' but no one has ever improved on that statement.
Successful trout fishing isn't a matter of brute force or even persistence, but something more like infiltration.
I like to do every operation the same way on each fly. In the course of tying a batch of flies, I might get an idea on how to do something differently, but try to save it to try out later rather than break my comfortable rhythm. I don't worry about forgetting it. In my experience good ideas stay with you, while bad ones go back to where they came from, and good riddance.
Luckily, though, there are still a few guys around who will look you straight in the eye and say, eloquently and to the point, ‘It’s been too goddamned hot for too long and the river has gone off. ’
The things fishermen know about trout aren't facts but articles of faith.
I enjoyed debate on the floor but it's not really debate in the same way.
History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books-books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, 'What is history, but a fable agreed upon?
Love. It's God's greatest gift. He fills our world with it and makes sure we grow up with caring, supportive parents. I'm just kidding. Pain is God's greatest gift. Pain is God's way of saying, Hurts, don't it ? Well, go ahead. Say, me dammit again.
Prudence must not be expected from a man who is never sober. [Lat. , Non est ab homine nunquam sobrio postulanda prudentia. ]