THE REFLECTIVE ANGLER - The Quotable Fly Fisherman
Fly Fishing quotations from Charles Cotton to John Gierach.
Fly Fishing quotations from Charles Cotton to John Gierach.
The Quotable Fly Fisherman - Front Cover (Version Two) "I cannot imagine anybody writing a whole book about maggots, whereas many a man has spent much of his life thinking and writing about fisherman's flies." Arthur Ransome, The Fisherman’s Library (1959) "When I had gone half a mile, my opinion of the character of the pools was unchanged: never were there such places for trout; but the trout were out of their places. Perhaps they didn't care for the fly: some trout seem to be so unsophisticated as to prefer the worm." Charles Dudley Warner, Lost in the Woods in In The Wilderness (1878) "A man is drawn to wet-fly fishing - why is as mysterious as why some men take up the viola instead of the violin." William Humphrey, My Moby Dick (1979) "The indications which tell your dry-fly angler when to strike are clear and unmistakable, but those which bid a wet-fly man raise his rod-point and draw in the steel are frequently so subtle, so evanescent and impalpable to the senses, that, when the bending rod assures him he has divined aright, he feels an ecstasy as though he had performed a miracle each time." G.E.M Skues, Minor Tactics of the ChalkStream (1910) "We … believe that a 12-inch trout caught on a dry fly is four inches longer than a 12-inch trout caught on a nymph or streamer." John Gierach, The View from Rat Lake (1989) 
The Reflective Angler - Front Cover (Version One) | THE REFLECTIVE ANGLER
The Quotable Fly Fisherman 1500 Thought-Provoking Fly Fishing Quotations.
Edited by Sir Roderick Hunter ISBN: 9781907338175 To Be Published in 2011
For further details please email Blue Eyed Books
"Fly-fishing is, indeed, the poetry of angling." Dr. James A. Henshall "The hierarchy of fishing is built upon the idea that the harder the method, the more worthwhile the catch. The fly-fisherman disdains the angler who uses a prawn. Both look down on the person who tries to catch his fish by ‘snigging’ or ‘foulhooking.’ Even poachers moan about driftnets at sea." Jeremy Paxman, Fish, Fishing and the Meaning of Life (1994) "Fly-fishing stands almost alone in a class of its own … And indeed it may almost be said that in no sport in the world, with the possible exception of big game shooting, does knowledge, as opposed to mere physical dexterity, prove so fascinating in acquirement, or reap so delightfully satisfactory reward." J.W. Dunne, Sunshine and the Dry-Fly (1924) "Those who fly-fish are more dapper than their coarse-fishing counterparts (think picnic baskets rather than pork pies)." Rob Beattie in The Sunday Times (2001) "I would rather go home empty-handed after a day playing a dry fly than catch monsters with a deep-sunk lure dressed like a saloon-bar slut." Max Hastings in The Independent (1989) "There are creations coming out of my box that might have been designed by Salvador Dali after a heavy night on Stilton cheese and red wine." Brian Musgrove, Stillwater Trout (1994) "Trout waters can be very personal places. The best trout streams are the ones you grow up with and then grow old with. Eventually they become like a familiar shotgun, or a faithful old setter, or a comfortable pair of shoes." Gordon MacQuarrie, Upon the Earth Below "To him, all good things - trout as well as eternal salvation- come by grace, and grace comes by art, and art does not come easy." Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It "Calling Fly-Fishing a hobby is like calling Brain Surgery a job." Paul Schullery "Our tradition is that of the first man who sneaked away to the creek when the tribe did not really need fish." Roderick Haig-Brown, A River Never Sleeps "I look into ... my fly box, and think about all the elements I should consider in choosing the perfect fly: water temperature, what stage of development the bugs are in, what the fish are eating right now. Then I remember what a guide told me: 'Ninety percent of what a trout eats is brown and fuzzy and about five-eighths of an inch long.'" Allison Moir, Love the Man, Love the Fly Rod in A Different Angle: Fly Fishing Stories by Women "In the lexicon of the fly-fishermen, the words rise and hooked connote the successful and desirable climax; landing a fish is purely anticlimax." Vincent C. Marinaro |