Fishing quotes by some famous and not so famous anglers

Fishing quotes and thoughts by some famous and not so famous anglers...

Here are some quotes I've run across over the years and saved for no special reason. Hope you enjoy them!

"If people don't occasionally walk away from you shaking their heads, you're doing something wrong." John Gierach

"Be patient and calm - for no one can catch fish in anger." - Herbert Hoover

"It is not how abundant nor how considerable our catch be, but rather to the sport, and manner in which our quarry, the noble trout is angled."-J.B. Martin

"The only reason I ever played golf in the first place was so that I could afford to hunt and fish." Sam Snead

"Scholars have long known that fishing eventually turns men into philosophers. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to buy decent tackle on a philosopher's salary" Patrick McManus

"The fish and I were both stunned and disbelieving to find ourselves connected by a line." William Humphrey in "The Armchair Angler"

Click here for a highly reviewed book of fishing quotes!

"I've gone fishing thousands of times in my life, and I have never once felt unlucky or poorly paid for those hours on the water."

William Tapply "A Fly-Fishing Life"

"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

"In every species of fish I've angled for, it is the ones that have got away that thrill me the most, the ones that keep fresh in my memory. So I say it is good to lose fish. If we didn't, much of the thrill of angling would be gone."
Ray Bergman

"The best fisherman I know try not to make the same mistakes over and over again; instead they strive to make new and interesting mistakes and to remember what they learned from them." John Gierach "Fly Fishing the High Country"

"If I'm not going to catch anything, then I 'd rather not catch anything on flies" Bob Lawless.

“I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.”
- Vince Lombardi

"...buying a fly rod in the average city store, that is, joining it up and safely waggling it a bit, is much like seeing a woman's arm protruding from a car window: all one can readily be sure of is that the window is open." Anatomy of a Fisherman by Robert Traver

"Why does a salmon rise? Why does a small boy cross the street just to kick a tin can?" Lee Wulff, The Atlantic Salmon

"In these sad and ominous days of mad fortune chasing, every patriotic, thoughtful citizen, whether he fishes or not, should lament that we have not among our countrymen more fishermen." Grover Cleveland

"There's a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore like an idiot." Steven Wright

"The Essentials of a Good Fly-Hook: The temper of an angel and penetration of a prophet; fine enough to be invisible and strong enough to kill a bull in a ten-acre field." G.S. Marryat

"Just as in cooking there's no such thing as a little garlic, in fishing there's no such thing as a little drag." H.G. Tapply The Sportsman's Notebook

"Smoked carp tastes just as good as smoked salmon when you ain't got no smoked salmon." Patrick F. McManus

"I think I fish, in part, because it's an anti-social, bohemian business that, when gone about properly, puts you forever outside the mainstream culture without actually landing you in an institution." John Gierach

"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." John Gierach

"Creeps and idiots cannot conceal themselves for long on a fishing trip." John Gierach

"They say you forget your troubles on a trout stream, but that's not quite it. What happens is that you begin to see where your troubles fit into the grand scheme of things, and suddenly they're just not such a big deal anymore." John Gierach

"If fishing is interfering with your business, give up your business." Sparse Grey Hackle

"Most anglers, especially tyros, false cast too often. Three false casts should be sufficient for any throw and two is better. One is perfect." Joe Brooks

"Game fish are too valuable to only be caught once." Lee Wulff

"You can observe a lot just by watching." Yogi Berra

"I used to like fishing because I thought it had some larger significance. Now I like fishing because it's the one thing I can think of that probably doesn't." John Gierach

"Something to think about: If you fish the wrong fly long and hard enough, it will sooner or later become the right fly." -- John Gierach

"No life is so happy and so pleasant as the life of the well-govern'd angler." - Izaak Walton

"Whether I caught fish or not, just the thrill of rolling out that line and watching my fly turn over has been good enough for me. That and the hundreds of treasured memories I have of this wonderful sport." Curt Gowdy

"There will be days when the fishing is better than one's most optimistic forecast, others when it is far worse. Either is a gain over just staying home." Roderick Haig-Brown

"Often I have been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold, briar scarred, sunburned, mosquito bitten, but never, with a fly rod in my hand have I been less than in a place that was less than beautiful." Charles Kuralt

"There is only one theory about angling in which I have perfect confidence, and this is that the two words, least appropriate to any statement, about it, are the words "always" and "never." Lord Edward Grey

"He told us about Christ's disciples being fisherman, and we were left to assume...that all great fishermen on the Sea of Galilee were fly fisherman and that John, the favorite, was a dry-fly fisherman." Norman Maclean - A River Runs Through It

"The trout do not rise in the cemetery, so you better do your fishing while you are still able." - Sparse Grey Hackle

"If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles." - Doug Larson

"The angler forgets most of the fish he catches, but he does not forget the streams and lakes in which they are caught." - Charles K. Fox

"The great charm of fly-fishing is that we are always learning." - Theodore Gordon

"I have fished through fishless days that I remember happily without regret." - Roderick Haig-Brown

"There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process." - Paul O'Neil

"I'm going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. John 21:3

"Most fishermen swiftly learn that it's a pretty good rule never to show a favorite spot to any fisherman you wouldn't trust with your wife" John Voelker

"My biggest worry is that my wife (when I'm dead) will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it." Koos Brandt

"More than half the intense enjoyment of fly-fishing is derived from the beautiful surroundings, the satisfaction felt from being in the open air, the new lease of life secured thereby, and the many, many pleasant recollections of all one has seen, heard and done." - Charles F. Orvis

"One fish. Two fish. Red fish. Blue fish. Black fish. Blue fish. Old fish. New fish. This one has a little star. This one has a little car. Say! What a lot of fish there are." Dr. Seuss

"You do not cease to fish because you get old, You get old because you cease to fish!" unkown

"All the romance of trout fishing exists in the mind of the angler and is in no way shared by the fish." Harold F. Blaisdell

"Fishing is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it..." Harry Middleton