250 Funny and Inspirational Fishing Quotes

Updated 4/9/21

At Runners Sunglasses, we love that so many people have chosen ours as their fishing sunglasses. We know fishermen don’t choose their equipment lightly.

We also know that fishermen love fishing quotes. Whether you’re looking for a better appreciation of your favorite pastime, a good laugh, or just a caption for those all-important Instagram photos, we’ve collected more than 250 quotes for you.

117 Funny Fishing Quotes

If you don’t have a sense of humor, you won’t make it as a fisherman. Fishing can be one of the most rewarding activities, but it can also push your patience to the limit.

That’s when it helps to remember some funny fishing quotes like these.

  1. "A fisherman is a jerk on one end of the line waiting for a jerk on the other." - Unknown
  2. "A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other." - Samuel Johnson
  3. "A worm is a small, reluctant animal used to capture a larger reluctant animal." - Unknown
  4. "All fishermen are liars; it's an occupational disease with them like housemaid's knee or editor's ulcers." - Beatrice Gray Cook
  5. "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
  6. "Always think like a fish, no matter how weird it gets.” - Unknown
  7. "An angler is a man who spends rainy days sitting on the muddy banks of rivers doing nothing because his wife won't let him do it at home." - Unknown
  8. "As the evening sky faded from a salmon color to a sort of flint gray, I thought back to the salmon I caught that morning, and how gray he was, and how I named him Flint." - Jack Handey
  9. "Bragging may not bring happiness, but no man having caught a large fish goes home through an alley.” Unknown.
  10. "Calling fishing a hobby is like calling brain surgery a job.” Paul Schullery
  11. "Catching a fish is as incidental to fishing as making babies is to fucking." - William Humphrey
  12. "Creeps and idiots cannot conceal themselves for long on a fishing trip.” John Gierach
  13. "Do not tell fish stories where the people know you. Particularly, don’t tell them where they know the fish.” Mark Twain.
  14. "...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." - Robert Traver
  15. "Early to bed…early to rise…fish all day…make up lies.” Unknown.
  16. "Even a fish wouldn’t get into trouble if he kept his mouth shut.” Unknown.
  17. "Even eminent chartered accountants are known, in their capacity as fishermen, blissfully to ignore differences between seven and 10 inches, half a pound and two pounds, three fish and a dozen fish." - William Sherwood Fox
  18. "Even if you've been fishing for three hours and haven't gotten anything except poison ivy and sunburn, you're still better off than the worm." - Unknown
  19. "Everyone should believe in something. I believe I’ll go fishing.” Henry David Thoreau
  20. "Fish stories told here…. some true!” Unknown
  21. "Fisherman’s prayer: Lord, help me to catch fish so large, that even I, in the telling of it, never need to lie.” Unknown
  22. "Fishing is a delusion entirely surrounded by liars in old clothes." - Don Marquis
  23. "Fishing is boring, unless you catch an actual fish, and then it is disgusting." - Dave Barry
  24. "Fishing is fun…catching is better.” Unknown
  25. "Fishing is the sport of drowning worms.” Unknown
  26. "A woman who has never seen her husband fishing, doesn’t know what a patient man she married!” Unknown
  27. "Fishing seems to be the favorite form of loathing." - Edgar Watson Howe
  28. "Fishing tournaments seem a little like playing tennis with living balls." - Jim Harrison
  29. "Fishing, with me, has always been an excuse to drink in the daytime.” Jimmy Cannon
  30. "Fly fishermen are born honest, but they get over it." - Ed Zern
  31. "Game fish are too valuable to be caught only once.” Lee Wulff
  32. "Gone fishin’, be back at dark-thirty!” Unknown
  33. "Good things come to those who bait.” Unknown
  34. "Grant me the Serenity to accept the size of the fish I catch, the Courage not to lie about it, and the Wisdom to know that none of my fishing buddies would believe me anyway." - Fisherman's Prayer
  35. "Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days." - Benjamin Franklin
  36. "Hatchery fish have the same colours, but they always seem muted like bad reproductions of great art."  - Bill Barich
  37. "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
  38. "Hell, if I'd jumped on all the dames I'm supposed to have jumped on, I'd have had no time to go fishing." - Clark Gable
  39. "I am not against golf, since I cannot suspect it keeps armies of the unworthy from discovering trout." - Paul O'Neil
  40. "I fish better with a lit cigar; some people fish better with talent.” Nick Lyons
  41. "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 42. “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." - Alison Moir-Smith
  42. "I once gave up fishing. It was the most terrifying weekend of my life." - Unknown Fisherman
  43. "I only hope the fish will take half as much trouble for me as I’ve taken for them.” - Rudyard Kipling
  44. "I only make movies to finance my fishing.” - Lee Marvin
  45. "I spent most of my money on fishing. The rest I wasted.” - Unknown
  46. "I think it's time for me to get out, because at the moment, I'm only thinking about fishing 21 hours a day, and they're the waking moments. And even when I close my eyes I'm thinking about it." - Rex Hunt
  47. "I’m a man of few words, “Let’s fish.” - Unknown
  48. "If all politicians fished instead of spoke publicly, we would be at peace with the world."  - Will Rogers
  49. "If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there’d be a shortage of fishing poles.” Doug Larson
  50. "If you've got short, stubby fingers and wear reading glasses, any relaxation you would normally derive from fly fishing is completely eliminated when you try to tie on a fly." - Jack Ohman
  51. "It has always been my private conviction that any man who pits his intelligence against a fish and loses has it coming.” - John Steinbeck
  52. "It is to be observed that ‘angling’ is the name given to fishing by people who can’t fish.” - Stephen Leacock
  53. "I've managed to convince my wife that somewhere in the Bible it says, "Man cannot have too many shotguns and fishing poles." - General Norman Schwarzkopf
  54. "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.
  55. "Last year I went fishing with Salvador Dali. He was using a dotted line. He caught every other fish.” - Steven Wright
  56. "Life is like a game, but fishing is serious.” - Unknown
  57. "Men and fish are alike. They both get into trouble when they open their mouths." - Unknown
  58. "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
  59. "Most fishermen use the double haul to throw their casting mistakes further." - Lefty Kreh
  60. "My Biggest worry is that when I'm dead and gone, my wife will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it." - Koos Brandt
  61. "Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught." - Unknown
  62. "Of all the liars among mankind, the fisherman is the most trustworthy." - William Sherwood Fox
  63. "One evening I was awakened from a deep sleep by a weird noise coming from my husband, only to find out he was dreaming and he was a Dry Fly.  I suspected then, and now realize, his dreams are not made up of wild crazy women, only episodes of his days of being in the stream."   - Jan Thousand
  64. "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
  65. "People who fish for food, and sport be damned, are called pot-fishermen. The more expert ones are called crack pot-fishermen. All other fishermen are called crackpot fishermen. This is confusing." - Alexander Gurman
  66. "Reading about baseball is a lot more interesting than reading about chess, but you have to wonder: Don’t any of these guys ever go fishing?” Dave Shiflett
  67. "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
  68. "Smoked carp tastes just as good as smoked salmon when you ain't got no smoked salmon.”  -Patrick F. McManus
  69. "Some men would rather be photographed with their fish than with their wives."  - Gwen Cooper
  70. "Somebody just back of you while you are fishing is as bad as someone looking over your shoulder while you write a letter to your girl.” Ernest Hemingway
  71. "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
  72. "Ten fishermen, ten hunters, twenty liars." - Unknown
  73. "The fish and I were both stunned and disbelieving to find ourselves connected by a line.” William Humphrey
  74. "The fishing was good; it was the catching that was bad.” - A.K. Best
  75. "The two best times to fish is when it’s rainin’ and when it ain’t.” - Patrick F. McManus
  76. "There are only two occasions when Americans respect privacy, especially in Presidents. Those are prayer and fishing." - Herbert Hoover
  77. "There are two types of fisherman – those who fish for sport and those who fish for fish.” - Unknown
  78. "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
  79. “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
  80. "There's a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore like an idiot." - Steven Wright
  81. "There's more B.S. in fly fishing than there is in a Kansas feedlot." - Lefty Kreh
  82. "This planet is covered with sordid men who demand that he who spends time fishing shall show returns in fish." - Leonidas Hubbard, Jr.

  1. "Those who die with the most days fishing, wins.” - Unknown
  2. "Three-fourths of the Earth's surface is water, and one-fourth is land. It's quite clear that the good Lord intended us to spend triple the amount of time fishing as taking care of the lawn." - Chuck Clark
  3. "To fish or not to fish? That’s a dumb question.” - Unknown
  4. "To paraphrase a deceased patriot, I regret that I have only one life to give to my fly-fishing." - Robert Traver
  5. "Wanted: Good woman – Must be able to clean, cook, sew, dig worms and clean fish. Must have boat and motor. Please send picture of boat and motor.” - Unknown
  6. “We ask a simple question And that is all we wish: Are fishermen all liars? Or do only liars fish?” - William Sherwood Fox
  7. "What a tourist terms a plague of insects, the fly fisher calls a great hatch." - Patrick F. McManus
  8. "Which fish dresses the best? A swordfish because it always looks sharp!” - Johnny B. Laughing.
  9. "Work is for people who don’t know how to fish!” Unknown.
  10. "WORK, n. a dangerous disorder affecting high public functionaries who want to go fishing." - Ambrose Bierce
  11. "You know fish is great brain food." - Larry "Well, you know, then you should fish for a whale!" - Moe
  12. "You know when they have a fishing show on TV? They catch the fish and then let it go. They don’t want to eat the fish. They just want to make it late for something.” - Mitch Hedberg
  13. "You say I`m a compulsive fishing freak like it’s a bad thing.” - Unknown
  14. “Comedians get jokes offered to them, rock stars get women and underwear thrown on stage, and I get guys that want to take me fishing.” - Les Claypool
  15. “Enjoy the stream, O harmless fish; And when an angler for his dish, Through gluttony’s vile sin, Attempts the wretch, to pull thee out, God give thee strength, O gentle trout, To pull the rascal in!” - John Wolcott
  16. “Fish are, of course, indispensable to the angler.  They give him an excuse for fishing and justify the fly rod without which he would be a mere vagrant."  - Sparse Grey Hackle
  17. “Fishing is a delusion entirely surrounded by liars in old clothes.” - Don Marquis
  18. “Fishing, with me, has always been an excuse to drink in the daytime.” - Jimmy Cannon
  19. “I only make movies to finance my fishing.” - Lee Marvin
  20. “Look at where Jesus went to pick people. He didn’t go to the colleges… he got guys off the fishing docks.” - Jeff Foxworthy
  21. “Men and fish are alike. They both get into trouble when they open their mouths.” - Unknown
  22. “Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught.” - Unknown
  23. “Soon after I embraced the sport of angling I became convinced that I should never be able to enjoy it if I had to rely on the cooperation of the fish.” - Sparse Grey Hackle
  24. "I fish, therefore I don’t golf." - Billy Connolly
  25. "I don’t exaggerate…I just remember big!” - Unknown
  26. "Fishing will do a lot for a man but it won't make him truthful." – Unknown
  27. "I got a fishing rod for my wife – good trade.” Unknown
  28. "If you think I'm pathetic for spending all this money to mount my prize catches just to impress people, you should see how much I pay the guy who catches them." - Lukas Saunders

Give a Man a Fish…

  1. "Give a man a fish and he has food for a day. Teach him how to fish and you can get rid of him for the entire weekend." - Zenna Schaffer
  2. "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and you will find bait in the fridge.” - Unknown
  3. "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day." - Unknown
  4. "Give a man a fish, and he can eat for a day. But teach a man how to fish, and he'll be dead of mercury poisoning inside of three years." - Charlie Haas
  5. "Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll buy a funny hat. Talk to a hungry man about fish, and you’re a consultant.” - Scott Adams
  6. "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day, give him a religion, and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish." – Unknown
  7. "Sell a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach a man how to fish, you ruin a wonderful business opportunity." - Karl Marx

133 Inspirational, Aspirational, and Motivational Fishing Quotes…and 1 from Mike Tyson

If you’re in the mood to reflect on the deeper meanings of fishing or just feel like reminiscing on the joys of our beautiful sport during the offseason, here are 137 more fishing quotes…plus one from Mike Tyson.

  1. "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Maimonides
  2. "A bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at the office!” Unknown.
  3. "A day without fishing is like a day without sunshine.” - Unknown.
  4. "A man and his boat do not need to be justified.” Unknown.
  5. "A trout is a moment of beauty known only to those who seek it." - Arnold Gingrich
  6. "All Americans believe that they are born fishermen. For a man to admit a distaste for fishing would be like denouncing mother-love or hating moonlight." - John Steinbeck
  7. "Angling is extremely time-consuming. That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane
  8. "Angling may be said to be so like the mathematics that it can never be fully learned." - Izaak Walton
  9. "Bass fishermen watch Monday night football, drink beer, drive pickup trucks and prefer noisy women with big breasts. Trout fishermen watch MacNeil-Lehrer, drink white wine, drive foreign cars with passenger-side airbags and hardly think about women at all. This last characteristic may have something to do with the fact that trout fishermen spend most of the time immersed up to their thighs in ice-cold water." - Unknown
  10. "Be patient and calm – for no one can catch fish in anger.” Herbert Hoover.
  11. "Beginners may ask why one fishes if he is to release his catch. They fail to see that the live trout, sucking in the fly and fighting the rod is the entire point to our sport. Dead trout are just so much lifeless meat."  - Ernest G. Schwiebert, Jr
  12. "By the time I had turned thirty, I’d realized two important things. One, I had to fish. Two, I had to work for a living.” Mallory Burton.
  13. "Carpe Diem,’ does not mean ‘fish of the day,’” Unknown.
  14. "Catching fish is not a mental game between fish and angler. A 'smart' trout is only smarter than other trout, not smarter than a fisherman. An angler must take the puzzle of the day's conditions and matching those conditions and his knowledge of the fish come up with a good catch. He competes with a concept, not with a fish's brain." - Lee Wulff
  15. "Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.  I am haunted by waters."  - Norman Maclean
  16. "Fear No Fish, Never Grow up."  - Flip Pallot
  17. "Fishing books should ooze from a riverbank, not rocket out of publisher's offices in big cities."  - Neil Patterson
  18. "Fishing is a discipline in the equality of men – for all men are equal before fish.” Herbert Hoover.
  19. "Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers.” Herbert Hoover.
  20. "Fishing is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it..." - Harry Middleton
  21. "Fishing provides that connection with the whole living world. It gives you the opportunity of being totally immersed, turning back into yourself in a good way. A form of meditation, some form of communion with levels of yourself that are deeper than the ordinary self." - Ted Hughes
  22. "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
  23. "Fly-fishing is the most fun you can have standing up." - Arnold Gingrich
  24. “Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overo it.” - Lao Tzu
  25. "I am firmly convinced that the ideal combination leading to a happy life is to have the time to both fish and read.” Brian Murphy.
  26. "I don’t want to sit at the head table anymore. I want to go fishing.” George Bush.
  27. "I go fishing not to find myself but to lose myself.” Joseph Monniger
  28. "I have fished through fishless days that I remember happily without regret." - Roderick Haig-Brown
  29. "I have laid aside business, and gone a'fishing." - Izaak Watson
  30. "I like to fish. Fishing is always a way of relaxing.” Tom Felton.
  31. "I love fishing. You put that line in the water and you don't know what's on the other end. Your imagination is under there." - Robert Altman
  32. "I love talk and I love fishing. I'm having a ball." - Martin Milner
  33. "I marvel how the fishes live in the sea. Why, as men do a-land; the great ones eat up the little ones." - William Shakespeare
  34. “I object to fishing tournaments less for what they do to fish than what they do to fishermen."  - Ted Williams
  35. "I salute the gallantry and uncompromising standards of wild trout, and their tastes in landscapes" - John Madson
  36. "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
  37. "I think there is a connection between thinking and fishing mostly because you spend a lot of time up to your waist in water without a whole lot to keep your mind busy." - Anthony Doerr
  38. "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
  39. "If fishing is a religion, fly fishing is high church." Tom Brokaw
  40. "If I fished only to capture fish, my fishing trips would have ended long ago.” Zane Grey.
  41. "If I'm not going to catch anything, then I 'd rather not catch anything on flies" - Bob Lawless
  42. "If our father had his say, nobody who did not know how to catch a fish would be allowed to disgrace a fish by catching him." - Norman Maclean
  43. "If you want to catch more fish, use more hooks." - George Allen
  44. "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
  45. "In the best stories about fly fishing ... big fish are caught or lost; people say wild and spontaneous words; event becomes memory and sometimes, in the hands of a master, bleeds into art."  -Nick Lyons
  46. “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
  47. “It is impossible to grow weary of a sport that is never the same on any two days of the year.” - Theodore Gordon
  48. "It is not a fish until it is on the bank." Old British saying

  1. "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
  2. "It is you and clean, flowing water. It is you, inquisitive, in a wild world that is older than man, seeking greater understanding and finding not only an endless interest but a tranquility that comes, most of the time, to all nature’s wild creatures." - Lee Wulff
  3. "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
  4. "Lots of people committed crimes during the year who would not have done so if they had been fishing. The increase of crime is among those deprived of the regenerations that impregnate the mind and character of the fisherman." Herbert Hoover
  5. "Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” Henry David Thoreau.
  6. "Many of the most highly publicized events of my presidency are not nearly as memorable or significant in my life as fishing with my daddy.” Jimmy Carter.
  7. "Many of us probably would be better fishermen if we did not spend so much time watching and waiting for the world to become perfect." - Norman Maclean
  8. "May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it." - Irish Blessing
  9. "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
  10. "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
  11. "Most of the world is covered by water. A fisherman’s job is simple: Pick out the best parts.” Charles Waterman.
  12. "Never throw a long line when a short one will serve your purpose."  - Richard Penn
  13. "No life is so happy and so pleasant as the life of the well-govern’d angler.” Izaak Walton.
  14. "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
  15. "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
  16. "One thing becomes clearer as one gets older and one's fishing experience increases, and that is the paramount importance of one's fishing companions." - John Ashley-Cooper
  17. "Opportunities are everywhere and so you must always let your hook be hanging. When you least expect it, a great fish will swim by." - Og Mandino
  18. "Poets talk about "spots of time", but it is really the fishermen who experience eternity compressed into a moment. No one can tell what a spot of time is until suddenly the whole world is a fish and the fish is gone." - Norman Mclean
  19. "Probably fishing is my passion." - Luke Bryan
  20. "Put backing on your line, even if you never use it. It helps you dream." - Jimmy D Moore
  21. "So long, and thanks for all the fish.” Douglas Adams.
  22. "Some go to church and think about fishing, others go fishing and think about God." - Tony Blake

  1. "Some people will just never understand us, fishing isn’t just a pastime or a sport, it’s a way of life.” - Unknown.
  2. "Somewhere in the wide range of activity between the hard physical effort of wading for long hours against a swift current in a rocky stream, casting steadily, and the indolence of lying quietly in the sun waiting for a bobber to go under there is a type of angling to suit everyone's mood and everyone's pocketbook. Fishing is fishing wherever it is found... Angling's problems are never solved." - Lee Wulff
  3. "That’s about as big as a fish that big gets.” Unknown.
  4. "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
  5. “The angling fever is a very real disease and can only be cured by the application of cold water and fresh, untainted air.” - Theodore Gordon
  6. "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.
  7. "The best time to go fishing is when you can get away.” - Robert Traver.
  8. “The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.” - John Buchan
  9. "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
  10. "The finest gift you can give to any fisherman is to put a good fish back, and who knows if the fish that you caught isn't someone else's gift to you?" - Lee Wulff
  11. "The fish is not so much your quarry as your partner.” - Arnold Gingrich.
  12. "The fish you release maybe a gift to another, as it may have been a gift to you." - Lee Wulff
  13. "The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span the hours spent in fishing." - Ancient Babylonian Proverb
  14. "The great charm of fly-fishing is that we are always learning." - Theodore Gordon
  15. "The only thing bad about winning the pennant is that you have to manage the All-Star Game the next year. I’d rather go fishing for three years.” Whitey Herzog.
  16. "The season is ended.  There was not enough of it; there never is." - Nick Lyons
  17. “The solution to any problem -- work, love, money, whatever -- is to go fishing, and the worse the problem, the longer the trip should be.” - -John Gierach
  18. "The trout do not rise in the cemetery, so you better do your fishing while you are still able." -Sparse Grey Hackle
  19. "The water you touch in a river is the last of that which has passed, and the first of that which is coming; thus it is with time." - Leonardo Da Vinci
  20. "There are two things in life you should never be late for, Number one is Church and Number two is fishing.” - Unknown.
  21. "There is certainly something in angling that tends to produce a gentleness of spirit and a pure sincerity of mind." - Washington Irving
  22. "There is no greater fan of fly fishing than the worm." - Patrick K. McManus
  23. "There is no limit to how many times you can go fishing.” - Unknown
  24. "There is only one reason in the world to go fishing: to enjoy yourself. Anything that detracts from enjoying yourself is to be avoided.” - Leigh Perkins.
  25.  "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-Brow
  26. "There will be no end to angling controversies for there is no one best way for everyone to fish." - Lee Wulff
  27. "There's no taking trout with dry breeches." - Cervantes
  28. "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
  29. "Tight lines, warm breezes, good friends, plenty of bait it doesn’t get any better.” - Unknown.
  30. "Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains." - Henry David Thoreau
  31. "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
  32. "What are more delightful than one's emotions when approaching a trout stream for the initial cast?"  -T. Nash Buckingham
  33. "When I go fishing, I like to know that there's nobody within five miles of me." - Norman MacCaig
  34. "When you are on the river, ocean or in the woods, you are the closest to the truth you'll ever get” - Jack Leonard
  35. "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
  36. "Why does a salmon rise? Why does a small boy cross the street just to kick a tin can?" - Lee Wulff
  37. "You do not cease to fish because you get old. You get old because you cease to fish!"  - Unknown
  38. "You must lose a fly to catch a trout." - George Herbert
  39. “Angling is extremely time consuming. That’s sort of the whole point.” Thomas McGuane
  40. “Anytime I can sneak in a moment to fish and ride horses, I’m a happy camper!” - George Foreman
  41. “Fishing is a hard job. Fishing at night. Rain. Day, night… You have to be wise and smart. And quick.” - Mariano Rivera
  42. “Fishing is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it.” Harry Middleton.
  43. “Fishing provides that connection with the whole living world. It gives you the opportunity of being totally immersed, turning back into yourself in a good way. A form of meditation, some form of communion with levels of yourself that are deeper than the ordinary self” - Ted Hughes
  44. “I do fish. I think there is a connection between thinking and fishing mostly because you spend a lot of time up to your waist in water without a whole lot to keep your mind busy.” - Anthony Doerr
  45. “I do hunt, and I do fish, and I don’t apologize to anybody for hunting and fishing.” - General Norman Schwarzkopf
  46. “I get out in my boat and go fishing inshore and offshore” - Rickie Fowler
  47. “I thoroughly enjoy getting away from the game and going out fishing because it’s so relaxing, so quiet, and peaceful. I mean, there’s no noise other than nature… and it’s so different from what I do in a tournament situation that it just eases my mind.” - Tiger Woods
  48. “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.
  49. “If fishing is interfering with your business, give up your business.” Sparse Grey Hackle.
  50. “If your concentration is getting bad, take up bass fishing. It will really improve your ability to focus. If you aren’t ready when that fish hits, you can’t set the hook.” - Lee Trevino
  51. “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.
  52. “It is impossible to grow weary of a sport that is never the same on any two days of the year.” Theodore Gordon.
  53. “Like they say, you can learn more from a guide in one day than you can in three months fishing alone.” - Mario Lopez
  54. “My favorite memories growing up in North Carolina were hunting and fishing with my father and brothers. There, I developed a deep appreciation for protecting land and waterways. There, I learned outdoorsmanship.” - Louis Bacon
  55. “Never leave fish to find fish" - Moses
  56. “Once I retire and slow down, I don’t want to be in New York. I want to be somewhere near a lake or a pond, so that on my days when I have nothing to do, I can go fishing.” - Sharon Jones
  57. “One thing becomes clearer as one gets older and one’s fishing experience increases, and that is the paramount importance of one’s fishing companions.” John Ashley Cooper.
  58. “The fishing is a great relief for me. When I’m out there’s no cell phone ringing. I’m out there fishing with bears. I’m in the middle of God’s country catching tons of fish. I just absolutely love it.” - Rich Barry
  59. “The Polynesians used to have a system where they proclaimed a fishing area as ‘taboo.’ If any fisherman was caught fishing in a taboo area, they would be killed. The Polynesians understood that the fish had to be given a chance to recover.” - Paul Watson
  60. “The solution to any problem — work, love, money, whatever is to go fishing, and the worse the problem, the longer the trip should be.” John Gierach.
  61. “There are always new places to go fishing. For any fisherman, there’s always a new place, always a new horizon.” - Jack Nicklaus
  62. "All you need to be a fisherman is patience and a worm." - Herb Shriner
  63. “I fish because I love to. Because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds of people are found, which are invariably ugly. Because of all the television commercials, cocktail parties, and assorted social posturing I thus escape. Because in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing what they hate, my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion. Because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed, or impressed by power, but respond only to quietude and humility, and endless patience. Because I suspect that men are going this way for the last time and I for one don't want to waste the trip. Because mercifully there are no telephones on trout waters. Because in the woods I can find solitude without loneliness. ... And finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important, but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant and not nearly so much fun.” - Robert Traver
  64. "I'm going to gut you like a fish." - Mike Tyson

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