The desire to build a house is the tired wish of a man content thenceforward with a single anchorage. The desire to build a boat is the desire of youth, unwilling yet to accept the idea of a final resting place.

Swallows and Amazons for-ever!

Fishing books , lit by emotion recollected in tranquility, are like poetry. .. . We do not think of them as books but as men. They are our companions and not only riverside. Summer and winter they are with us and what a pleasant company they are.

There are two distinct visits to tackle-shops, the visit to buy tackle and the visit which may be described as Platonic when, being for some reason unable to fish, we look for an excuse to go in, and waste the tackle dealer's time.

Grab a chance and you won't be sorry for a might-have-been.

...next to the pleasure of reading a favourite fishing book comes that of persuading a friend to read it too.

Good fishermen know that in talking about fishing, nothing is more interesting than the truth.