It's an odd fact of life that whichever side of the stream you're on, two-thirds of the best water is out of reach on the other side.

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

Accurately recalling an entire day of fishing is like trying to push smoke back down a chimney, so you settle on these specific moments.

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

Okay, I'm in the tampon aisle, but I don't see it.

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.

We do have to think seriously about conservation now, although it is chilling to realize there are catch-and-release fishermen alive today who don't know how to clean and fry a fish.