I don't really know how to tie a fly until I've tied a hundred dozen of them.

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

Really, the only thing a psychiatrist can do that a good (fishing) guide can't is write prescriptions.

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.

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.

I still enjoy the company of most dogs more than that of most people, because dogs are capable of uncomplicated enthusiasm.

Successful trout fishing isn't a matter of brute force or even persistence, but something more like infiltration.