Fishing is a quest for knowledge and wonder as much as a pursuit of fish; it is as much an acquaintance with beavers, dippers, and other fishermen as it is the challenge of catching trout.

If you aren't a fisher you'll see many things, but the river, except where it is ridden by waterfowl or waded by moose, will rarely enter your thoughts, much less stimulate your spirit. It's different if you fish. The surface of the water tells a story.

Calling fishing a hobby is like calling brain surgery a job.

Fishing is a quest for knowledge and wonder as much as a pursuit of fish; it is as much an acquaintance with beavers, dippers, and other fishermen as it is the challenge of catching trout.

When we are on the water, our contemplative impulses range from the intense to the nearly absent.

As the old fisherman remarked after explaining the various ways to attach a frog to a hook, it's all the same to the frog.

I don't suppose I ever entirely release a fish. I may not eat it, but that does not mean I take nothing from it before I let it go.