We have reached the time in the life of the planet, and humanity's demand upon it, when every fisherman will have to be a river-keeper, a steward of marine shallows, a watchman on the high seas. We are beyond having to put back what we have taken out. We must put back more than we take out.

The mountains paralleled the valley and the snowy peaks were extending with fall to the valley floor.

In the future, I mean to be a fine streamside entomologist. I'm going to start on that when I am much too old to do any of the two thousand things I can think of that are more fun than screening insects in cold running water

My life was the best omelette you could make with a chainsaw

Giving freaks a pass is the oldest tradition in Montana.

An undisturbed river is as perfect as we will ever know, every refractive slide of cold water a glimpse of eternity.

Angling is extremely time consuming. That's sort of the whole point.