"The scientific and graceful art of throwing the artificial fly is a
beautiful accomplishment, but not so difficult
as generally imagined."-John Brown, 1849
"The great fish eat the small"- Alexander Barclay, 1509
"What a shame and a pity then, that such a river should be
destroyed by the basest of people" -Charles Cotton, 1676
"Fishermen wind red wool around their hooks and fasten to the
wool two feathers that grow under a cock's wattles." -Claudius Aelianus, c. 100 A.D.
"I came from a race of fishers.
Trout streams gurgle about the roots of my family tree"-John Boroughs, 1884
"But what is the test of a river? "The power to drown a man,"
replies the river darkly."-R.D. Blackmore, 1895
"Fly Fishers fail in preparing their bait so
as to make it alluring in the right quarter, for
want of due acquaintance with the subject of fishes."-George Eliot, 1860
"The enormous increase in the number of anglers in recent years has made it necessary that all true sportsmen should consider the interests of others as well as their own."-Theodore Gordon (1903)
"I have laid aside business, and gone a'fishing."- Issac Walton, 1653
"Here's a pretty kettle of fish!"- William Gilbert, 1882
Several of the above quotes are from "Well Cast Lines" by John Merwin
