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There should be little doubt as to the
finest trout stream. It flows through paper birches and fern; through
lodgepole pines and sagebrush; through the sounds of the drumming
grouse and smells of a tamarack swamp. You drive there after work; you
fly there every summer. It is where you caught your first trout, it's
where your children will catch theirs. It is your stream, and it's the
best trout stream in America.
Lawrence Sheehan
When it comes to cults, fly fishing isn't
much different than most. Simply put, this means that enough is never
enough. With luck you can reach a pleasant level of mellow fanaticism
and maybe even hold down a regular job at the plant. But there is a
trout bum that lurks in every one of us and I think we all secretly
know that a sparse little lean-to under the bridge, say on Henry's
Fork of the Snake River, is never more than a cast away.
Ed Engle
I told a lie the other day. I said that
I’d caught a “bunch” of trout. What I should have said is that I
caught a little trout that I named Bunch. There, I’ve confessed and
now I feel much better.
Jimmy Moore
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There is no substitute for fishing sense,
and if a man doesn't have it, verily, he may cast like an angel and
still use his creel largely to transport sandwiches and beer."
(NOTE: I think he should drink more beer. He still might not catch
anything, but he'll enjoy his fishless days much more.
Robert Traver - Trout Madness - [1960]
False casting for practice is the best way
to achieve the feel of the line in the air, but in actual fishing,
false casts should be limited in number to absolute necessity. In the
first place, the more false casts you make, the greater are the
chances for the fish to see your arm waving, or the line in the air.
And the greater are your chances to make a mistake in the cast and
lose your timing. Most anglers, especially tyros, false cast too
often. Three false casts should be sufficient for any throw and two is
better. One is perfect.
Joe Brooks - Trout Fishing, an Outdoor
Life Book [1972]
A standard saying among fly fishermen is
that trout spend anywhere from 80 to 90 percent of their time feeding
below the water's surface on the immature forms of aquatic insects.
Some anglers are even more precise, but whatever the exact percentage
, it's safe to say that to fully appreciate any tailwater fishery you
will have to learn the fine art of nymphing.
Ed Engle
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