“There is an old saying that one can never enter the same river twice. The river is always new; the man is forever changed.”- Mike Crockett and Grant McClintock, Flywater

“It is the challenge of the fishing more than it is the catching of the fish.”- Joseph D. Bates, Jr., Atlantic Salmon Flies & Fishing

“Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it, but while I drink, I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains. I would drink deeper; fish in the sky, where the bottom is pebbly with stars.”- Henry David Thoreau

“But perhaps the unkindest polluters of all are those fellow fishermen who themselves add to the growing mounds of beer cans and broken glass that increasingly adorn our lakes and streams. It is probably true that few fish were ever slain by flying beer cans, but their gleaming presence in trout waters surely kills enjoyment, the precious illusion of space and pastoral solitude and simple pine-laden cleanliness, and above all the wavering illusion that men were not entirely descended from the wild hog.”- Robert Traver, Anatomy Of A Fisherman

“I can teach any woman to cast a fly rod as long as I’m not married to her.”- Lefty Kreh

“For the dedicated fisherman, it’s never-ending. There will always be some stream to fish, some fish to catch.”- Mike O’Brien

“I have always made it a point to fish with men who fish better than I do, and I have never had much trouble in finding them. It is a good idea, and gets one away from thinking he is a little better fisherman than he actually is.”- Charles Phair, Atlantic Salmon Fishing

“Most anglers spend their lives in making rules for trout, and trout spend theirs in breaking them.”- George Aston

“The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.”- John Buchan (1875-1940)

“You can always tell a fisherman, but you can’t tell him much.”- Corey Ford

“Everyone should believe in something; I believe I’ll go fishing.”- Henry David Thoreau

“There is no greater fan of fly fishing than the worm.”- Patrick F. McManus

“Never leave fish to find fish.”- Moses (1200 BC)

“My biggest worry is that my wife (when I’m dead) will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it.”- Koos Brandt

“In fishing and in life, the problem with common sense is that it’s not all that common.”- Lefty Kreh
“Fishing adds years to your life, and life to your years.”- Homer Circle

“If fishing interferes with your business, give up your business… the trout do not rise in Greenwood Cemetery.”- Sparse Grey Hackle, Fishless Days (1954)

“I come from a race of fishers; trout streams gurgled about the roots of my family tree.”- John Burroughs

“One thing becomes clearer as one gets older and one’s fishing experience increases, and that is the paramount importance of one’s fishing companions.”- John Ashley-Cooper

“Let God subtract not from man’s span of life; those hours spent fishing.”- Old Babylonian saying

Editor’s Note: We are sad to note that this will be Mike O’Brien’s last column. Mike has been a part of the Webb Weekly family since the beginning, and we are very sorry to see him leave us but thank him so much for being with us for the last 15 years. Thank you, Mike. You will always be welcome in the pages of Webb Weekly.