Angling Quotations

[Guest NickInTheNorth]

Just bring this to the top.

[Guest phonebush]

From the book “They Came for Ernie”, a Canadian winter fishing book about burbot.

 

They didn’t long for rainbow trout,

Or sunnies in the pan,

They wanted Ernie Eelpout,

Each ruddy, rugged man.

They dragged their shacks onto the ice,

With trusty four-wheel drive,

Across the heaves at any pace,

It make them feel alive.

Their chainsaws ripped, their augers tore

Great holes into the lake.

Who knew what treasures lay in store

To smoke, to fry, to bake?

 

I also like:

The Latin

“Seize the day” (Carpe diem)

And

“Seize the Carp” (Carpe carpium)

or

how about

 

O the white sand of the bottom

Lay the monster, Mishe-Nahma

Lay the sturgeon, king of Fishes

From “The Song of Hiawatha” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

 

Lastly,

For us in the US

 

“There is a species of fish that never looks at the clothes of the man who throws in the bait, a fish that takes whatever is thrown to it, when once hold of the hook, never tries to shake a friend, but submits to the inevitable, crosses it legs and says, ‘Now I lay me’, and comes on the bank and seems to enjoy being taken. It is a fish that is a friend of the poor, and one that will sacrifice itself in the interest of humanity. That is the fish that this state should adopt as its trade mark, and cultivate friendly relations with, and stand by. I allude to the bullhead.” (catfish)

George W. Peck, Governor of Wisconsin (I failed to record when he was governor)

 

An old wives tale from Louisiana backcountry:

If you leave a cooked bowfin overnight he will “uncook his self” and that if kil’t and buried with the proper ritual under a sympathetic moon, a bowfin will invariably convert his self into a live snake.

 

Phonebush

[Guest Alan Stubbs]

Symptomatic of the flak I take at work for playing golf and fishing whenever Linda lets me:

 

My boss 'Fishing is like golf - A hook on one end and a fool on the other'

 

What do you expect from an Orient supporter?

 

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ANMC Founder Member

[Guest Chris Plumb]

Reminds me of this quote, which from some one who agrees with Mark Twain's observation that "golf is a good walk, ruined" I have to concur!

 

I am not against golf, since I cannot but suspect it keeps armies of the unworthy from discovering trout.

Paul O'Neil

 

 

Chris

 

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"Study to be quiet."

[Guest Chris Plumb]

Thought I'd revive this thread from the summer....

 

On 'The One That Got Away......'

 

"It is our lost fish that I believe stay longest in our memory, and seize upon our thoughts whenever we look back at fishing days. The most gallant fish when beaten is forgotten, but the fish that after a mad, glorious battle has beaten us and left us quivering with excitement and vexation is hooked and lost for many years to come."

 

A H Chaytor 1910

 

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"Study to be quiet."

[Guest Duncan]

Here’s a couple

 

“ The nervous system of the herring is fairly simple. When the herring runs into something, the stimulus is flashed to the forebrain, with or without results”

 

Will Cuppy – “How to Become Extinct” 1984

 

 

“ The mark of a successful man is one that has spent an entire day on the bank of a river, without feeling guilty about it”

 

Chinese Philosopher

 

Duncan

[Guest ALAN FAWCETT]

One of the best bits of poetry i ever heard came from the mouth of an 11yr old kid who was unable to even sit up in bed without help.

 

A friend asked me to take some pics of the bankside round for this kid to see as he loved nature but couldn't get out there to see it for himself.

 

After showing him the pics & spending about 3 hrs talking with him he suddenly said

 

"If my dreams came true i'd be on the bank with you not lay here alone staring at the four walls of my home"

 

I asked him where he got that from & he said "nowhere i just made it up, i do that a lot when i'm in here all day" i never have & never will forget those words.

 

 

 

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TROGG (Alan)

SACG/SAA 177 SACN 252

hehe i'm with the ANMC are you?

[Guest ahab]

"Wet arse, empty guts"

 

My uncle John.

[Guest peter mccue]

Another old chinese saying which says it all.

 

With silken line & delicate hook,

I wander amongst the ripples & find..freedom.

 

Spot on, I just feel the need to add Grasshopper to the end of it somehow!

[Guest Chris Plumb]

Jaq. bought me 'Falling in Again' by Chris Yates for Christmas and I've already read it twice! It's a collection of short auto-biographical essays from CY's earliest beginings to the present day (well 1998 when the book was written).

 

As is typical with CY the more 'spiritual' side of angling gets major coverage from the importance of intuition, and 'switching off' to making tea!! This paragarph offers some profound advice....

 

"Fishing re-affirms our links with the natural world, a world that is full of mysteries and genuine beauty, a world that we instinctively respond to simply because it has made us what we are. And because fishing offers us so much potential you need unconditional freedom to explore all of its possibilities. You have to be sensitive and responsible, of course, but to get the best out of fishing you have to interpret it in your own terms while always keeping intact the hint of wildness that is the original attraction of angling."

 

Best line in the book has to be in the chapter The Unexpected Pike. Which tells of the capture of a 15lb leviathan by 3, 12 year olds (a young CY and 2 school friends). One of the trio, having 'borrowed' his dads sea fishing gear has hooked it and had managed to beach the fish in a shallow drainage ditch.

 

The unhooking of it is described as having "the crisis atmosphere of a bomb disposal exercise."

 

Wonderful description - so indicative of my childhood pike!

 

 

Chris

 

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"Study to be quiet."