Modesty is the only sure bait when you are fishing for praise.

Modesty is the only sure bait when you are fishing for praise.

Fishing is a delusion entirely surrounded by liars in old clothes.

Fishing is a delusion entirely surrounded by liars in old clothes.

A rod twelve feet long and a ring of wire,
A winder and barrel, will help thy desire
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A rod twelve feet long and a ring of wire,
A winder and barrel, will help thy desire
In killing a Pike; but the forked stick,
With a slit and a bladder,--and that other fine trick,
Which our artists call snap, with a goose or a duck,--
Will kill two for one, if you have any luck;
The gentry of Shropshire do merrily smile,
To see a goose and a belt the fish to beguile;
When a Pike suns himselfe and a-frogging doth go,
The two-inched hook is better, I know,
Than the ord'nary snaring: but still I must cry,
When the Pike is at home, minde the cookery.

The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of that which is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series read more

The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of that which is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope

The biggest fish he ever caught were those that got away.

The biggest fish he ever caught were those that got away.

Of all the world's enjoyments
That ever valued were,
There's none of our employments
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Of all the world's enjoyments
That ever valued were,
There's none of our employments
With fishing can compare.
- Thomas Durfee (or D'Urfey),

The end of fishing is not angling, but catching.

The end of fishing is not angling, but catching.

They may the better fish in the water when it is troubled.

They may the better fish in the water when it is troubled.

There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.

There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.