#Wednesdaywisdom: Hemingway on Solitude

"Somebody just back of you while you are fishing is as bad as someone looking over your shoulder while you write a letter to your girl". -Ernest Hemingway

We've all heard that cry from the bridge or path behind you, "Catching anything?"  Onlookers can definitely harsh your vibe.  Unless of course you hook one, then you want them to see. 

Quote of the week: Bipolar Edition

From Christine Stapleton's article "Fly-Fishing & Bipolar: It’s Progress…Huge Progress"

"Imagine in your mania you are given a fly the size of a mosquito and a fishing line the diameter of a frog’s hair and you must thread the frog’s hair through a hole the size of an ant’s eye on the end of the fly. After a dozen attempts I became convinced that there was some evil fly-tying madman out there who was laughing his butt off because he had place a microscopic drop of Super Glue on the ant-size eye on the end of the fly – blocking me from ever pushing that frog’s hair through the ant’s-eye."

Quote of the week: Social Edition

Quote noticed while watching The Social Network, surfing facebook, a wondering why I didn't do anything with that idea I had for using credit cards as gift certificates... "When you go fishing you can catch a lot of fish, or you can catch a big fish. You ever walk into a guy's den and see a picture of him standing next to fourteen trout?"

Quote of the week: Nirvana

This week's quote comes from an article by Tim Wade in the Cody Enterprise titled "Fishing adrenaline rush can lead to ‘nirvana’." It even manages to take a swipe at the bobber guys among us.

Not every angler is in pursuit of Nirvana and these are the ones that will switch from a dry fly to a strike indicator and nymph rig in a heartbeat if they can't get a take on a dry within the first five minutes of trying.

Quote of the Week: Catch and Release

We have been slammed workwise lately but couldn't help sharing this quote from Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

“Catch and release is good for world class trout fisheries like the Provo River, but using this philosophy to stop deporting drug offenders, spouse abusers and sexual deviants and putting these illegal aliens back on our streets and in our neighborhoods is simply inexcusable,” Hatch said, explaining why he and Senate colleagues sent the Oct. 20, 2010, letter to Napolitano.

It's rare to see trout fishing and sexual deviants in the same quote...well maybe not so much...

Quote of the week: Blind Luck

Darrell Pendergrass describes fly fishing for trout at night in his article "Fishing blindly for trout with the eternal optimist" via the Superior Telegram:

"Simply put, almost blindly a cast is made, a fly drifts casually for a bit, and then the soft sound of a trout coming to the surface is heard. You need only to lift your rod and line from the water to know that you’ve succeeded in hooking a fish. It’s calm. It’s quiet. It’s perfect. And I believe the term ‘blind luck’ was actually coined by Scottish fly fisherman back in the nineteenth century."

Lefty Speaks...

And our favorite Southern Tailwaters just got a little bit more popular...

"I live in Maryland and asked a fellow asked me where he should go out west to go fly fishing last year," said Lefty Kreh, professional fly fisherman. "I told him not to go out west and said he should go to Tennessee. There's better fly fishing down there for trout than there is out west now."

WBIR Quotes the Pirate of the Tailwaters in an article about Troutfest 2010 in Townsend, TN

If you like to fly fish it never hurts to have...

A partner that owns half of the free world... George McKerrow Jr, President and co-founder of Ted's Montana Grill on fishing....

"It was around 1990 that I learned to fly fish, which changed my fishing forever. It was in Aspen, and we were fishing for rainbow and brown trout. From that point forward I knew that fly fishing would become the ultimate fishing experience for me. It’s just completely different. It’s quieter and more delicate. It’s harder. You see some of the loveliest places in the world from a fly fishing stream. Hiking out, standing waist-deep in water, it’s just so beautiful."

Yes he works with Ted Turner. Read the entire article via AJC.com.

Orvis finds Podcast Success

This week an article on the Times Argus Newspaper's website gives insight in to success that Orvis has found through their Fly Fishing Guide Podcast hosted by Tom Rosenbauer. The podcast continues to grow in popularity and bring them more customers and even though Orvis products are rarely ever mentioned in it.

"It's really good customer interaction. Business-wise, I feel like I have such a great handle on what our customers are looking for and what they're thinking about," Rosenbauer said. However, Rosenbauer said the podcasts feature very little marketing. He rarely mentions Orvis products and keeps the shows educational rather than promotional.

The article also has a quote from Rosenbauer which does a good job of summing up fly fishers in general:

"When you get into fly-fishing, you get to be a real sicko and you want it all the time. You want to think about it, talk about it, look around at Web sites when your boss isn't looking so they really love a little dose of fly-fishing when they're on their commute, when they're on the train in the morning or driving to their jobs,"

The podcasts can be found on the Internet at www.orvis.com/podcast or at the iTunes Web site at itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/orvis-fly-fishing-guide-podcast/id278930814.

Fly Fishing Quote Of The Week

This week's quote comes from a Robert Streeter / Timesunion.com article about the yearly onslaught of gear catalogs.

"I was scanning through the pages of a 2010 fly-fishing catalog when I realized that there really are not a whole lot of things that leapt off of the page and grabbed me by the wallet. There were some innovative new items, but the question that kept coming to mind was how much of this stuff is a really great improvement, and how much is pure hype?"

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=899551&category=STREETER#ixzz0fHuiV0UR

Quote of the week: Free as price point

The December 2009 issue of Angling Trade Magazine provides a review of Chris Anderson's book, "Free, the future of a radical price" and how it relates to the fly fishing industry. It gives us our most recent quote of the week:


"Which gets us to fly fishing… where
we’re still hanging no trespassing
signs on rivers and charging rod fees
to fish, then wondering why the sport
doesn’t grow. And we’re still assuming
that people will pay to read how
to tie a blood knot, or fish a streamer.
And the hot free deal in many shops
is getting a “baker’s dozen” 13 flies
for the price of 12. Wow."

To get the context check out the entire review on the Angling Trade Magazine website. The magazine also has an excellent editorial by Kirk Deeter.

Quote of the week: Contemplative Carnivores

From an open thread on Guardian.co.uk about what sport is best suited to what belief system:

"Fly fishing is no good for vegetarians, but is just about perfect for contemplative carnivores."

Fly Fishing Quote Of The Week

FlyfishMagazine.com Volunteer State Editor - Jay Moore pictured knee deep in what I like to call therapy.

This week's fishy quotage comes from Andrew Roth in an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "Pop the Top."

"There are few thing that I enjoy more when it comes to fly fishing than the ability to hunt and stalk from my hind legs. Wade fishing is total immersion and focus becomes hypersensitive."

Mr. Roth, Sir we understand you completely!

Quote of the Week: Bachelor Beware

This week's quote is for the ladies and comes from a book by Janice Lieberman about how to "Shop for a husband." Watch out fellows, that nice looking lady standing by the wader display might have more on her mind than which size rod works best for striper.

3. GET OUT OF THE WOMEN'S DEPARTMENT

You need to get out of the "women's department" and go shopping in the "men's department" in order to find the man of your dreams. Go where the merchandise is: stay away from spas and cafes – and check out golf clinics, fly fishing, technology conferences and business courses.

Angler Lands Three: People that is...

This week's fly fishing quote of the week comes from a story on Oregonlive.com about a salmon angler who rescued three people from the water by casting to them and landing them.

"I was wearing waders and boots, so it wasn't very practical to try to get to them. If I became part of the problem, it wouldn't help anyone. The only safe way was to bite off the fly, so I (bit off the leader), and before I realized what I was doing, I started casting to them."

Precision casting saves lives.

Fly Fishing Quote of the Week

"Flyfishing is like sex, everyone thinks there is more than there is, and that everyone else is getting more than their share." -Henry Kanemotto

Found on Twitter

Found via Twitter:

@InTheHillsFish: "At 38 years, I finnaly got me the woman that said those six words I wanted all my life to hear: "My Dad owns a Fly Shop"

Follow us on Twitter and we will introduce you to our pals. @FlyfishMagazine

Fly Fishing Quote of the Week

Our latest quote of the week comes from a press release put out by the Missouri Trout Hunter that aims to take some of the mistique out of fly fishing and promote their fly fishing school.

Fulps asserts that trout are not smarter than other species of fish, nor do they have the sharp visual acuity for which many give them credit. "Trout fishermen have invented those beliefs over the years, simply because we needed an excuse for why we couldn't catch them as easily as we could other species. The biggest trout are not the smartest trout. They're simply the most frightened, which is why they're so difficult to catch. And human eyesight is actually about 14 times stronger than that of a trout."

Put & Take Friday: Quote of the Week

From CapeCodToday.com comes this Friday's Put & Take Quote of the Week:

"Smoked trout taste like salmon, and, best of all, the fish are free! That is, unless you are factoring in the cost of a freshwater fishing license, which helps to support the 'farming' of the gorgeous, pink-fleshed fish the hatcheries stock our ponds with. And unless you add up the costs of rods and reels and tackle and waders and aerators and jars of Power Bait and hours of watching bobbers or flipping spoons and more hours of gutting and brining and smoking... oh, and, of course, the smoker. And splitting and curing maple and apple and even cedar."

Fishing Quote of the Week

This week's fishing quote and reason to post yet another instance of our infamous Dam Bait Shop photo taken a few years ago in Arkansas, comes via Reuters:

I'm seeing a lot more fishermen down here," said John Miller, owner of Bob's Sport & Tackle in Katonah, New York. "With the economy the way it is, people are getting laid off from work and don't want to sit at home and do nothing.

"The cheaper alternative," he said, "is to go fishing."

How about it fly fishers, are we about to see a rebirth of Eagle Claw glass rods and inexpensive fly gear?