Author: Don Paglia

Tip #84: “Fishing is a… discipline in the equality of men – for all men are equal before fish.”  Herbert Hoover Herbert Hoover’s lifelong passion for fishing is well-known.  No other President has had a biographer publish a book subtitled, The Fishing President, but for Hoover. The book describes Hoover’s fishing exploits first as young […]

Tip #83: “The climax in the poem of trouting, is the spring of the split bamboo.” Lewis France-1884 After the initial bite of the trout on the bait, and then those first few rushes from the pull and struggle of the fish, the fly fisherman, with the rod’s safety on, gently presses one thumb upon […]

Tip #82: “In the lexicon of the fly-fishermen, the words ‘rise and hooked’ connote the successful and desirable climax; landing a fish is purely anticlimax.” Vincent C. Marinaro-1950 We borrow all sorts of jargon and expressions from specialized areas, such as sports, and incorporate them into our everyday language. This includes fishing terms like the […]

Tip #81: “It is not easy to tell one how to cast. The art must be acquired by practice.” Charles Orvis-1883 I don’t care if we are talking about baking a cake, playing piano, playing golf, or making love. There is only so much one can learn from reading or studying about a given activity. […]

Tip #80: “The great charm of fly-fishing is that we are always learning; no matter how long we have been at it, we are constantly making some fresh discovery, picking up some new wrinkle. If we become conceited through great success, someday the trout will take us down a peg.” Theodore Gordon-1907 There is something […]

Tip #79:  “Often, I have been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold, briar scarred, sunburned, mosquito-bitten, but never, with a fly rod in my hand, have I been in a place that was less than beautiful.” Charles Kuralt-1990 A friend once told me about the time when he was recovering from knee surgery and […]

Tip #78: “Fish are, of course, indispensable to the angler.  They give him an excuse for fishing and justify the fly rod without which he would be a mere vagrant.” Sparse Grey Hackle (Alfred Miller), 1972 Speaking for men, I would say, that while there are exceptions, as a general rule we tend to love […]

  Tip #77: “I look into … my fly box, and think about all the elements I should consider in choosing the perfect fly: water temperature, what stage of development the bugs are in, what the fish are eating right now. Then I remember what a guide told me: ‘Ninety percent of what a trout […]

Tip #76: “Fishing takes anglers to the best places, at the best times of year.” Anonymous I love a good joke. I love humor, playfulness and comedy. I appreciate a couple of friends that send me several jokes each week via email. I love comedians who show us see the folly of our life’s dramas […]

Tip #75: “My wife wonders why all women do not seek anglers for husbands. She has come in contact with many in her life with me and she claims that they all have a sweetness in their nature which others lack.”                                                                  Ray Bergman, author of Trout, and Just Fishing John and Nancy initially came […]