It's a lovely tribute and fun to read.

Fly fishing is the most beautiful way of trying to catch a fish not the most efficient, just as ballet is the most beautiful way of moving the body between between two points, not the most direct. Fly fishing is to fishing as ballet is to walking.

I have learned that I am also a person who has to be able to go fishing whenever I can and for as long as I want to go. It is a silly thing, but there it is.

I stepped on a land mine named Jayson Blair.

Frankly, no newspaper is set up to monitor for cheats and fabricators.

Fish in the water represent pure potential. If the water is not clear, we do not know if they exist at all. To get them to bite something connected to a line and pull them into our world is managing a birth that brings these creatures from the realm of mysytery into the world of reality. It is a kind of creation.

Anything is possible in the life of a man if he lives long enough. Even maturity.

All genius is simple. It involves close observation and a momentous act of self trust.

When I am home alone I like to scatter my tackle across the floor and play with it. I may pretend I am working on it, performing preventative maintenance, but really it is playing.