Nick had one good trout. He did not
care about getting many trout. Now the stream was shallow and wide.
There was trees along both
banks. The trees of the left bank made short shadows on the current in
the forenoon sun.
Nick knew there were trout
in each shadow. In the afternoon, after the sun had crossed toward the
hills, the trout
would be in the cool
shadows on the other side of the stream.
Ernest Hemingway (Big
Two-Hearted River)
Testament of a Fisherman
I fish because I love to;
because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably
beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds of people are found,
which are invariably ugly; because of all the television commercials,
cocktail parties, and assorted social posturing I thus escape; because,
in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing things they
hate, my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of
small rebellion; because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought
or bribed or impressed by power, but respond only to quietude and
humility and endless patience; because I suspect that men are going
along this way for the last time, and I for one don't want to waste the
trip; because mercifully there are no telephones on trout waters;
because only in the woods can I find solitude without loneliness;
because bourbon out of an old tin cup always tastes better out there;
because maybe one day I will catch a mermaid; and, finally, not because
I regard fishing as being so terribly important but because I suspect
that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant - and
not nearly so much fun.
Robert Traver (Trout Magic)