John D. Voelker Quotations

A writer judging his own work is like deceived husband - he is frequently the last person to appreciate the true state of affairs.

To paraphrase a deceased patriot, I regret that I have only one life to give to my fly-fishing.

The best time to go fishing is when you can get away.

Fishing is such great fun, I have often felt, that it really ought to be done in bed

There is a lot of amiable fantasy written about trout fishing, but the truth is that few men know much if anything about the habits of trout and little more about the manner of taking them.

Most fisherman, including this one, cling to their pet stupidities as they would to a battered briar or an old jacket; and their dogged persistence in wrong methods and general wrong-headedness finally wins the a sort of grudging admiration, if not many fish.

The true fisherman approaches the first day of fishing season with all the sense of wonder and awe of a child approaching Christmas.

During my addled career as a trout fisherman I have gone on a lot of wild-goose chases, and I ruefully expect to go on a lot more before I hang up my waders

Fly-fishing for wild trout on quiet waters must be one of the toughest and craziest ways to catch fish ever invented by man, as well as among the most frustrating and humiliating.

I look at trees, hunt mushrooms, and watch animals. Fishing is what gets me out into the woods so I can notice these things.