When if or chance or hunger's powerful sway
Directs the roving trout this fatal way,
He greedily read more

When if or chance or hunger's powerful sway
Directs the roving trout this fatal way,
He greedily sucks in the twining bait,
And tugs and nibbles the fallacious meat.
Now, happy fisherman; now twitch the line!
How thy rod bends! behold, the prize is thine!

Fishing is boring, unless you catch an actual fish, and then it is disgusting.

Fishing is boring, unless you catch an actual fish, and then it is disgusting.

I still don't know why I fish or why other men fish, except we
like it and it makes read more

I still don't know why I fish or why other men fish, except we
like it and it makes us think and feel.

Of all the world's enjoyments
That ever valued were,
There's none of our employments
read more

Of all the world's enjoyments
That ever valued were,
There's none of our employments
With fishing can compare.
- Thomas Durfee (or D'Urfey),

A fishing pole is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool on the other

A fishing pole is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool on the other

The biggest fish he ever caught were those that got away.

The biggest fish he ever caught were those that got away.

Best fishing in troubled waters.

Best fishing in troubled waters.

There is only one theory about angling in which I have perfect
confidence, and this is that the two read more

There is only one theory about angling in which I have perfect
confidence, and this is that the two words, least appropriate to
any statement, about it, are the words "always" and "never."

The end of fishing is not angling, but catching.

The end of fishing is not angling, but catching.