And angling too, that solitary vice,
What Izaak Walton sings or says:
The quaint, old, cruel coxcomb, read more

And angling too, that solitary vice,
What Izaak Walton sings or says:
The quaint, old, cruel coxcomb, in his gullet
Should have a hook, and a small trout to pull it.

The man that weds for greedy wealth,
He goes a fishing fair,
But often times he gets read more

The man that weds for greedy wealth,
He goes a fishing fair,
But often times he gets a frog,
Or very little share.

A stick and a string with a fly at one end and a fool at the
other.

A stick and a string with a fly at one end and a fool at the
other.

A rod twelve feet long and a ring of wire,
A winder and barrel, will help thy desire
read more

A rod twelve feet long and a ring of wire,
A winder and barrel, will help thy desire
In killing a Pike; but the forked stick,
With a slit and a bladder,--and that other fine trick,
Which our artists call snap, with a goose or a duck,--
Will kill two for one, if you have any luck;
The gentry of Shropshire do merrily smile,
To see a goose and a belt the fish to beguile;
When a Pike suns himselfe and a-frogging doth go,
The two-inched hook is better, I know,
Than the ord'nary snaring: but still I must cry,
When the Pike is at home, minde the cookery.

The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of that which is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series read more

The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of that which is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope

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!

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

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

Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a
cord which thou lettest down?
read more

Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a
cord which thou lettest down?
Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through
with a thorn?

Old Peter Grimes made fishing his employ;
His wife he cabined with him and his boy,
And read more

Old Peter Grimes made fishing his employ;
His wife he cabined with him and his boy,
And seemed that life laborious to enjoy.