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| There were several of those lovely flies resting there, and one seemed different from the others.The boy stood up and looked more closely. He saw an insect, darker and duller in color, its back split down the middle, and from its body was emerging another, the delicate, bright one he had already seen. With a sudden movement, it pulled itself clear. The wings were not erect but seemed to be folded close to the back. As he watched, he saw them begin to open. The metamorphosis took place quickly before his eyes,and in a few moments there was another fly, complete, shining, drying itself in the sun. He looked away and when his eyes returned again it was gone. The splashes in the stream continued. It is no wonder that, with the impact of that introduction, I became a fly fisherman. Surely, I thought, an art based on imitations of such lovely fragile creatures must offer a great deal, especially if the angler could create them after his own fashion. - John Atherton, The Fly and The Fish, 1971
Alfred W. Miller, known to all as Sparse Grey Hackle, and known for the fine H.L. Leonard and Garrison split bamboo fly rods he fished, was not a fan of modern fly rod technology. Sparse, one fellow member joked recently at the Angler's Club, when are you going to fish fiberglass? The old man took a thoughtful swallow of straight Laphroaig, a special pot-still whiskey so strong it numbs the tongue. I'll fish fiberglass, Sparse muttered behind his steel rimmed spectacles, the morning after some concertmaster plays a concerto at Carnegie Hall on a plastic violin!
Final Words An old man in his final breaths called in his family and said "I must apologize to you all. I suppose I haven't been the perfect father and husband. I shamefully admit that I spent as much of my life as I could in the woods and on the streams. I was rarely at home during the fishing seasons and I'll admit that I spent too much time at the fly shop, and too much money on rods and lines and reels." He paused here to rest for a minute, then continued. "I've been a terrible father and I hope you all forgive me." Then he paused again and looked around. Then he closed his eyes and smiled and said in a half whisper to himself, "and on the other hand....I have caught a helluva lot of trout." -
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