When the beginner can cast his fly into his hat, eight times out of ten, at forty feet, he is a fly fisher; and so far as casting is concerned, a good one.
- James A. Henshall, MD, 1881

The trout fly does not resemble any known species of insect. It is a "conventionalized" creation, as we say of ornamentation. The theory is, that, fly-fishing being a high art, the fly must not be a tame imitation of nature, but an artistic suggestion of it. It requires an artist to construct one; and not every bungler can take a bit of red flannel, a peacocks feather, a flash of tinsel thread, a cock's plume, a section of hen's wing, and fabricate a tiny object that will not look like any fly, but will still suggest the universal conventional fly.
- Charles Dudley Warner, 1862

You may always know a large trout when feeding in the evening. He rises continuously, or at small intervals-in a still water almost always in the same place, and makes little noise--barely elevating his mouth to suck in the fly, and sometimes showing his back fin and tail. A large circle spreads around him, but there are seldom any bubbles when he breaks the water, which usually indicates the coarser fish.
- Sir Humphrey Davy, 1868

It is well known that no person who regards his reputation will ever kill a trout with anything but a fly. It requires some training on the part of the trout to take to this method. The uncultivated, unsophisticated trout in unfrequented waters prefers the bait; and the rural people, whose sole object in going a-fishing appears to be to catch fish, indulge them in their primitive taste for the worm. No sportsman however, will use anything but the fly, except when he happens to be alone.
- Charles Dudley Warner, 1862

In Praise of the Wet Fly Oh, thrilling the rise to the lure that is dry, When the shy fish comes up to his slaughter. Yet rather would I, Have the turn to my fly, With a cunning brown wink under water. The bright little wink under water!, Mysterious wink under water! Delightful to ply The subaqueous fly, And watch for the wink under water!
- George Edward MacKenzie Skues, 1904

Is There A Mermaid In Your Creel? Fly fishing is such great fun, I have often felt , that it really ought to be done in bed. Not that high frolic is the only thing the pursuit of fish and the pursuit of females have in common; these ancient sports have more going for them than just that - as I'll now try to tell why. First off, just as both diversions are best conducted in decent privacy, away from distracting crowds, so too the most gratifying results are best obtained by subtlety rather than by force, by seduction rather than rape. Again, just as both pastimes quickly pall when the conquest is too easy, so too the lures used in the wooing, whether jewels or jassids, must be presented with the utmost skill and grace.
- Robert Traver - Trout Magic, 1974