So I receive a bamboo rod building newsletter called the planing form. There was an article in the May/June issue which quoted a guy from Michigan who at the time was the a shop owner and executive secretary of TU.
His name was Art Newmann.
”Flyfishermen shouldn’t be... and are not snobs. It takes skill to be a spin fisherman... and a bait fisherman, however, when a man discards all other types of equipment to take up a fly rod, his evolution as a fisherman is complete. I look at the evolution this way. When a man or boy first takes up fishing, he wants to catch the most fish. That’s step number one. The second step in his evolution is to catch the biggest fish. Now, the third and final step is to catch the smartest fish, and to me this means trout. I’ve passed all three stages and each stage was fun. However, the second stage was more fun than the first, and the third stage always more fun than the second. As a fisherman passes through the three steps of evolution so does his personality. From a fish killer, he becomes a conservationist and a gentleman. Fishing is a great sport, and you can be certain that any youngster with a fishing rod in his hand will never appear before a judge as a juvenile delinquent.”
This hit home. Thought I’d share.
Artin