#a place on the water

“When we’re discouraged by the madness of the world and need to involve ourselves in something elemental, we turn to water. This is a significant and perhaps universal urge, I think, and makes an excellent excuse to go fishing. Last night, more discouraged than usual, I set the alarm for early, almost the middle of the night. I wanted to be in the water before daylight.”

Jerry Dennis, from “Wide Margins,” in A Place on the Water: An Angler’s Reflections on Home (St. Martin’s Press, 1993)

“We stand motionless, waiting. The cold water numbs my legs, even through insulated waders, wool pants, and polypropylene underwear. This is fishing that requires patience. I usually prefer more active versions of the sport. I like to move, to cast to feeding fish or search for inviting places where fish might be hiding. This has more in common with bait fishing for catfish than most forms of trout fishing.

But in certain moods it is satisfying. I once stood near a fisherman at the mouth of another river who remained still for so long that a sparrow fluttered to a landing on the top of his head, apparently mistaking him for a wooden piling. It’s possible to become so serene you turn inanimate.”

Jerry Dennis, from “Wide Margins,” in A Place on the Water: An Angler’s Reflections on Home (St. Martin’s Press, 1993)