The plan I have laid out for the treatment of my topic leads me, first
of all, to speak of the manner in which the fishing habit operates upon
man's nature for its betterment; and afterward to deal with the
qualities of heart and disposition necessary to the maintenance of good
and regular standing in the fishing fraternity.
There is no man in the world capable of profitable thought who does not
know that the real worth and genuineness of the human heart are
measured by its readiness to submit to the influences of Nature, and to
appreciate the goodness of the Supreme Power who has made and beautified
Nature's abiding-place. In this domain, removed from the haunts of men
and far away from the noise and dust of their turmoil and strife, the
fishing that can fully delight the heart of the true fisherman is found;
and here in its enjoyment, those who fish are led, consciously or
unconsciously, to a quiet but distinct recognition of a power greater
than man's, and a goodness far above human standards. Amid such
surroundings and within such influences no true fisherman, whether
sensitively attuned to sublime suggestion, or of a coarser mold and
apparently intent only upon a successful catch, can fail to receive
impressions which so elevate the soul and soften the heart as to make
him a better man.
It is known of all men that one of the rudiments in the education of a
true fisherman is the lesson of patience. If he has a natural tendency
in this direction it must be cultivated. If such a tendency is lacking
he must acquire patience by hard schooling. This quality is so
indispensable in fishing circles that those who speak of a patient
fisherman waste their words. In point of fact, and properly speaking,
there can be no such thing as an impatient fisherman. It cannot,
therefore, be denied that in so far as fishing is a teacher of the
virtue of patience, it ought to be given a large item of credit in
reckoning its relation to the everyday affairs of life; for certainly
the potency of patience as a factor in all worldly achievements and
progress cannot be overestimated. If faith can move mountains, patience
and faith combined ought to move the universe.
Moreover, if those who fish must be patient, no one should fail to see
that patience is a most desirable national trait and that it is vastly
important to our body politic that there should continue among our
people a large contingent of well-equipped fishermen, constantly
prepared and willing to contribute to their country's fund of blessings
a liberal and pure supply of this saving virtue.
To those who are satisfied with a superficial view of the subject it may
seem impossible that the diligence and attention necessary to a
fisherman's success can leave him any opportunity, while fishing, to
thoughtfully contemplate any matter not related to his pursuit. Such a
conception of the situation cannot be indorsed for a moment by those of
us who are conversant with the mysterious and unaccountable mental
phenomena which fishing develops. We know that the true fisherman finds
no better time for profitable contemplation and mental exercise than
when actually engaged with his angling outfit. It will probably never be
possible for us to gather statistics showing the moving sermons, the
enchanting poems, the learned arguments and eloquent orations that have
been composed or constructed between the bites, strikes or rises of
fish; but there can be no doubt that of the many intellectual triumphs
won in every walk of life a larger proportion has been actually hooked
and landed with a rod and reel by those of the fishing fraternity than
have been secured in any one given condition of the non-fishing world.
This may appear to be a bold statement. It is intended as an assertion
that fishing and fishermen have had much to do with the enlightenment
and elevation of humanity. In support of this proposition volumes might
be written; but only a brief array of near-at-hand evidence will be here
presented.
Those who have been fortunate enough to hear the fervid eloquence of
Henry Ward Beecher, and even those who have only read what he has
written, cannot overlook his fishing propensity--so constantly manifest
that the things he said and wrote were fairly redolent of fishing
surroundings. His own specific confession of fealty was not needed to
entitle him to the credentials of a true fisherman, nor to disclose one
of the never-failing springs of his best inspiration. When these things
are recalled, and when we contemplate the lofty mission so well
performed by this noble angler, no member of our brotherhood can do
better in its vindication than to point to his career as proof of what
the fishing habit has done for humanity.