Fishing has a way of slowly taking over your life until it is something you think about all the time.
If you speak to any passionate angler, you soon find that fishing isn’t just something to do in their spare time; everything else is just something to do until it is time for them to go fishing again.
In this article, we look at some of the funniest and most memorable fishing quotes to help fill the void in your life until you’re back out on the water catching some fish.
This list includes quotes from legendary fishermen, authors, and historical figures such as Zane Grey, Roderick Haig Brown, Henry David Thoreau, John Geirach, and Jimmy Carter.
Funny Quotes on Fishing
Fishing is fun, and life is better when doing fun things. If today isn’t being spent fishing, then hopefully, these funny fishing quotes will help brighten your day and bring a smile to your face.
- “If fishing is interfering with your business, give up your business.” – Sparse Grey Hackle (Alfred W. Miller)
- “Fishing saved me from being a porn star, now I’m just a hooker!” – Unknown
- “The fishing was good; it was the catching that was bad.” – A.K. Best
- “There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process,” – Paul O’Neil
- Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll buy a funny hat. Talk to a hungry man about fish, and you’re a consultant,” – Scott Adams
- “Fishing is like sex. When it is great, it is great. When it is bad, it is still great!” – Unknown
- “Fish come in three sizes: small, medium, and the one that got away!” – Unknown
Short Fishing Quotes
Short and sweet is where it’s at – sometimes, you don’t need a whole bunch of words to get your point across.
- “Calling fishing a hobby is like calling brain surgery a job.” – Paul Schullery
- “There’s a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore like an idiot.” – Steven Wright
- “If I fished only to capture fish, my fishing trips would have ended long ago.“ – Zane Grey
- “If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there’d be a shortage of fishing poles.” – Doug Larson
- “Fly fishermen are born honest, but they get over it.” – Ed Zern
- “Fly-fishing is the most fun you can have standing up.” – Arnold Gingrich
Fishing Quotes About Love
Life is nothing without love, right?
Whether you only love fishing or if your whole life is filled with love. These fishing quotes about love should make you feel all warm inside.
- “Yes, there are plenty of fish in the sea. But the problem is, I stopped fishing after I found you.” – Unknown
- “I have fished through fishless days that I remember happily without regret,” – Roderick Haig Brown
- “One thing becomes clearer as one gets older and one’s fishing experience increases, and that is the paramount importance of one’s fishing companions,” – John Ashley Cooper
- “I fish because I love to, not because I regard fishing as so terribly important but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of man are equally unimportant; and not nearly so much fun,” – Unknown
- “Fishing is like dating; it’s all catch and release until you find a keeper.” – Unknown
Fishing Quotes About Life
As mentioned at the beginning of this article – fishing can very quickly become a way of life.
With this in mind, here are some philosophical quotes about fishing and life.
- “Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers,” – Herbert Hoover
- “Tight lines, warm breezes, good friends, plenty of bait, it doesn’t get any better,” – Unknown
- “Fishing is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it,” – Harry Middleton
- “Life is like a game, but fishing is serious,” – Unknown
- “No life is so happy and so pleasant as the life of the well-governed angler,” – Izaak Walton
- “I am firmly convinced that the ideal combination leading to a happy life is to have the time to both fish and read,” – Brian Murphy
- “Fishing adds years to your life, and life to your years.” – Unknown
Gone Fishing Quotes
When the time finally comes for your next fishing trip – you don’t want anything or anyone to disturb you.
Here are some ‘gone fishing’ style quotes that will make sure people know that it’s all about you and the fish for the next couple of days (at least).
- “So long, and thanks for all the fish,” – Douglas Adams
- “Everyone should believe in something. I believe I’ll go fishing,” – Henry David Thoreau
- “Gone fishin’, be back at dark-thirty!” – Unknown
- “If I’ve gone missing, I’ve gone fishing!” – Unknown
- “Angling is extremely time-consuming. That’s sort of the whole point,” – Thomas McGuane
- “There will be days when the fishing is better than one’s most optimistic forecast, others when it is far worse. Either is a gain over just staying home,” – Roderick Haig Brown
- “The solution to any problem — work, love, money, whatever is to go fishing, and the worse the problem, the longer the trip should be,” – John Gierach
Fishing Quotes for Fathers
If you want to share your love for angling with your little ones, then these fishing quotes for fathers will get your family fishing trip off to a great start.
- “Many of the most highly publicized events of my presidency are not nearly as memorable or significant in my life as fishing with my daddy,” – Jimmy Carter
- “My fishing buddies call me Dad.” – Unknown
- “Some people wait their entire life to find the right fishing buddy, I raised mine.” – Unknown
- “It is admirable for a man to take his son fishing, but there is a special place in heaven for the father who takes his daughter shopping.” – John Sinor
- “Happiness is a fishing trip with your dad.” – Unknown
- “There aren’t many things I like more than fishing, but being a dad is one of them” – Unknown
Fishing Quotes for Women
One of the great things about recent trends in fishing is the increase in female participation.
If you are a woman who loves to fish or even if you are married to a man who disappears for days on end in the hope of landing his next big fish – here are some fishing quotes for women or relating to women.
- “A real woman will not make you choose between her and fishing, a real woman will make you take her fishing and then proceed to catch the biggest fish.” – Unknown
- “She asked me to tell her those three words that every girl wants to hear, so I said let’s go fishing” – Unknown
- “A woman who has never seen her husband fishing doesn’t know what a patient man she married !” – Unknown
- “Men shouldn’t fish with women because they always beat them. Women are at their best when fishing – no matter what.” – Unknown
- “Women know why men love to go fishing. It is the only time they will hear the words wow, that’s a big one!” – Unknown
Family Fishing Quotes
Arguably the only thing more important than spending time out on the water is spending time with your family.
Here are some family fishing quotes to show how important an angler’s family is.
- “Fishing is not about the fish, it’s the time spent together catching them” – Unknown
- “Most fishermen swiftly learn that it’s a pretty good rule never to show a favorite spot to any fisherman you wouldn’t trust with your wife,” – John Voelker
- “Remember when your GPS and a fish finder were rolled into one trusty unit called grandpa?” – Unknown
- “My biggest worry is that my wife (when I’m dead) will try to sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it.” – Unknown
Random (But Funny) Fishing Quotes
Some funny fishing quotes are too good not to share.
Here are 5 final funny fishing quotes to get one more laugh out of you before the end of this article.
- “Fisherman’s prayer: Lord, help me to catch fish so large, that even I, in the telling of it, never need to lie,” – Unknown
- “Scholars have long known that fishing eventually turns men into philosophers. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to buy decent tackle on a philosopher’s salary,” – Patrick F McManus
- “Life is just a series of obstacles preventing you from fishing.” – Unknown
- “Give a man a fish, you will feed him for the day. Teach a man to fish, you’ll get rid of him for the whole weekend.” – Unknown
- “Fishing – it’s all about how you wiggle your worm!” – Unknown
Conclusion
Fishing has a big impact on a lot of people’s lives.
Sometimes problems can seem a little more bearable if you relate them to fishing in some creative and far-fetched way.
These 52 funny fishing quotes have, hopefully, made you think about fishing, made you want to go fishing, and, most importantly, made you laugh a few times too.
Bear them in mind next time you are telling a fishing-related story or sharing a joke with your fishing buddies.
Enjoy yourself out on the water, and make sure you catch some really big fish!
