American Museum of Fly Fishing

Nice article from the Opinion Journal (part of the Wall Street Journal)

http://opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110006992

Wading Into History
Come see what Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and so many others are angling
for.

BY GEOFFREY NORMAN
Saturday, July 23, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT
MANCHESTER, Vt.--For one who is not an angler, the mere existence of the
American Museum of Fly Fishing, in Manchester, Vt., might come as a
surprise. This is just fishing, after all. How much history, tradition and
culture is there to be preserved?

Quite a lot, actually. More, even, than some people who consider themselves
avid fly fishermen might have realized. The literature of fly fishing alone
is extensive. The only works in English more frequently reproduced than
Izaak Walton's "The Compleat Angler" are the Bible and Shakespeare.

Fly fishing has come a long way since Walton's book was first published back
in the 17th century, and the museum does a good job of dealing with this
history, taking the visitor through a kind of timeline of exhibits. But
while the history is interesting, the deep appeal of fly fishing is not in
narrative. Angling is precisely an escape from the bondage of time, which
explains, in part, why so many fishermen come home late for dinner. When you
step into a river, you stop looking at your watch.


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Thanks,

Mike
Indianapolis, IN