3
From the GroundUp

And, first, for worms: of these there be very many sorts: some breed only in the earth, as the earth-worm; others of or amongst plants, as the dug-worm; and others breed either out of excrements, or in the bodies of living creatures, as in the horns of sheep or deer; or some of dead flesh, as the maggot or gentle, andothers.

—Izaak Walton,The Compleat Angler (1653)1

Old Izaak was more than a casual student of worms; the above section ofThe Compleat Angler goes on for pages as Walton describes a myriad of worms and wormy creatures, offering almost endless information on raising them, keeping them vigorous in the bait box—worms to fish when, where, and for what, and on and on. It is somewhat amazing to me that he ever even began fly-fishing at all. But I really do kind of know how it must havehappened.

And it wasn’t very long until I was pretty heavily involved in the eleven-year-old’s equivalent of worm science myself. You know, you don’t just hop out of bed one morning and start fly-fishing. It is a progression: you have to work your way up, and worms were part of an erratic learning curve for me. Of course, I realize that over the past decade or two, lots of peoplehave hopped out of bed one morning and started fly-fishing. I hate them. They haven’t paid their dues. And I doubt they have the proper respect and appreciation that comes from the more deliberate, trial-and-error learning of an art or craft or skill—or, heaven forbid, ahobby.

Art is a comparison that I can understand. Any halfway decent painter can probably copy a piece by one of the masters and create a copy that is indistinguishable to most of us. I think I could copy some of the sillier Picassos. The copy is of little value except to interior decorators and bar owners, while the master’s original maintains its value because, in addition to its historical importance, the painting incorporates the imagination, inspiration, and love that the master put into it. Lord, the higher aesthetic of fly-fishing is built on a more solid foundation than a few days with a guide, a generous credit card, and a