Ernest,

Thanks for the comments and observations. And thanks for further stimulating my thought. I always find your contributions here to be thought provoking.

I often wonder how tempered my passion would be if I lived in trout country--especially country with as many options as yours. I think that your description of " a deep satisfaction" is probably closer to what I also encounter--once I get to the stream. And I think it describes a better boundary around "why we fish". Living in KS all my life I have other similar passions to trout fishing. For instance I have an attraction for natural springs and spring fed pools and places with abundant water--something we have very little of here in KS and something I truly value. Likewise, here in this state, clear, rocky streams are relatively rare as well. I've explored most of them I could access over the years and I truly appreciate their beauty and diversity of aquatic life.

For me the memory of that "deep satisfaction" from those rare stream encounters seems to create an obsession of anticipation and waiting that ultimately leads to a craving and the passion.