Although you wouldn't know it if you live in my part of the world with snow flurries a daily occurrence for the past week, it is spring time in North America. This time of the year is famous of course for mysterious bouts of spring fever as well as flyfishingitis, a condition that seems to hit those in the the more northern latitudes around the middle of March and peaks the night before Opening Day, which is often the last Saturday of April.
Naturally, this is the perfect time of year to find connections between love and flyfishing and if the first cannot be found, then perhaps we can at least increase our love of flyfishing.
If Izaac Walton can be credited with the title of 'Father of Flyfishing', I would suggest that John Donne, an early 17th century Anglican preacher should be the Father of Flyfishing Romance. Donne, who lived prior to Walton, is the man who first coined the phrase 'no man is an island unto himself' and wrote a huge number of poetic verses, some of which for the time were seen as quite risque (The Flea, for example), although he is also well known for his deep references to theology and philosophy in much of his work.
One of my all time favorite poems, which I have read so often it is embedded in my memory, is completed with the following verses, and was written by Donne:
Let coarse bold hands, from slimy nest
The bedded fish in banks out-wrest,
Or curious traitors, sleavesilk flies,
Bewitch poor fishes' wandering eyes.
For thee, thou need'st no such deceit,
For thou thyself art thine own bait;
That fish, that is not catch'd thereby,
Alas, is wiser far than I.
I am not sure what 17th century literary experts would say, but I think Donne's use of flyfishing with respect to describing his own feelings for his beloved, and being 'baited' by her beauty, as a fish would be bewitched with a fly is ingenious. This man should be the hero of every hot blooded Flyfisherman!
It seems that even our esteemed Flyfishing Father, Walton, enjoyed both Donne's work. In his The Compleat Angler, he included The Bait.
I am sure that you would enjoy reading this complete poem, which incidentally is named The Bait and I have provided it for you here. I hope you do read it, because after you read the story about this poem, I am hoping that we can enjoy a fun excercise here at the site involving flyfishing, perhaps love, and poetry. Read on for more on this!.
Last Week On flyfishing.About.com:
The Muncher is a favorite of Ian James for carp, smallies, more. 
Thoughts of a Chicken Rancher. Doc tells it like it is.