A river flows amid the woods;
A line flies through the air.
A dangerous hook is on its end—
I warn you, fish: beware!

The barb sinks down and out of sight.
Nothing left to do but wait
For the trout that lives in yonder hole
To kindly take the bait.

The bobber now begins to swim,
The reel begins to sing;
The angler starts to pull him in,
As happy as a king.

The battle rages on and on—
Twenty minutes have gone by.
Now the line goes sickeningly slack;
The man begins to cry.

Now if you meet this man sometime,
You’ll surely hear him say:
“There never was a better fish
Than the one that got away.”