If fishing is a religion, fly fishing is high church.

Brokaw’s line uses a religious metaphor to rank styles of angling by their perceived ritual and refinement. Calling fishing a “religion” frames it as a devotion—something practiced for meaning, identity, and solace rather than mere utility. “Fly fishing is high church” then suggests a more formal, tradition-bound, and ceremonially exacting form of that devotion: specialized gear, learned technique, codified etiquette, and an almost liturgical attention to water, insects, and presentation. The quip also gently satirizes fly fishing’s reputation for exclusivity and connoisseurship, while still admiring the craft and the near-spiritual absorption it can produce.