"It is always the explosive fish we remember, thrust from the river like a mythic sword, like a ballerina tightroping a performance precisely between grace and sanity."
Flyfishing author Ernest Schwiebert, in "Salmon or Steelhead?"
It has been called the "fish of a thousand casts" and, as many veteran flyanglers will tell you, perhaps rightfully so.
But as viewers of the ESPN Outdoors' show "In Search of Fly Water presented by Chevrolet" will see this Saltwater Sunday at 7 a.m. ET on ESPN2, perhaps it is time for a new piscatorial marketing campaign: The Atlantic salmon, "fish of a thousand smiles."
Conway Bowman, co-host of "In Search of Fly Water," will certainly not give much of an argument against the new slogan.
That's because he's still wearing a huge grin on his face after a highly successful expedition last year to the Canadian flyfishing wonderland of Quebec to fish for Atlantic salmon and brook trout.
"The fishing was outstanding," Bowman said. "It was much better than I had anticipated Atlantic salmon fishing being."
"They call the Atlantic salmon the fish of 1,000 casts and that kind of sums it up that they're kind of difficult to catch on a fly."
Well, sometimes that's true and sometimes it's not as Bowman's multiple hook-ups would prove.
"It was difficult, but I think I got lucky," he said.
Better to be lucky than good, as they say; although in Bowman's case, the San Diego saltwater fly guide appears to be both.
Those two qualities are key to possess if your quarry is the acrobatic and aristocratic Atlantic salmon that has inspired anglers and authors ranging from Ernest Schweibert to Thomas McGuane.
What lures these angling scribes and countless others each year?
For starters, it's the Atlantic salmon's legendary qualities of being perhaps the ultimate freshwater game fish: tough as nails; hard to catch; giving up one whale of a fight when hooked; and leaping from the water in an effort to dislodge the hook.
And that's not to even mention the pristine environment that the fish inhabit in Quebec a rugged and stunning landscape that has captured the imagination of anglers, writers and poets for generations.
And then there's the pure challenge of catching a fish that doesn't want to eat anything, especially a dry fly or streamer bearing a hook.
"The casting is pretty difficult," Bowman said. "You have to make really long, long casts. They're probably on average about 50 feet, although there are some even further."
"I was even making some in the 70-foot range. Accuracy is really important in this because you're covering ground and trying to cover the river inch-by-inch-by-inch."
Using a 9½-foot 9-weight fly rod with a floating line, Bowman would cast dry flies and traditional Atlantic salmon streamer flies.
While admitting that he enjoyed most the smashing surface takes of salmon on the "Bomber" dry flies provided by his outfitter, Bill Griner of Malbaie River Outfitters, it was all good and even a bit mysterious.
"There's lot of mystery and history behind Atlantic salmon," Bowman said. "It's kind of a sacred fish with flyfisherman because a lot of stuff has been written about them."
"Roderick Haig-Brown wrote about them and so did Monte Burke, who wrote a book entitled 'Leaper.' I read that book before I went.
"There's a lot of great writing about this fish, it's almost poetry."
This just might be a pretty good way to describe the Atlantic salmon's behavior once it has been stung by an angler's hook poetry in motion.
For Bowman, a flyangler who has landed just about everything from fierce Mako sharks to bonefish and tarpon to marlin and tuna, there's little that compares with hooking into one of these "leapers."
"Yeah, I've been able to take pretty much everything on a fly, except a permit," Bowman said. "And absolutely, an Atlantic salmon ranks right up there with the best of them.
"It is definitely a true adversary."
And yet it's still an adversary that reminds the flyangler of some of his other conquests.
"They'll jump out of the water four or five times," Bowman said. "They really have some saltwater characteristics.
"They're kind of like Mako sharks, marlin or tarpon in that they'll make a strong first run, and then they'll start jumping."
Bowman experienced all of that and more when a 21-pound Atlantic salmon smashed his fly and took off for the races downriver.
"I had to run down stream and chase this fish, trying to gain line on him," Bowman said. "I was well into my backing, which is where you can lose them because the fight is really great."
After stumbling his way downstream and successfully negotiating aquatic hazards, rocks and Quebec's thick flora, Bowman was able to subdue the fish, revive it gently, tip his hat brim and watch as the Atlantic behemoth slipped from his grasp into the river's surging current.
It's a meeting that he won't soon forget.
"It's almost an honor to catch them, maybe because of all of the history that it has," Bowman said.
And it's an experience that can be hauntingly beautiful.
"They're really vivid and a beautiful fish with an olive color and red spots on them," he added.
"There are no marks on them and they're fresh out of the ocean, which is about 10 miles away down the York River."
Rugged beauty, piscatorial challenge and a fish of history no wonder the Atlantic salmon is not only the fish of 1,000 casts but the fish of 1,000 smiles.
"It is the fish of a lifetime for a flyfisherman," Bowman agreed. "If you have the opportunity to go do it, go for it because it might take you a 1,000 casts to catch one.
"But even if a guy catches one on his 1,000th cast, it's probably worth it he's hooked for life."
For more information on Atlantic salmon in Quebec, visit the Web site of Malbaie River Outfitters.