"Fishing is boring, unless you catch an actual fish,…

“Fishing is boring, unless you catch an actual fish, and then it is disgusting” was written by syndicated newspaper columnist and humorist Dave Barry for a column on November 19, 1994. The one-liner about fishing has been frequently reprinted.

Wikipedia: Dave Barry
David McAlister “Dave” Barry (born July 3, 1947) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author and columnist, who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for The Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comedic novels.

19 November 1994, The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, CA), “Boring people have this way of going on and on and on and ...” by Dave Barry, Accent sec., pg. 10, col. 5:
Fishing is boring, unless you catch an actual fish, and then it is disgusting.

Google Books
Fish Fights:
A Hall of Fame Quest
By Bob Rich
Guilford, CT: Lyons Press
2001
Pg. 185:
“Fishing is boring, unless you catch an actual fish, and then it is disgusting.”

Google Books
The Fishing Fanatic:
Quotes and Brags from Experts and Wags
Edited by Damian R. Rubino
Guilford, CT: Lyons Press
2007
Pg. 382:
Fishing is boring unless you catch an actual fish, and then it is disgusting. -DAVE BARRY, HUMORIST

Google Books
Tweet This Book:
The 1,400 Greatest Quotes of All Time in 140 Characters Or Less
Edited by Sayre Van Young and Marin Van Young
Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press
2011
Pg. ?:
Fishing
Fishing is boring, unless you catch an actualfish, and then it is disgusting.
Dave Barry

Google Books
The 2,548 Wittiest Things Anybody Ever Said
By Robert Byrne
New York, NY: Touchstone
2012
Pg. ?:
1,747
Fishing is boring until you catch a fish, when it becomes disgusting. —Dave Barry