Fly-Fishing: (Practices)

In Fly-Fishing, Christopher Schaberg ponders his lifetime pursuit of the widely mythologized art of fly-fishing. From the Michigan lakeshore where he learned to fish to casting flies in a New Orleans bayou, Schaberg sketches landscapes and fish habitats and shows how fly-fishing allows him to think about coexisting with other species. It offers Schaberg a much-needed source of humility, social isolation, connection with nature, and a reminder of environmental degradation. Rather than centering fishing on trophies, conquest, and travel, he advocates for a "small-fishing" that values catching the diminutive fish near one's home. Introspective and personal, Fly-Fishing demonstrates how Schaberg's obsession indelibly shapes how he understands and lives in the wider world.

Table of Contents:
Fly-Fishing 1 Afterword. Minor-Fishing Lessons  97 Bibliography  103

About the Author :
Christopher Schaberg is Dorothy Harrell Brown Distinguished Professor of English at Loyola University New Orleans.

Review :
"[A] short but sweet meditation on the art of fly-fishing. [Schaberg's] musings are episodic and sharp. . . . This roving outing lands." (Publishers Weekly) "For those who consider fishing to be more than just a sport or simple pastime, Fly-Fishing should be as attractive as a colorful lure. Christopher Schaberg’s compact, wry meditation celebrates the wide range of experiences the activity offers." - Ho Lin (Foreword) "In a mosaic of brief, sometimes koan-like essays, he laments the degree to which fishing as a whole has become entangled with the social and ecological issues of our time, and advocates, via catch-and-release, targeting 'the smallest fish you can find, close to where you live.' The author fishes not to forget the entanglements, but rather to assert a more tonic relationship to their context." - Richard Adams Carey (Wall Street Journal) "Schaberg's observations and conclusions are insightful without being overbearing, the latter too often found in books on angling and fly angling in particular. Schaberg speaks skillfully to his audience, leavening the lessons learned with references not only to A River Runs Through It, but to Richard Brautigan and the classic rivers of the West in ways that convey his passion while avoiding the sort of snobbery that plagues less considerate observations."   - Glen Young (Petoskey News-Review) "Foregrounding writerly consciousness is right up Christopher Schaberg's alley in this sleek, incisive, unadorned, enthusiastic meditation on fly angling. . .  Even though Schaberg is not by any stretch a professional angler, that turns out to be a strength, not a liability, in this lively, spirited love letter to a sport that enthralls so many of us. . . . At its best, Fly-Fishing will give a whole new\meaning to that venerable fly fishing phrase, 'reading the water.'" - Robert DeMott (The Anglers' Club Bulletin)