Crosscurrents: A Fly Fisher's Progress

by James R. Babb, Ted Leeson (Foreword)

One of the most eccentric and riveting voices to be heard in the world of fly fishing has his say on just about every aspect of angling.

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Ewan Sargent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweeping collection of vividly described fishing vignettes from Babb's early days as a boy growing up in East Tennessee to when he is grown up enough to be a bit creaky and writes about the worth of walking sticks. I can see his bold vivid OTT style would have been a shock to the angling world when it came out. Now some decades later it seems a little studied in that way. I enjoyed the boyhood memories best and his trips to flash expensive places least. Like most angling writers they eventually sell out and do promo pieces for lodges offering free fishing and accommodation and probably payment. But there are beautiful glimpses in here of why fishing can matter so much. He does that trick of being simple rag tag hill billy then throws in some Latin or a quote from an obscure author to accidentally reveal depth. Enjoyable book nevertheless. Recommended.

[Chris Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Up there with the (almost) incomparable Mr Gierach. If you fish, read it. If you don't... sigh!

[R. Allain · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone enamored of fishing, heck, for any soul with an affinity to the woods, rivers or damn good writin', this book's worth perusing. Author James R. Babb may well have experienced more stream-side - or better yet, in the stream, adventures than anyone alive. (Or he's probably in the top ten.) And whatever his reservoir of tales, no fisher, at all, can carry a story like Mr. Babb. If you can visualize hurtling a fly along some tree-dappled brook along with Mark Twain, Henry Thoreau and Stephen Colbert. Great fun and even uplifting, eh? Well, that's comparable to reading each distinct story in Crosscurrents. Simply put, if you like crackling prose, erudition without pretension and the search for native brook trout (mostly) from Tennessee to Maine, with a few indelible characters and a creek full of chuckles, check it out. In a word, impressive. One may even want to learn a new skill, fly-fishing. Babb's quirky spirit can come along, too.

[Tankred · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Babbs ‘Crosscurrents’ liest sich ebenso spannend und aufregend, wie seine Biographie die in Fragmenten im Laufe dieser Anthalogie vorstellt wird. Die Erzählungen dieser Veröffentlichung stammen aus Babbs redaktioneller Arbeit für die amerikanische Outdoors Zeitschrift Gray’s Sporting Journal.

Mit unglaublichem Witz und Scharfsinn führt Babb uns zurück in seine fliegenfischende Jugend in Ost Tennessee, dessen Südstaatenrigide Babb schon früh zu eng wird und der er sich zuanfangs entzieht in dem er in die Naturwelten des 19 Jhdt. Autors Henry David Thoreaus abtaucht, um später tatsächlich seinen Weg in den nördlichsten Zipfel der US-Ostküste zu finden. Dort orchestriert Babbs nach Jahren als kommerzieller Hochseefischer, LKW-Fahrer, Redakteur für Handelszeitschriften der Fischereibranche seinen Rückzug in die wald- und fischreichen Weiten Maines um fortan ein genügsames Leben mit seiner Frau - im mit eigenen Händen gebauten Haus, mit Blick auf den selbst ausgehobenen Teich, mit dem selbst gepflanzten Gemüse - eine autarke Existienz im Einklang mit den eigenen Wertvorstellungen einzurichten.

Es spricht für Baabs schriftstellerisches Vermögen, als erster Fliegenfischer eine eigene Kolumne bei Gray’s Sporting Journal inne zu haben und zwei Jahre später als Chefredakteur für die Geschicke der gesamten Publikation verantwortlich zu sein. Babbs Erzählungen entstanden vor dem Hintergrund der Fliegenfischerei werfen dabei aber einen gründlichen Blick auf das Verhalten und die Einstellungen seiner Protagonisten. Somit werden seine Beobachtungen weit mehr als Reise-Abenteuer- oder Erlebnisgeschichten. Babb gelingt es mühelos Sachthemen Leben einzuhauchen und seine Beschreibungen der Landschaft von Maine, dem Aussehen und Bewegungsabläufen einer charakteristischen Tierwelt sowie die präzise Darstellung der Natur die ihn umgibt, erheben Babb zu einem bedeutenden naturalistischem Schreiber unserer Zeit.

Kein Gegenstand (Wathosen, Watstöcke, Gespließte), Ort (Mexico, Alaska, Schottland) oder Thema (Bißanzeiger, Bieber, Selbstversorgung) ist gefeit vor den tiefen Einblicken und Erkenntnissen Babbs. Seine Texte zeugen von gesteigertem Wahrnehmungsvermögen, zeichnen sich zugleich von Anteilnahme an seiner Umgebung aus und werden somit auch für Nicht-Fischer zur genussvollen Lektüre.

[Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read, probably one of the best fishing anthologies I've ever read (along with "I Know a Good Place "by Clive Gammon). Babb does a fine job of asserting that his life as a fishing writer/editor living in the Maine woods was a perfect choice for him, wihout also making the rest of us feel like fools for not doing the same. This is a balance very few fishing/adventure writers manage to pull off, and this is why Babb's book is so precious.

The book takes us on a wide range of fishing adventures, but for at least the beginning of the book the author focuses on the brook trout streams of the eastern Tennessee mountains where he grew up. He does a nice job of explaining what exactly it means to be from eastern Tennessee, and why you can be proud of growing up there even though you are fully aware of all the shortcomings inherent in the region's people. He relates a lot of information about his family, including a particularly poignant chapter about going fishing with his fater for the last time, just before he passed away from lung cancer.

The other sections of the book take us to the usual fishing destinations included in these books, such as Cabo San Lucas, Scotland, and Canada. However, this is less a book of fishing travelogues, but one about people who fish, and who support those who fish. In this, it is a rich contribution to the bookshelf, and should be enjoyable to fishers and non-fishers alike.

One of the neater aspects of the book is the use of a quote to open each paragraph. I'll close with a particularly good one:
"His fishing was not a sport, nor solely a means of subsistence, but a sort of solemn sacrament and withdrawal from the world, just as the aged read their Bibles" (Thoreau)

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Good stories about fly fishing and the why of fly fishg.

[Darin L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent work.