“Fly-Fishing is about what Schaberg calls small-fishing—the kind done close to home for species that don’t necessarily make the glamour list. But like this deceptively simple pursuit, the book itself is much deeper and more layered than the humble title might indicate. With beautiful descriptive language and plenty of introspection, Schaberg’s story is about more than just fishing—it’s about time, the world, and our place in both.” - Dylan Tomine, author of Headwaters: The Adventures, Obsession, and Evolution of a Fly Fisherman
“Fusing memoir and reflection, Schaberg’s lovely book meanders like a treasured northwoods stream through themes of friendship, loss, and wonder. Here, often hip-deep with the narrator in a hidden lake surrounded by cattails, we become tuned ‘into things beyond [us]—and not to master them but to merely coexist here.’” - Chris Dombrowski, author of The River You Touch: Making a Life on Moving Water
"[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
