Haunted by waters

Why does one fish? How should one properly fish? What relations are created in fishing? And what effects does fishing have on the future? Mark Browning explores these questions in his own fly-fishing apprenticeship and in his reading of angling literature, from the Bible to Norman Maclean. Again and again his inquiry returns to the enigmatic quality of this sport.

The fly fisher, it appears, is a divided and conflicted character. The literature reflects this in its melding of different traditions - an Old World legacy, represented by Izaak Walton and other British anglers, and such New World tributries as Native American tradition. Transcendentalism, and early writer of the of the conservation movement. Later writers including Norman Maclean, Nick Lyons, and John Gierach, question and extend the philosophical underpinnings of the angling art.

As Browning surveys the literature, his ongoing counterpoint is the story of his attempt to reconcile fishing and writing in his own life. These personal interludes enliven the literary tradition, which in turn enriches Browning's efforts at the keyboard and in the stream. Indeed, Browning concludes, writing and fly fishing are similar and symbiotic processes.