ROCKPORT — George’s River chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU) is will kick off its 2023-24 presentation series with an evening with James R. Babb, lifelong angler, celebrated fly fishing author and editor emeritus of Gray’s Sporting Journal, October 16 in Rockport. The topic will be small-stream trout fishing – the tackle, the techniques, the tactics, and, more importantly, Why? Be prepared to ask questions.

Babb was born and raised a fly-fisherman in the East Tennessee hills and moved to Waldo County Maine in 1972 after reading too much Thoreau. He has worked variously as a truck driver, lobster fisherman, newspaper reporter, magazine columnist, and an editor of seafaring and outdoors books for McGraw-Hill, W.W. Norton, and The Lyons Press. In 1995 he began writing the angling column for Gray’s Sporting Journal, and in 1996 became Gray’s editor. He retired in 2016, having found Work interferes with Fishing.

Library Journal called his first book, Crosscurrents, “the best fly fishing book of the year.” The British Wild Trout Trust named it to their Top 100 fly-fishing books of the 20th century. Publisher’s Weekly wrote that his second book, River Music, “positions Babb as fly fishing’s tastefully restrained counterpart to Dave Barry.” Kirkus Reviews wrote that, “His ability to evoke the woodlands of Maine in May—the movements of the animals, the quality of the air, the clear song of the white-throated sparrow—ranks him with some of the best nature-writers in print.” Booklist says his third book, Fly-Fishin’ Fool, “brings an Algonquin Round-table like camaraderie” to his friends and their fishing trips.

Trout Unlimited is a nonprofit organization with a mission dedicated to conserve, protect and restore North America's cold water fisheries and their watersheds.

The GRTU meeting October 16 will be held upstairs in the fly shop at Maine Sport in Rockport. The meeting will start at 6 p.m. with “Trout Talk,” an informal gathering for those who wish to visit before the presentation. Pizza is available for purchase by the slice.

The formal meeting and featured presentation begin at 7 p.m. GRTU conducts a raffle directly following the speaker.

TU membership is open to all. GRTU meetings are free and open to the public.

Visit GRTU on Facebook, or online at www.georgesrivertu.org.