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Welcome to another edition of the OrvisNews.com Friday Film Festival, in which we scour the Internets for the best fly-fishing footage available. This week, we offer some fine videos from destinations as diverse as Sweden, Argentina, Costa Rica, and Yellowstone National Park. You may also see an angler casting to a species you never thought of as fly-rod quarry. Enjoy!
I have always had an anti-whooping policy when fly fishing. I came to hate the celebratory whoop during my time as a fly-fishing guide, when it seemed to me that too many of my clients whooped for the benefit of their fishing buddies–as a way to say, “Look at me!” This great video of a single fish caught on a dry fly, however, has redeemed the whoop. There is simply no mistaking the angler’s reaction as anything but sheer joy.
Most fly fishermen really love trout, but not like Mike Kasic loves trout. This isn’t a fly-fishing video, per se, but anyone who loves the Yellowstone River–or who dreams of fishing there–will appreciate the wonders of the trout’s world shown here.
This trailer for an upcoming film called “Big Fish Patagonia” (subtle, no?) offers great footage of stillwater angling with huge dry flies. Casting damselfly patterns to trout cruising the flats looks like a lot of fun…and perhaps is not as easy as it might seem at first glance, as evidenced by the last strike.
The Costa Rica Challenge from N.S.A. on Vimeo.
Here’s another trailer, this time for a film called “The Costa Rica Challenge,” in which a group of five fishing buddies attempts to catch three species of saltwater fish in 36 hours. The kicker is that they have to hit both coasts of the Central American nation to do so. The fly-fishing-movie trailer has become an art form in itself, and this one is a winner.
Fly fishermen spend a lot of time fawning over the aesthetics of trout, but we rarely spend time exploring the strange beauty of the bugs we try to imitate. The Hendrickson nymphs in this video are mesmerizing, and the emerging adult exhibits a dainty lovliness that might make you almost sad to see it eaten by a trout. Almost.
Okay, let’s start with the caveats: what these guys are doing at the beginning of this video is stupid and dangerous. It may also violate game-harassment laws. (It reminds one of our previous post on non-fish fly-rod catches.) Do not try this at home. But once they get to the actual fishing, they do a wonderful job of capturing the pleasure that comes from catching a beautiful brown trout on a dry fly. You may recognize them as the same dudes from the top video; this is the first time we’ve had two videos by the same filmmakers in one festival, but I liked them so much I couldn’t resist. Have a great weekend!