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 span the globe, from New Zealand to Iceland to Idaho. You’ll learn about interesting ways to get to the river, just how good tarpon fishing can be, and how fly fishing can be part of the healing process for cancer sufferers and survivors. As usual, our Swedish friends make an appearance and manage to have more fun than anyone else while catching big fish. There are plenty of great shots of big trout eating dry flies, as well as some sweet aerial tarpon action. This oughta get you pumped up for a long weekend on the water. Enjoy!
One day on Iceland – Fly fishing – frontsidefly.com from Rolf Nylinder on Vimeo.
The Frontside Fly boys are back with an older film, shot during a summer spent fishing in Iceland. (Can you imagine what a dream summer that would be?) It’s a story of one pool, three fish, and the journey from failure to redemption. Oh yeah, and some gorgeous Arctic char.
My only tarpon experience involved standing on the bow of a flats boat for three days, while 30-knot winds whipped the ocean’s surface to a froth. So it’s great to see an angler get two shots in just 15 minutes. There’s no fancy production or soundtrack here, just cinema-verite-style saltwater action.
Tasmania is known for its remarkable sight-fishing for large browns on the shallow lakes of the Central Highlands, but there’s lots more fishing on the Australian island state. This trailer for an upcoming film features everything from small-stream trout to big-lake bruisers, with several very cool surface “eat” shots.
Staying in the South Pacific, this video follows a couple of anglers on a mountain-biking expedition into the backcountry to find some unpressured trout water. The payoff? How about a 7-pound brown trout on a dry fly?
Wisconsin Fly Fishing Brown Trout Early Season from Arrowhead Fly Angler on Vimeo.
Classic Midwestern dry-fly fishing is on display in this video from Wisconsin. At about 2:08 mark, the filmmaker uses a cool inset closeup, so you can see both the angler making the cast and the fish eating the fly. And it’s a darned nice fish, to boot.
Early Box Canyon Opening. from TroutHunter on Vimeo.
Ever seen a driftboat towed by a snowmobile? Looks kind of fun. This year, for the first time, the box canyon on the Henrys Fork was open before Memorial Day, so some guides decided to check it out. The Johnny Cash sountrack puts this one over the top.
The healing powers of fly fishing are well documented at this point, and this video about Reel Recovery–an organization that hosts retreats for men suffering or recovering from cancer–does a great job of showing just how meaningful a couple days on the water can be for someone struggling with illness. You can find more information on the Reel Recovery homepage. Have a great weekend!