Welcome to the Black Friday edition of the OrvisNews.com Friday Film Festival, in which we scour the Web for the best fly-fishing footage available. Hopefully, you’re done with your Christmas shopping already, so you can sit back and enjoy the show. (That is, if you didn’t get pepper-sprayed by a “competitive shopper.”) This week’s collection offers plenty of hot action from the Southern Hemisphere, including a couple of countries that you might not think of as fly-fishing destinations or, in fact, you may never have heard of. There are also a couple of year-end wrap-ups that offer just the highlights from a great season, and a taste of summertime brownlining. All in all, it’s a great way to relax and recover from yesterday’s gut-buster. Remember, we surf so you don’t have to. But if you do stumble upon something great that you think is worthy of inclusion in a future FFF, please post it in the comments below. See you next week with a fresh set of films!
Here’s the first FFF entry to feature penguins! Great stuff from far southern Argentina, where anglers battle the wind for a chance to land giant sea-run browns on the Rio Gallegos.
Quick quiz: Where in the world is St. Brandon’s Atoll? Need a hint? It’s also known as Gargados Carajos Shoals. Still struggling? Okay, find Mauritius, in the south Indian Ocean. Now, go 260 miles northeast. There you go. Oh yeah, check out the killer fishing there in this video.
Endless days from columbus leth on Vimeo.
Here’s a beautiful rumination on the “true meaning” of fly fishing for Atlantic salmon from Danish photographer Columbus Leth. It’s less about trophy fish and more about the season, the weather, the landscape, and the camaraderie.
trout of 2011 from Yukon Goes Fishing on Vimeo.
Throughout the year, we’ve been following the adventures of Ivan, a graduate student in Montana who makes films under the name “Yukon Goes Fishing.” To wrap things up, here’s all the fish he’s caught on film in 2011.
Carp on the Fly from Julien Jarry on Vimeo.
When the trout rivers get too warm and the saltwater action hasn’t started, the minds of young anglers turn to carp. Here’s some East Coast brownwater action from late July.
Exmouth Fly Fishing – The ultimate saltwater destination from Krystal Vision Productions on Vimeo.
Here’s some great saltwater action from the other side of the world, on the western coast of the Land Down Under. Casting from shore or a boat, these fly fishers lay into some serious fish. . .some of which I can’t identify. (Any help you can offer in the comments much appreciated.)
Todd Moen of Catch Magazine makes some of the best fly-fishing films out there, and this trailer for the DVD collection shows some of his best footage.
Fly Fishing Cape Streams from Ferdi Kriel on Vimeo.
Finally, here’s some great stuff from South Africa, which offers great fly fishing that many Americans don’t know about. Have a great weekend!