Friday Fly-Fishing Film Festival 01.25.13

Welcome to another edition of the OrvisNews.com Friday Film Festival, in which we scour the Web for the best fly-fishing footage available. I’m off to New Jersey for the big Fly Fishing Show, which means you get your video fix a little early. Unfortunately, the folks at vimeo still don’t have their search function working properly, so I suspect that there are at least a couple of gems out there that I missed. If you know of any recent, killer videos that haven’t shown up in the F5, be sure to put a link in the comments. (Of course, every comment is another entry into our contest to win a pair of Silver Sonic Waders, too.)

This week’s collection has some of the most aesthetically pleasing footage we’ve seen in awhile, and a whole ton of steelhead. Strangely, our New Zealand pals have gone dark after a few weeks of providing great entertainment. No worries, though, because we’ve got videos from Canada, The Bahamas, Italy, and Finland, as well as a whole host of varied stuff from the Americas, North and South. Remember, we surf so you don’t have to. See you next week with a fresh set of films!

It’s no secret that Todd Moen, of Catch Magazine, is one of the best in the fly-fishing video business. Here’s a stunning trailer for his film “Fall Run,” which follows a pair of steelhead fanatics around the Pacific Northwest in search of wild fish.

The Swedes and Norwegians get a lot of love here in the F5, but we don’t get too many entries from Finland. This one from our Finnish angling brethren knocks it out of the park, though, with some stunning fish and cool camerawork.

Sure, come to the tropics! The weather is gorgeous! Not always, as this bonefishing adventure video shows. Luckily, the skies do clear and the ghost of the flats makes an appearance.

Some true winter steelheading goodness from our Canadian pals at Hooké. Although they’re from Quebec, they fly all the way to the other side of Canada to chase Fraser River chrome.

Tricos and blue-winged olives blanket the water in places during this late October 2012 float down the Bighorn River, and when there are no bugs, it’s streamer time.

Here’s a trailer for an upcoming film called “The Calico Syndicate,” about Southern California fly fishers who target calico bass in salt water. I know nothing about this fishery, and it’s awesome to get a view inside what seems to be a dynamic group of anglers.

Everyone loves salmonflies, right? Who couldn’t love a huge bug that draws monster fish to the surface? Here’s a brief, unique look at these prehistoric stoneflies along the Deschutes.

For a catch-and-release angler, that moment of letting the quarry go to fight again another day is a special one. This video focuses on many of those moments, with many species, across 2012. Plus, it’s flat-out beautiful to look at.

The stories that we tell our children mold them into the adults they become. So what do you tell them about an insane trip to BC for steelhead with your buddies? Of course, you can’t be sure the kid isn’t reading between the lines.

Here’s some Old World goodness from Italy, featuring some nice camerawork to capture a fish eating dry flies, as well as an angler’s approach. Gorgeous colors on those fish, as well.

This is a “show reel” for New Yorker Andrew Nibet. I love that little slo-mo touch with that big rainbow, and the quality of the picture and camerawork throughout are top notch.

From Norway comes a tale of a couple who bonds through fly fishing. This is actually a commercial for a new rod technology (note the handles), but the quality of images earned it inclusion here in the F5.

We’ve featured several videos from Outside Bend Productions, based in Oregon, and this 2012 wrap-up is fine stuff, indeed. The use of the music is especially impressive, not to mention the many sweet fish.

Finally, here’s a longish video about a very recent trip to the Rio Grande in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego to fish for sea-run brown trout. The scenery is stark, the wind is howling, and the takes are few and far between. But the fish! These are fish worth traveling to the bottom of the world to catch. Have a great weekend!