HIGH IN THE LOWLANDS: 2010 WorldANGLING / fliesandfins feature

In the past, Dave and I tried hard to get people excited about fly fishing.  Our goal was to make the audience feel what we feel every time we head out on the flats.  The final result was a high action, high intensity, visual montage with hard hitting music to convey the emotion.  Needless to say, it got lots of anglers out there fired up, and it was a blast to create!  But then there were the nay-Sayers, the grumps that didn’t like what we were doing to their sport, didn’t like the attitude, and called our films porn.  Great!  Everybody has to start somewhere and lots of folks in Hollywood began in the porn industry.  Dave and I didn’t go to school for film, we barely knew how to run a camera when we started, but we were tired of the same old crap that failed to communicate what fishing was really about to us.  So, we tried harder than we’ve ever tried at anything to make films that showed how much fun you can have with a fly rod living the life of a saltwater fish bum.

After a while though, we knew we’d have to grow up.  If we wanted to be part of the Fly Fishing Film Tour and call ourselves film makers, we’d have to create an actual film with an actual story.  So, I began reading Peter Matthiessen’s Shadow Country… the ultimate story about the Everglades to find inspiration.  Dave and I wanted to make a story about something meaningful, something bold and powerful, something that really drove to the core of what fly fishing is for us.  We wanted to tell a rich and complex story about the everglades history, the indians, the animals that live there, especially the fish, and why we were there.  We wanted to talk about Robber Barrons, drug smugglers and fisher folk, the birth of saltwater angling in the Everglades… and we really wanted to make the connection, to equate ourselves and fly fishing with them.  We wanted to use words like narrow creek system, jagged branches, nooks and crannies, hidden shadows, gator filled swamps, mosquito infested lagoons, and labyrinth mangrove mazes.  We would paint our picture with every detail and ultimately transcend the human drama and reveal the Zen of flyfishing.  The Discovery Channel would be envious, and National Geographic would weep, and our critics would be silenced.  At the end, we would close with a glorious aerial shot and a narrative that summarized 1,000 years of history, the deepest meaning of fishing and the symbolism behind our adventure deep into the soul of the Shadow Country.
Problem was, we were two dudes and a laptop, and neither one of us could even come close to saying all that, much less shoot it, edit it and deliver it in one month.  I wasn’t Peter Matthiessen, and Dave wasn’t Spielburg.  We didn’t have Pixar or Industrial Light and Magic to digitally enhance our snook.  Really, all we had was 2 broken cameras, a skiff that Hell’s Bay lent to us, a couple of Loop fly rods, and a bunch of our best friends that were always down for an adventure.  But, off we went… a procession of flats boats headed south into the Everglades to camp and fish for a week, and with any luck, make movie magic on the sands of Turkey Key.
Fast forward two weeks, Dave and I are in the editing Studio we call the Rat-hole, looking over our masterpiece…Every film maker has at one point had to come to terms with seeing themselves on camera for the first time and it is a very, very  painful process.  So there we were,  realizing for the first time, that we completely and utterly sucked!  Everything we said was basically garbage!  But… therein lies the truth, and once you come to realize it, it’s hysterical.  You’ve never laughed so hard, cried at yourself with the understanding that nothing that you want to say is good, and that nobody cares. Really, the only thing that is of real importance is that we like to fish, that fishing is exciting, and that we just want to do more!
Suddenly we had it.  There is was right in front of us.  What we were trying to get at is that we love to fish, we get our stoke from fishing and that everyone else has there own reason .  That’s the story.  Fishing is what gives us that rush, that high, if you will, and for whatever reason, it’s what we’ve devoted our lives to doing.  Now, maybe the critics won’t agree, but, I bet, for those that fish, they’ll get it.  With that…WorldANGLING and fliesandfins give you High In The Lowlands!

Florida Fish Kill: Tons Of Hope, One Of My Best Days Fishing EVER!

A lot of people have heard, some haven’t, some care, and others don’t give a shit.  A couple weeks ago we had an unusual weather event that cooled our water down to levels that were too low for certain fish like snook tarpon, and bonefish to survive.  I was unable to go out and witness the carnage first hand because I was in the rathole finishing up our video for the fly fishing film tour this year.  Most of my friends (guides) were ultra-depressed and all doom and gloom about the scenario, but everyone was aware that this kind of thing happens.  Thousands of fish died.  Big hit to the fishery.

Or is it?  What percentage of our winter resident snook and tarpon actually died?  It seems like nobody really knows.  Over the last few days we have heard that some biologists and scientist types have been booking up days with Everglades fishing guides to assess the damage.  It looks like it was a serious enough event to require professional interaction.  I can’t wait to find out.

In the meantime all we can do is come to our own conclusions.  Most of the initial talk on the internet is very negative.  Things like “we didn’t find any life” or “all we saw was a lot of dead fish”.  Now don’t get me wrong there has been a bunch of good things posted, but none really good enough to really offset the bad vibe.  Until now…

I’m not going to get into the details of it, but 5 days after I finished editing a part of our new movie about the best snook (fish) of my life, I go out fishing once, when the fishing is supposedy as bad as it has ever been, and catch a snook that was better than the one I just spent all this time trying to tell about.  The fish was a bit longer, and probably weighed about the same, but none of that is what it is even about.  Its got nothing to do with even catching the fish.  What it is about is hope.  Now granted these fish are down, been beaten up, some to death, and are very vulnerable (a perfect time to actually stand a chance with a fly rod), and I will honestly say that I went out looking to kick something big while it was down.  But in the process of catching and releasing her, great respect was paid not to wear her down too bad and to make sure she swam off exactly how we found her.  And she did.  It was at that moment that Jeff and I realized how symbolic it was.  At a time when many lost all hope, there was still a trophy out there willing to eat my stupid little fly and prove to all of us that it is FAR FROM OVER!

Everglades Fall Fly Fishing: Snook, Redfish, Tarpon, Albies, more…

Our Fly Fishing Film Tour project is coming down to the wire.  We have just shy of 6 weeks left to turn it in, and are getting ready for quite possibly the best two weeks of our lives.  Will, the Bear, and a few others are on there way to Everglades City as I type this, to hook up with Jeff and I for our last main shoot of the year.  Our plan (what there is of one) is to head out into the everglades and explore deeper than any of us have ever been before.  We have a boat for just about every situation we will encounter, and aren’t afraid to use them…  If you see a caravan of Hell’s Bay Whiprays or a tiny boat that you don’t recognize (Skate) in the park over the next couple weeks, it’s probably us.  Feel free to stop by and see whats going on.

The fishing recently has been nothing short of spectacular.  With the warmer than usual weather and light winds, we have had no issues finding fish to throw at.  The redfish have been where they should be.  Snook have started to move into their backcountry haunts.  Tarpon have been laying up on the calmest days.  And when the tide has been too high to sightfish, the albie (bonito) bite off the beaches has been on fire.

Fly Fishing Film Tour 2010: Everglades Video In The Works

Here we go again.  It is that time of the year for us to start readying our piece for the Fly Fishing Film Tour for next year.  We’ve decided that this year we are going to showcase one of the most unique fisheries in the world, the Everglades.  We have been filming this piece for the last couple years, and are making a hard push to complete it over the next 3 months.  The fall/winter fishing in SW Florida is some of the best of the year.  There are some big tarpon around still, but that is not our main objective.  We are looking to showcase the incredible shallow water sight fishing opportunities that the low fall tides present.

Snook and redfish thrive in the Everglades, and as the weather cools, these fish start to move around and look for shallow pockets of warmer water.  This movement gives fly fishermen and those who prefer to sight fish opportunities to have multiple fish days in mere inches of water, and us the opportunity to show the world that our backyard here in the Everglades is worth checking out.  If you really like “the hunt” of shallow water fly fishing than you’ll love our next video, as well as the Everglades winter fishery.  Keep checking our blog for updates and highlights of our adventure as it unfolds.

NOTE: There are a few partnership opportunities still available.  Would your company or organization like representation on the Fly Fishing Film Tour, and exposure in the saltwater market space?  If so, contact us to see how we can help.

2009 Drake Magazine Video Awards: The Saving Grace of FFR

shitcast

Lets have some fun…The picture is of Andy Mill and some dude eyeballing one of Will’s not so best casts.  I wonder what he is saying?  Help us figure it out.  Click on the gallery, save the original file, run it through your favorite image editor, and fill in the blank.  Then email it to shitcast@worldangling.com with the subject line “shitcast”.  The best quote winner will be announced if anyone actually plays.  Winner gets nothing, unless someone has something to give the winner, then they’ll get that.

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The forth annual Drake Magazine Video Awards concluded the other night with SLAM sharing the “Best Fishing Video” with our friend R.A.Beattie’s video: Dank.  We opened the show to tremendous fan fare as the crowd held on to every clip.  The emotion climaxed when the audience reeled back as I slammed my face into the casting platform on the south side of the Marquesas.  Yes that was me, Yes it hurt, but No, that’s not real blood.  There were some really great films this year as the quality seems to be getting better and better.  Noticeably absent was Felt Soul Media, as new-commers On The Fly took home the honors of “Best Overall” for their film Once In  Blue Moon.  I believe that Mikey Weir and Brian O’keefe were also in the winners circle for “Best Story” and “Best Cinematography”.  I might be wrong however as Tom Bie made good on his promise of free beer.  I was pretty pumped and they were going down fast while I watched from the Scott Fly Rods section on the upper level.  Obviously, I want to thank the other film makers for their efforts in getting their videos together for the show.  This event would not be possible without artists like yourselves putting in an amazing amount of time and hard work to make it happen.  Similarly, many thanks to Cloudveil, Yellow Dog, Scott, Smith, Scholler, SA, Hatch and New Belgium for sponsoring this event.  I also want to thank Oakley for hooking us up with some new shades, and Craig C. at Vanstaal for being the coolest dude ever and hooking us up with his badass reels.  But most of all, I want to thank The Drake, our loyal fans, and those who showed up, for being really, really loud when our film was playing!  All in all, it was great to get out to Denver and see everyone again. We will be looking forward to the  Fly Fishing Film Tour early next year, and some much needed time off in the southern hemisphere.