It’s at this point in the winter – fresh out of patience, the snow is still falling, and others are seeing their spring hatches already – that alternate forms of fly fishing seem more reasonable.

As in very alternate. As in squirrel fishing. (Found via Taunted by Waters, who probably knows from nuts, being as he largely is one)

What do the Undergrounders think? Acorn No-Hackle? Oak Emerger? Or simply a Royal Peanut attractor?

Technorati Tags: fly fishing for squirrels, winter fly fishing

Being as it doesn’t typically involve flaming racecars, swan dives from 15,000 feet or an association with politicians, it’s clear that fly fishing’s one of your safer sports – safer, even, than journalism…

Extra points for getting it together to sign off, but only a “B-” on the “That wasn’t a good idea” statement. That was a once-in-a-lifetime, on-camera opportunity to say something really memorable.

Like “Which of the three identical cameras should I be talking to?”

The Undergrounders, of course, will chime in with their own suggestions….

(Tip of the hat to Alert Underground Reader & Blogger Outdooress)

Technorati Tags: Friday viewing, reporter flattened

Basically, you can’t swing a dead trout over your head without hitting one of the “new breed” of fly fishing videographers, and a yes – a large number of them hope to make a living shooting whatever the hell they want.

Traditionally, that’s a recipe for fiscal ruin for all but a gifted few (ask all the Gierach-wannabes who tried to write their way into trout-bum-hood).

Still, for those willing to soil their artistic sensibilities in the service of commerce, opportunities abound – especially for those who realize the world is not all that interested in watching them fly fish.

Email was the Internet’s first “killer app” (both on a personal and commercial level), but the world continues to spin, and in this case, it’s spinning towards video becoming the “next” killer app.

That’s why I’m not surprised to see commercial videos embedded in Catch Magazine, or even this interesting-looking episodic video sponsored by outdoor gear manufacturer ARC’TERYX and the New Belgian brewery:

You’re looking at episode one of The Season – a series of videos following the lives of five outdoor athletes for one season.

Despite a somewhat ponderous start to the first video, the series appears genuinely interesting; it’s more documentary than music video, and because the videographer isn’t part of the narrative, there’s little incentive to posture or sink into the climbing/kayaking/mountain biking/snowboarding equivalent of fish porn.

In other words, it’s a beautifully shot video about people doing what they love. And perhaps a model for some erstwhile video entrepreneur in fly fishing.

In this economic climate, I’m betting fly fishing’s manufacturers are largely unwilling to fund more epic, chest-beating fish porn adventures in return for a superimposed logo in the opening and closing credits.

Is The Season a look into the future of outdoor video – one that lives at the intersection of art & commerce?

Undergrounders, discuss…

Technorati Tags: arc'teryx, fly fishing video, no more fish porn, outdoor video, the dirtbag diaries, the season

It’s almost Friday, so it’s time for what we’ll call More Weird Fly Fishing Shit.

This raptastic fish video came to us via the now “all art, all the time” Way Upstream blog.

As always, the Undergrounders are granted Right of First Comment.

Technorati Tags: trout rap video, trout video, yo fisch

Anyone who has ever taken someone fly fishing for money will suffer from Post Traumatic Guide-Related Stress Flashbacks after viewing this video. (Better put that crisis counselor on speed dial.)

Those with common sense, disgust for those who mistake a chipmunk for a rattlesnake, or a weak stomach may want to turn away.

Technorati Tags: Fly Fishing, fly fishing guide, fly fishing video

Let’s be clear; I’m not endorsing the video advertised in the following trailer as much as recognizing its existence, though I am wondering just how bad America’s drug problem has become.

Still…

A fly fishing comedy short (isn’t that redundant)? Remember, telling us it’s comedy does not make it a reality (dieing is easy, it’s funny that’s hard), but because we love comedy at the Underground (which explains a lot about my life), we’ll wait for the movie.

The makers themselves have this to say (and yes, the all-caps stuff is theirs):

GO WEST TV IS A NEW FLY FISHING COMEDY THAT WILL BE FEATURED ON THE FLY FISHING FILM TOUR. (http://www.flyfishingfilmtour.com/ ) THIS YEAR. IT IS A SHORT FILM ABOUT 2 GUYS THAT GREW UP FLY FISHING THE FRONT RANGE OF COLORADO. TWO OF THEM ARE COMEDIANS!

For now, we admit that parts of the trailer made us laugh – but many others left even the comedy-friendly Wonderdog (wag, wag) cringing. Which is it going to be when the popcorn’s eaten and the lights come up?

See you in the screening room, Tom Chandler.

Technorati Tags: fly fishing comedy, fly fishing tragedy, fly fishing video, tragic fly fishing comedy

It’s Norman Maclean’s birthday, and while the erstwhile author of “A River Runs Through It” is no longer with us, his seminal novella – which then became a Robert Redford movie credited (or blamed, depending on your viewpoint) with sparking fly fishing’s rapid growth in the 90s.

In a sense, Maclean’s work sorta runs through fly fishing’s zeitgeist, and it’s difficult to ignore that reality – at least on one particular writer’s birthday.

Technorati Tags: a river runs through it, norman maclean, the movie

In what may be the only non-Tiger Woods related article on the Internet, the Underground can’t help but notice that kids are fly fishing’s hottest properties right now.

That may be because the Underground’s suddenly very familiar with the needs of tiny, diaper-clad tax write-offs, and besides – when you receive an email from Fanny Krieger, you tend to notice.

Fannie’s the wife of the much-loved-and-sadly-departed Mel Krieger, and she’s launching a new DVD project called “Tomorrow’s Fly Fishers.” Because we’re currently suckers for kid stuff (and who doesn’t love Fannie), we’re embedding the video’s trailer.

It includes notables like Fanny herself, Rachel Andras, Tim Rajeff, Lori-Ann Murphy and yes – the Krieger grandchildren (a family gig then).

It’s about as far from today’s “extreme” fish porn videos as you can get, though we leave it to our readers to decide the suitably of showing your own kid graphic footage of children nymphing. Just warning you is all.

Those with an interest can buy the goodies at Fannie’s Web site.

Olive the Wooly Bugger

If you’re on the kid track, don’t forget to take a look at the Olive the Wooly Bugger books, which feature one of the world’s most-beloved streamer patterns romping through adventure after adventure, though we’re distressed that dry flies are portrayed as being shallow and elitest in one of the books – a charge we vehemently deny.

We missed this one some time ago, but wanted to give them a mention.

See you in the diaper aisle, Tom Chandler.

Found via one of those time-wasting wretches at Buster Wants to Fish (we’re pretty sure it was that Salty bastard), comes this – the cleanest example yet of Technology Put To Its Highest Possible Use Making Our Fly Fishing Lives Better:

Technorati Tags: bait fishing, flossing fish, Fly Fishing, fly fishing video

The Underground’s always up for a good spoof, and this one – sent to us by Alert Underground Reader Andrew (if that is his real name) – is short, but amusing. As an added FREE BONUS VIDEO, we’re including another spoof – this one at LLBean’s expense (no nasty emails please):

Let’s hope LLBean has better sense of humor than they do a legal department:

African-American Boycott of L.L. Bean Enters 80th Year

As always, pretentious, overblown film critiques welcome in the comments section (pinkys up!).

Technorati Tags: bonefishing, fly fishing spoof, fly fishing video, llbean, spoof video, the onion

I couldn’t resist posting this time lapse video of the northern lights – brought to us courtesy National Geographic.

I’ve never seen the northern lights in person, and until I do, I vow to remain suspicious. They appear too otherworldly to be real, and therefore may be a giant hoax being perpetrated on me by everyone else on the planet (tell me you haven’t had the exact same thought).

Technorati Tags: national geographic, northern lights

“Fishing’s hard” most fly fishermen will tell you (typically after a fruitless day on the water).

“Fish are cagey things, though I would have caught lots today if I’d only had an extra hundred meters of 9x tippet, a higher modulus rod, better wading boots, and a bigger lunch.”

Oh yeah. They’re smart. So smart, in fact, that tiny little girls can catch them with their bare hands:

Hang your heads in shame, Undergrounders. A little girl in water wings and a “My Little Pony” swimsuit owns you.

p.s. – if you want to feel better about yourself and life in general, we’re throwing you a bone (ark ark) – the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit video (where the models are certainly not wearing My Little Pony swimsuits):

Technorati Tags: fly fishermen are yutzes, sports illustrated swimsuit video, swimsuit issue

Hustle & Fish is filmmaker Steve Apple’s second fly fishing movie, and it delivers handily on the promise of the first.

Stick around – you’ll want to know more.

Fishizzle – Steve Apple’s first fly fishing movie – showed plenty of promise (but lacked polish), but his latest effort – Hustle & Fish – offers us a glimpse of a fly fishing movie far removed from the simple fish porn formulas now occupying the mainstream.

“Hustle and Fish” Trailer V1 from Rollcast Productions on Vimeo.

The first half of Hustle & Fish feels like extended autobiographical sketch comedy that – simply put – shines.

In simple terms, Apple wants to fly fish – and thinks making fly fishing movies is his ticket to that future.

Sadly, he’s confronted by a world (including his girlfriend, parents & friends) that thinks he’s crazy.

In the wrong hands, the story could easily end up flopping on the bank, but Apple handles the the subject with a deadpan charm, imbuing some of the quieter moments with a dry wit you might miss the first time through.

Using amateur actors, Apple plows through the story of a young fly fishermen at a life-sized turning point, and while the scenes with his parents and friends are funny, Hustle & Fish really hits its stride when it turns it lens on the fly fishing industry – the caricatures of fly shop employees land hard, and yes – made me laugh out loud.

And yes, the return of fictional Fishizzle character and irritating informercialist Al Braughtinwood – who now makes and sells “Extreme” fly fishing videos – is a highlight.

I can only guess at the real targets of Apple’s send-up of Braughtinwood’s “extreme” fly fishing video series, but the fictional commercials are hilarious; the irritating Braughtinwood combines muscle cars, women, and fishermen kneeing each other in the crotch to sell his videos.

Like all good satirical characters, Braughtinwood looks and acts just lifelike enough to maintain the pretense of reality; his appearances are hilarious, barely grazing the border between satire and cartoonish.

Hustle & Fish’s lead character is confounded by those who love Braughtinwood’s trashy “extreme” videos – even his father watches the wretched things.

In short, the first half of Apple’s Hustle & Fish delivers handily on the promise of Fishizzle, offering us a satirical (and far more human) look at the fly fishing life.

Simply put, I was impressed as hell.

Unfortunately, the movie eventually falters; Apple largely breaks with the endearing, funny-as-hell satire of the first half, opting instead for long sequences of fish porn and guide hijinks.

Yes, it’s gorgeous, well-done fish porn – and lacks the egocentric posturing that often blights the genre – but feels a little schizophrenic when contrasted with Apple’s earlier story line.

The videography is excellent, but like most fish porn, it’s a collection of pretty pictures largely lacking insight or vision, and Apple’s reliance on slow-motion video for almost every river scene eventually wears thin.

The movie wraps up nicely, and yes – if you’re waiting for me to say it, I will – Hustle & Fish is definitely worth owning.

The soundtrack (mostly up-and-coming independent bands) is excellent, and the editing is professional (though the overbearing fly fishing product placements played havoc with several scenes – the product of an independent filmmaker dependent on manufacturers for funding).

Yes – if I were Absolute Ruler of the Video Universe, I’d tell Apple to go back and finish his movie in the style he started it, creating fly fishing’s equivalent of This is Spinal Tap – the famous rock & roll “mockumentary” that changed the way we viewed both rock & roll bands and documentaries.

And yes, It’s likely a large chunk of Apple’s target audience is going to love Hustle & Fish’s fish porn sequences, so I’m going to give Hustle & Fish four fins (out of five) – largely for Steve Apple’s willingness to extend the somewhat rootbound fly fishing video genre.

In many ways, it’s a groundbreaking fly fishing video, and I suspect a bit of a wakeup call for others working in the genre. It’s also one of a small handful of fly fishing videos I’ll bother to keep.

See you in the cinema, Tom Chandler.

Technorati Tags: fish porn, fishizzle, Fly Fishing, fly fishing movie, fly fishing video, hustle & fish, hustle and fish, rollcast productions, spinal tap, steve apple

It’s tax day, and as pick-me-up for the Undergrounders who are sending Uncle Sam the equivalent of a couple fly rods, we’re reporting on yet another hot-looking video trailer that’s crossed the Underground’s desk. This one’s called Once in a Blue Moon, and it’s set in New Zealand during “mouse” season:

Once in a Blue Moon 60sec promo from Bumcast on Vimeo.

Interesting stuff (great soundtrack), but we gotta ask: how does an industry that can’t quite cover the marketing basics support a movie that includes helicopter time? Just asking is all.

Technorati Tags: brown trout, fishing, Fly Fishing, fly fishing video, movie, new zealand