The Watery Rave

The first three weeks of the 2012 Costa Fly Fishing Film Tour have been a blur of bodies, beer cans rolling down the aisles and people standing with their noses pressed to the glass of the ticket booth like a dog left in the car. The last seven shows have been sellouts, leaving people cursing in the streets and offering up their girlfriend’s sister for an extra ticket. For now, the most plausible strategy for entrance into a sold-out venue has been to offer to stand in the back row during the film and hump the recyclables out to the trash afterwards, but that doesn’t work if the beer pours by the pitcher.

P.S. If you get locked out of a ticket to the show because you didn’t purchase one in advance, don’t send nasty e-mails to the show management. Instead, put your efforts into getting a larger theatre built in your town so that next year you can be a last-minute balcony refugee. And if you know you’re showing up late to a sold-out show with no tickets…bring a chair! Maybe you’ll get a sympathy seat next to the garbage can or down in front where you can stretch your neck back and get up close and personal to the “takes” in Technicolor.

A good example of the audience appeal was seen in Missoula, Montana last week where 1,100 people paid hard American cash money to prove they were nail-knotted to the soul of the sport. True, Missoula is a fishing town, but five years ago the Costa Fly Fishing Film tour played on the college campus and was out-sold by dress your cat and dog in disco attire night at the local roller rink.

There are a lot of theories for their year’s success of the Costa Fly Fishing Film Tour—repeat venues, nothing else to do in a snow storm, playing the odds that someone sitting in your aisle will be smoking high-grade marijuana and the pass down will come your way—but most likely it’s a combination of the show networking with the local fly shops and the lineup of great films. With a solid combination of salt and fresh, documentary, storyline and humor, the films are once again proof positive that fish bums can support their Jones’ by adding the term “film editor,” “producer” or “grip/lackey” to their resumes and get an entire crowd to cheer their efforts.

Keep in mind that this year’s tour is working closely with the local fly shops, so securing a ticket is as easy as sliding in for a look at the wading boots in the sale rack, griping to the employees about chick’s hair fashion sucking up all the good hackles and handing your plastic to the Patagonia mannequin behind the counter. Some of the shops are even offering discounted tickets, so you can justify grabbing a pack of #24 hooks and a bottle of Hard As Hull.

If this is your first year to see the show, don’t be surprised by the rowdy atmosphere or you’ll end up sticking out like a nympher at a tent revival. The tones of films like Doc of the Drakes—where a retired surgeon severe Parkinson’s disease and his guide put their passion into tossing up airballs on Silver Creek, while you revel in the passion and soul of the sport one minute and then want to buy the guide a beer in the next as this emotional rollercoaster takes you from irreverent respect to full-blown Kiss concert.

Then there’s the GeoFish Belize film where one of the Mayan bush guides is in constant stupor while a handful of gringos try to find their way in and out of a salt marsh while not becoming a meal or host to any interstitial parasites. At the same time, they try to catch fish.

From Arctic char big enough to take down a grizzly cub to bonefish the size of bonito, there’s a film in the mix that will poke your medulla oblongata and stifle that nervous twitch you get when a dozen shadows are swimming your way. So check out the schedule, put the date in your calendar and make plans to visit your local fly shop soon, or you can be one of the people in the line with your nose against the ticket booth window pointing at your girlfriend’s sister.

The rest of the February FT3 Tour calendar rolls out like this:

2/17                 Stargazers Theater, Colorado Springs, CO

2/17                 The Emerson, Bozeman, MT

2/22                 The Egyptian Theatre, Boise, ID

2/23                 Sun Valley Opera House, Sun Valley, ID

2/25                 Rio Raft Resort, Canyon Lake, TX

2/25                 Taunton Inn And Conference Center, Taunton, MA

2/25                 The Depot, Salt Lake City, UT

2/28                 Wheeler Opera House, Aspen, CO

2/28                 Fox Theatre, Redwood City, CA

2/29                 Galaxy Theater, Gig Harbor, WA

2/29                 Lincolin Center, Fort Collins, CO

2/29                 24^th Street Theater, Sacramento, CA

What better location than Southern California for fly fishing’s version of the surf flick to kick off their 2012 tour? The Majestic Ventura Theatre has seen Jim Morrison recite poetry, John Doe of X sing country songs and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy introduce the theme song for the sitcom Third Rock From The Sun, so it’s no surprise that it should host the rebellious stokomoto of cinematic piscatorial pursuits that is the Fly Fishing Film Tour.

Long rodders are a different breed of angler much like the serial killer of murder one convictions, an ambiguous thinker completely focused on the effort of getting an animal with a brain the size of a pea to eat a hand-tied mimicry of thread and feathers. Among this crowd of social anarchists and public access activists are the filmmakers that document the adventures of these unemployed and psychologically misfit anglers and their attempts to share the unfettered grandeur of fishing locations around the globe.

This year’s film line-up includes: Reverb, by Third Year Fly Fisher; Sipping Dry, by Sharptail Media; Fly a legacy, by Ronnie B. Goodwin; Doc of the Drakes, By Bryan Huskey; Hatch, by Gin Clear Media; Clearly B.C.—Fall Bullies, by Todd Moen; The Kodiak Project, by LDR Media; Geofish—A Mayan Prophecy, by MOTIV and two minor league films to be named later.

In essence, these film clips capture the soul of the machine and the interaction with nature that leaves that lasting memory deep within the medulla and forces a random smile when reminiscing the trip. So hop on, get off, sit back, free your mind and be prepared to hoot and whistle at some of the most spectacular fly fishing moments every caught on film.*

From Ventura, F3T takes a noticeable cold weather swing through the home of the western trout goof, utilizing the indio film marketing strategy of “it’s too cold to fish, but we’ll give you a reason to drink beer.” So if you’re stuck in the cold and looking to revive your soul in the next month, find a venue near you from the list below.

*Warning: Viewing the 2012 Fly Fishing Film Tour can lead to lost wages, divorce, animal cruelty, bouts of irresponsibility, trench foot, binge drinking, irritable bowel syndrome, shack nasties, chain smoking cannabis, pick-up camper sales, endurance fly tying, halitosis, an effort to corner the market on fly tackle, feather lung disease, hairy palms, an all-around rebellious attitude, saltwater envy and the need to walk up to pretty women and ask, “If I told you you had a nice body would you hold it against me?”

Date                Location

1/26                 The Majestic Ventura Theater, Ventura, CA

1/28                 Art Theatre of Long Beach, Long Beach, CA

1/28                 Oriental Theater, Denver, CO

2/1                   Tower Theatre, Bend OR

2/3                   McMenamis Bagdad Theater, Portland, OR

2/4                   Leura Hill Eastman Performing Arts Center, Fryeburg, ME

2/6                   SIFF Cinema Uptown 1, Seattle, WA

2/6                   Gillis Theater, Lexington, VA

2/8                   Bing Crosby Theater, Spokane, WA

2/10                 The Wilma, Missoula, MT

2/15                 Babcock Theatre, Billings, MT

2/17                 Stargazers Theater, Colorado Springs, CO

2/17                 The Emerson, Bozeman, MT

2/22                 The Egyptian Theatre, Boise, ID

2/23                 Sun Valley Opera House, Sun Valley, ID

2/25                 Rio Raft Resort, Canyon Lake, TX

2/25                 Taunton Inn And Conference Center, Taunton, MA

2/25                 The Depot, Salt Lake City, UT

2/28                 Wheeler Opera House, Aspen, CO

2/28                 Fox Theatre, Redwood City, CA

2/29                 Galaxy Theater, Gig Harbor, WA

2/29                 Lincolin Center, Fort Collins, CO

2/29                 24^th Street Theater, Sacramento, CA

When not stage diving or finding an axe to grind, these three members of the 80s and 90s Chicago punk band scene were usually too drunk to snap a piece off, but that was common during the operational medley of fight, play music or drink yourself blind. Unbeknownst to their fans, given a choice of those options, fishing took precedent and the Driftless area of Wisconsin was their fix.

They certainly aren’t the Violent Femmes or even Die Kreuzen, but when these three post mortem members of Naked Raygun, Bhopal Stiffs and Rights of the Accused leave the scene of Mutiny or the Liars Club, they hit the water ass deep in waders and San Juan Worms. While on the road with Pegboy, Larry Damore and Joe Haggarty work their backcasts, while Herb Rosen makes an appearance and occasional beer run.

Reverb: A Punk Rock Love Story is just one of the new film clips traveling the indie theatre scene in the 2012 Fly Fishing Film Tour by Costa, and if the initial booking of 125 venues is any indication this year’s tour will be riding the tide of enthusiasm from previous tours. Back again for a ride across the nation are the party atmosphere, the giveaways, the films that reach out and touch your soul and the drunk female audience that says she can, “out row all you skinny-assed mofo’s.”

This year’s tour includes films from the perennial fly fishing destinations like Montana, Florida, Idaho and the Gulf of Mexico—numbers three to six on your bucket list right after “Get a job and Buy a car.” Along with the local color are the traveling angler du jour opportunities in the Bahamas, Belize, New Zealand and Canada (AKA France lite).

Every film segment tells its own unique story, from a surgeon with Parkinson’s disease sampling Ernest Hemmingway’s less than sober fishing favorites to the high-tension drama that is the life of aquatically consumed insects, you know that the bug is going down in funky town. And don’t sweat the drunk chick, she’s just pissed she had to leave her dog outside.

The 2012 Fly Fishing Film Tour kicks off with a west coast swing starting January 26, at The Majestic Ventura Theatre in Ventura, California.For more information on the 2012 Fly Fishing Film Tour, the schedule, or to purchase tickets, view movie trailers and get a general idea if you’re going to be a misfit in the crowd, visit their website at www.theF3T.com.

The 2011 Fly Fishing Film Tour has met with crazy success, and a 40 percent growth in attendance, of which 26 percent were females and 74 percent troglodytes. This year’s tour stopped at 110 different locations and included many pre-event parties at local fly shops, which gave people new to the sport the opportunity to learn more about their local fishing opportunities and to manhandle some of the newest toys on the market.

Interesting facts borne through personal information cards filled out at each event include the mean age of the attendee at 33, with the majority of those in attendance already in the know about fly fishing and the best side of a campfire. Over 60% of the shows this year were sellouts.

Now for those of you who haven’t seen what happens when a billfish goes ballistic or a permit feels the sting of steel, there are still three events left to the 2011 Fly Fishing Film Tour roster. And even if you’ve seen the film once, aren’t the takes always better the second time around?

So although all your exes wear Rolex’s, and that’s why you haven’t got a pot in which to pee, you can still get an evening of stoke at the Magnolia Theatre (3699 McKinney Ave.) in Dallas on Wednesday, October 26^th. Doors open at 6:30, and the show starts at 7:00, giving you plenty of time to get your beef jerky on, and $20 will get you in the door plus a beer or ten.

Then it’s on to Canadia, and Robinson’s Outdoor Store (1307 Broad St., Victoria) on Tuesday, November 1, for a premier showing of the white leg dregs (think muskie or bust). Show time hasn’t been determined yet, but we suspect it will be right after hockey practice, with the potential for celebrity athletes to hit on your lady.

A Colorado homer ends the tour, starting Monday, November 14  at Servino’s Underground Events Center (11020 S. Pikes Peak Dr., Parker) with doors opening at 6:00 p.m., and drunks entering at 7:00 p.m. Minnesota is playing Green Bay on Monday Night Football, so you won’t be missing much as you watch fish lunch the bug at the big brown jug.

The films have already been submitted for the 2012 Fly Fishing Film Tour, which has dates already set for 110 cities, including a big push in Canada. The success of the tour has led to a host of new filmmakers hoping to make the cut, and find a way to pay for their fishing habits. So through support of the 2011 and 2012 Fly Fishing Film Tour you’ll be helping some of the most worthless contributors to society continue to fish all the time (when not goofing off).

Some people achieve greatness. Others have it thrust upon them. And then there are those that are born filmmakers.

 If you haven’t seen one of the viewings of The 2011 Drake Magazine Fly Fishing Film Tour then you’re the guy who everyone is talking about, the one who missed the epic show of the season, the OSF (Original Stoke Fest) of the brotherly brethren of longrodders, and you’ve been slacking on the macking. Well boo hoo to you…

 The tour has been mind blowing this year, given the back-to-back sellouts. So the word is out that FFT3 is not all about trout. Or permit. Or redfish. Or any of a host of other players that will tighten the backing on your fly rod.

 Given the preshow ticket sales, you’d better start sucking up to your local fly shop operators and their slave dogs so you can get in on the local sales and don’t get left standing at the ticket counter offering to fix the carburetor on a 17-year old’s Taurus in exchange for a seat in the film room. And don’t think that just because it’s the off season, there will be seats available, because with the weather on the warm, everybody want’s to ride the storm all the way to opening day. So now is the time to blow the dust of your wallet and don you Birkenstocks for a theatrical night on the water.

On top of the Interweb forum buzz, the latest issue of Angling Trade had an article titled “20 Great Things Happening in Fly Fishing Right Now” written by Kirk Deeter, a saddle horse in the world fly fishing blogs, news and literature. Deeter requested input about the best things going in fly fishing today, and received hundreds of responses from readers that put the Fly Fishing Film Tour second on the list.  You can check out the article on page 28. http://www.anglingtrade.com/wp-content/themes/anglingtrade/pdf/AT-issue15-low-res.pdf

If you haven’t been to the show, expect a surf film on steroids and enough amp from the crowd to reshape your hair style. The crowds are loud, buzzing in more ways than one, and consistently interacting with the movies segments from films like GEOFISH, Musky Country and Red Like Winter.

 With stops in most major cities, it was no surprise that the mega metropolis known as Missoula, Montana produced the largest crowd to date as nearly 900 people packed the Wilma Theater for the roller coaster ride of tight loops with the BFF Troops!  After the Missoula show, the theatre put up a plaque awarding the FFT3 the theater record for the most beer cans left on the floor after a show.
 
For those putting on the show, over 12,000 miles of asphalt has slid beneath their butts, as the consumed mass quantities of gas station cuisine from coast to coast. While the road can wear down on the crew, the ability to look at a body of water along the road and say, “That looks fishy,” then react to the comment with a pit stop and a couple of hours of casting has proved the “New Water” stimulus package is the way to go when hiring trout bums to host your film series. Not to mention that road records were broken this year with the biggest steelhead and tarpon caught during the 6 years the film tour has been on the road.

 The Drake Magazine Fly Fishing Film Tour is currently finishing up the Great Lakes leg of the tour before heading west to Rapid City, South Dakota, and then on the final show in Boulder, Colorado this week where the tour wraps up on April 28th. While the road may go on forever, the Fly Fishing Film Tour goes on until the spring thaw and trout waters reopen.

Lucky Number Seven

 If life imitates art, then the seven straight sell-outs including the biggest show yet in Missoula, Montana where almost 800 attended the event shows us that fly fishermen are willing to drive the equivalent of a long cast . Either that or people looking for a cheap date, dark theatre and keg beer have locked in on fish porn.

 The 2011 Fly Fishing Film Tour has officially hit the road March 1 to the smell of wet hackles and the sound of double hopped IPA bottles rolling down the aisles of some the nicer theatres on the small campy black box circuit. This rock concert with fish and bugs has been working its way through scheduled and independent showings across the country.

 Sponsored by Costa, the FFFT showcases the newest movies about the sport from independent filmmakers (re: anyone with a Flip Camera and editing software) across America. The collection of five to 20 minute film clips are expanded versions of the standard film trailers only with louder music, less screaming, more soul and enough raw energy to have you shaking like the Elizabeth Chambers behind the wheel of a Shelby Cobra.

 As each film rattles through the culture, adventure and bug sipping, hoots from the crowd acknowledge the experiences that are the essence of fly fishing, so whether you fish or not it’s easy to bask in the lunching of fur and feathers. This night of fishing, drinking and telling lies is coming to a theatre near you, and the films aren’t bad either. Whether you like the bug eaters, crab munchers, shrimp thumpers or line dumpers the Fly Fishing Film Tour is taking the buzz of casting fuzz across America.   

March 4           Boise, ID                      The Egyptian Theatre

March 4           Brunswick, ME           Frontier Café and Cinema

March 4           Toledo, OH                  St. Johns Jesuit McQuade Theatre

March 5           Brunswick, ME            Frontier Café and Cinema

March 8           Logan, UT                     Logan Arthouse & Cinema

March 8           Charlotte, NC              Visulite Theatre

March 9           Midland, MI                 Oscar’s Restaurant and Entertainment

March 9           Salt Lake City, UT       Tower Theatre

March 10         Modesto, CA                The State Theatre of Modesto

March 11         Albuquerque, NM       Hotel Albuquerque

March 12         Fort Collins, CO           Lory Student Center Theatre

March 13         Key West, FL                The Tropic Theatre

March 15         Aspen, CO                     Wheeler Opera House

March 18         Durango, CO                 Durango Art Center

March 20         Oakmont, PA               The Oaks Theatre

March 24         Anchorage, AK            Bear Tooth Theatre Pub and Grill

March 24         Fort Smith, AR             Malco Theatres

March 25         Santa Fe, NM                The Lodge in Santa Fe 

March 25         Media, PA                      Sligo Irish Pub

March 26         Lake Placid, NY           Lake Placid Center For The Arts

March 28         St. Louis, MO                TBA

March 29         Nashville, TN                Belcourt Theatre

March 31         Atlanta, GA                   Plaza Theatre

On The Road, 23 States, United States—

THE STORY:

Twenty-tree states, ten fly fishing films and four years of effort go into the 2011 Fly Fishing Film Tour, a series of short films and trailers designed to energize anyone who plies the long rod. If the tour isn’t coming to your state, you can host an independent showing and prove to the locals that you have the power to control their happiness.  

 Following the genre of the first surf films, cheers, hoots and “Oh my gosh’s” from the audience ramps up the attitude as bugs get lunched, crabs get crunched and fish get munched in dark, sketchy, low budget theatres from Florida to California. Fisheries you’ve heard about, read about, wanted to fish, and at some time know you’re going to fish whether you have to sell your car and quit your job to do it are exposed through the eye of the angler and filmmaker, thus assuring you’re going to sleep poorly for the next night or two unless you go fishing.

Along with each film is a message—whether that’s conservation, commitment, love for the sport or the effects of man on a resource—so you come out of the theatre thinking back on each film and critiquing its direction. And when was the last time you did that after an evening of stale popcorn and Hollywood investment?

THE ADVENTURE:

Every year for the last four years at the Denver, Colorado Fly Tackle Dealer Show, The Drake Magazine hosts an evening of new fly fishing films produced by independent filmmakers from around the globe. The best of these films–designed to enlighten anglers of all abilities and share the core enjoyment of fly fishing—are then selected to comprise the hour and thirty minute or so traveling stokefest known as the Fly Fishing Film Tour.

 The submitted films can be any length under 20 minutes: pick a location, fish species, conservation method, travel destination or band of hero’s for their subjects, but must express the inherent soul of the sport of fly fishing while supporting local conservation efforts. Through the hoots from the audience and the atmosphere of the films, you’ll be taken on some of the best rides to touch a swath of fur and feathers.

 Both freshwater and saltwater genres are covered in the evening, giving the audience a fresh perspective on what they know and a new angle on what they’ve always wanted to do. From dreaming of shunning the 9 to 5 for the life of a trout bum to selling everything for a summer on the Mexico coast, you’ll get the filmmaker’s perspective on the breath of a fishery and the nuances of how the fish, culture and surroundings can reach out and touch your soul.

THE PLAYERS:

The Drake Magazine:

Pretty much a spirit of the sport rag that carries the soul of man, fish and water to the masses, although along its own path of most resistance. The Drake is a quarterly compilation of essays, snippets, commentary and all-out finger pointing at the best and worst of the industry, sport and general knuckleheads who fish—so don’t take things too seriously or you’ll get your feelings hurt.

 The brainchild of Tom Bie, The Drake has a huge following of hardcore fly fishing nonconformists and ambiguous nincompoops, but some of the best outdoor writing and photography in the country. After some thought on the subject of independent filmmaking and a dozen or so microbrews, Bie invested in the Fly Fishing Film Tour that now carries The Drake name.

 The Films:

Oile—Motive Fishing’s documentary on four fish bums traveling through Mexico in a vegetable-oil fueled pick-up truck as they seek the best fishing the country has to offer.

 Heart of the Marsh—Travel through the Louisiana marshlands post BP oil spill and witness firsthand how the redfish populations have flourished in this production from Waterline Media.

 Itu’s Bones—From the freaky underwater scenes on the bonefish cam to the breathtaking South Pacific scenery, follow a commercial bonefishermen’s lifestyle change from harvester to fishing guide in this moving film from On The Fly Productions

 The Waters of Greenstone—Childhood friends from Tennessee sell everything they own, combine all their money and travel to New Zealand to chase the legends of brown trout over 10 pounds. Backpacking into the wilderness they attempt to scale New Zealand’s highest mountain, catch their biggest trout and drink all the beer within throwing distance in this Gambit stone Production.

  Musky Country—Zero2Hero—Proof that Wisconsin has more to offer than a winning football team and the Violent Femmes, follow the Muskie brotherhood as they case the summer season on fly. This production by Third Year Fly Fisher utilizes moving scenery as they hack the weed beds with flies that cast like a small duck.

 Speed, Muscle and Teeth—Watch a 300 pound mako dump a reel in this LDR Media film about Californian Conway Bowman and his passion for the smell of ladled blood and guts, fish carcasses and the hang time of man in the gray flannel suit.

 Wisconsin Smallies and Bluewater—A pair of films from Beattie Outdoors that examine the saneness that is fishing smallmouth bass on fly and the craziness behind chasing billfish in Mexico with fly gear. Go small boating and then push 100 miles offshore, or whatever it takes to get the bite.

 Satori—The latest from permit chase from the Key West boys at WorldANGLING features a new slant on a fishery under pressure from above and below. Spot the fish, make the cast, and try not to use profanity.

 Black Tailed Devils—Another Key West permit chase, this film from 406 productions has more tail waving than the first 20 rows at a Kenny Chesney concert. Elusive, frustrating, titillating and queer—you know everything that goes into chasing permit on fly.

 Low and Clear—The first 20 minutes from Finback Films’ feature documentary about two old friends who get back together to chase fish in the Canadian wilderness only to learn there’s plenty to be grumpy about. Will the fishing mend the friendship or will the friends spend all their time mending lines?