Why bother leaving the house?

I made my escape from Africa this past week, arriving home on Tuesday night. I'll be writing a little somethin' up about the trip & other randomness this weekend.

Meanwhile, broaden your horizons with this video from TED.

Truth

Low & Clear Trailer

I enthusiastically joined the ranks of crowdfunding this afternoon: I backed Finback Films for their release of Low & Clear on Kickstarter (details here).

It's slightly anti-climatic for me to join on the last possible day, as the guys at Finback reached their goal within 6 days of starting their crowdfunding campaign. But I'm happy to add to the kitty: these guys maxed out credit cards and sold their vehicles to get Low & Clear to this point.

Kudos to them for their dedication. I'm pretty excited about seeing the full version of this.

Enjoy the trailer.

LOW & CLEAR Official Trailer from Finback Films on Vimeo.

Long weekend redfish fix

'cuz everyone needs a redfish fix, long weekend or not...

Mosquito Lagoon Tailing Redfish from Capt. Nick Sassic on Vimeo.

Enter your email address to subscribe (I will never, ever spam, sell or trade your email address):

Awesome video

Remember last year, when I posted "Lazy fish porn post: Striper madness" while I was in Senegal (but had to wait the better part of a month to watch it in its entirety due to shitty internet)?

Well, two things about that:

1. That title has provided me with many laughs over the past year & some due to Google search terms. Think "lazy stripper porn," "strippers with fish," and so on & so forth...
2. the filmmaker of that fishing video, Peter Laurelli, just released the full version of his 2011 video, and it's right here:

Surf & Inshore Fly Fishing 2011 from Peter Laurelli on Vimeo.

Is it too early?

Good stuff found trolling around on the Costa website.

I know I have almost an entire fishing season at home to look forward to before I set off on this trip, but I'm already getting excited. Belize is gonna be friggin' awesome.

I've already gotten into tying some patterns for tarpon. I figure if I do 6-8 flies for tarpon, bones & permit per week between now & the trip, I'll have 'er beat & pretty much be set for life.

Tarpon Bunnies are the easiest pattern of life to tie, so I will have my quota of those tied up by next week before moving onto some Whistlers, Cockroaches, Seaducers, and whatever else people might recommend to me.

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Some technical updates: Instagram for Android came out! As such, my tumblr page, The Angler's Android & iPod, has now become shortened to The Angler's Android.

Lots of random pics of gear coming through the fly shop's doors, flies & other odds & ends are being posted to the tumblr page via Instagram, so check it out if you're so inclined.

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I haven't really put much thought into if/where I'll be fishing on opening day on April 15th.  had thought I'd be away for work for most of April, including the first week or two of the season, but that hasn't happened yet.

Last year, the first two weeks were fairly unproductive, with rivers blown out due to spring runoff. This year: who knows? That stretch of insane 25°C temperatures for a week in mid-March took care of snowpack, and rivers are already subsiding from flood stage; by next Sunday, they could be quite clear & wadable. 

Sea-run trout were being caught in the Nashwaak during the first week of the season of 2010 due to low runoff, perhaps we'll have a repeat of that.

Here's some music:

Friday Redfish Fix

An oldie* but a goodie.

* - Old as in 4 years. Which isn't that old, but it appears the guys at WorldANGLING were, much like me, redfishing before it became super-cool** at last year's IFTD show in the Big Easy.

** - I call this hipster fly fishing: fishing for a species before there's a massive video collection of people fishing for it. It's probably the reason I'm the only person in New Brunswick fishing for smallmouth bass with a Hardy reel...while drinking from a Cuppow.

Drum preview by WorldANGLING from WorldANGLING on Vimeo.

POST-SCRIPT
Another little note for y'all here: This is my 200th post since I started this (semi-illiterate) literary journey.

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by, and especially those of you who read along regularly. I would never have imagined over 100 people subscribing or following along to this dribble I spew out, but now that it's happened, it's pretty damn cool.

I know this month has been pretty lame for regular updates, but that'll be fixed soon, that I promise: twenty-twelve will see more fishing than ever before...which is goddamned insane, once you think about it.

It wasn't planned for a redfish video to be the 200th post, but it's pretty effin' appropriate. Once I knew this was my 200th post, I figure this music video was most appropriate. I would've been in Canadian artist fan-boy heaven at that show.

Keep Calm and Carry On...

...for new posts will be coming soon.

19 days until fishing season opens.

More redfish love

Lots of redfish action & a decent tune, too

Southern Reds from Andy Villacres on Vimeo.

Another Redfish Fix

(aka another lazy-ass video post)

Here's two vids, both topwater redfish, one on the fly rod, the other on spin gear.

I wonder, since I can obviously spend an entire winter watching redfish videos, if I could ever spend an entire winter chasing reds I.R.L...

...I'd like to think I could...

- From probably the only Canadian (in Mexico or not) wearing a hoodie with a redfish on the back (thx again, Cameron!)

Enjoy the videos!

BULLS ON TOP from SHALLOW WATER EXPEDITIONS on Vimeo.

Tuesday Redfish Fix

I was bumming around on the Drake's website & stumbled onto this little gem.

It was submitted in 2006 (pre-fly fishing film tour, I think...?) by Mikey Weir (Burl Productions); he of Soulfish & other great videos.

Redfish are awesome.

Enjoy.

Into the Red Zone from 7 Weight on Vimeo.

Plan. B - Faceless Fly Fishing

Last week I wrote my review of the screening of the IF4 in Dieppe, NB

If you recall, I was a little "meh" about the whole thing.

In one part of my review, I wrote about my disappointment of Faceless Fly Fishing's Plan B being skipped over, and wrote:

Note #4: If anyone from Faceless Fly Fishing happens to read this: I'd like to see the video you fine folks have worked so hard at shooting & editing. Let me know if/when you ever post the full version on your Vimeo page.

Well, someone from Faceless Fly Fishing did read my that & were very cool enough to send me a message saying they were disappointed we didn't get to see Plan B, and yes, they were going to put it on their vimeo page. They even told me the date, but swore me to secrecy.

Well, today is that date, and I'm very please to share with you their very awesome submission to the IF4 (ps - love the audio track in this):

PLAN B FACELESS FLY FISHING from FACELESS FLY FISHING MEDIA on Vimeo.

Congrats to the great folks over at Faceless Fly Fishing for putting out a great short.

And thanks for taking it upon yourself to send me a note about the IF4 experience!

PS - their Canadian-ess did not factor into my decision of calling the video awesome. That's just a bonus.

IF4 - A review

Time/Date: 1115 AST, 23-Jan-12
Location: My Kitchen, Fredericton, NB

On Friday, my lovely girlfriend & I traveled to Dieppe to attend a screening of the International Fly Fishing Film Festival (IF4), held at the community college.

Note #1: this is NOT the Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T). Two separate entities.

Note #2: I'm seriously trying to not let the road conditions on the drive there (it was snowing) or the fact I ran out of windshield wiper fluid on the return trip (adding an hour to a typical one hour, forty-five minute trip) play a part in my review.

My honest review of the whole experience: meh.

That's right. Meh. M-E-H. Meh.

Note #3: This isn't meant to slag on the hosts of the IF4 screening, the Dieppe Fly Tying Club. I think they are a wonderful group of anglers that do tremendous work in the region. They host the annual Fly Fishing Forum each March, which is the best (read: only) fly fishing show in the area.

The show started with the IF4 preview/promo trailer, i.e., the videos you see when you go to the IF4 home page, and therefore, the trailers everyone has been seeing online for the past five months or more.

First thing I noticed (other than thinking, "Huh. I've watched these before.") was the video quality. Definitely not HD. Not even close. Think YouTube on 240p. Full-screen YouTube on 240p.

Then I noticed the audio quality. Think ear-splitting volume on speakers meant for a P.A. system.

Once we finished watching the promo video...we started watching it again.

The exact same promo trailer. It was on repeat. It was an ominous start to the evening.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable seat-shuffling by the 50 or so attendees, someone went to the DVD player and started skipping ahead to get to the actual videos. And we're off...so we thought.

Onto the screen popped the intro to Faceless Fly Fishing's Plan B...for about 25 seconds. Our DVD technician apparently didn't like that one, so he skipped it.

That's right. We didn't see it.

Note #4: If anyone from Faceless Fly Fishing happens to read this: I'd like to see the video you fine folks have worked so hard at shooting & editing. Let me know if/when you ever post the full version on your Vimeo page.

So then we moved onto the rest of the shorts & the features.

Some of them were really good (A Backyard In Nowhere, Chasing the Run).

Some of them were entertaining (Three Times Golden).

One was a sneak-peak for a television series (The Costa Rica Challenge), while some were essentially promos for lodges (The Cuba & the Guatemala videos).

Note #5: the Guatemalan video, Vela, had very similar footage to the video shot by Salty & Jon of my sailfish fly fishing adventure. I am NOT claiming plagiarism by any means, as I'm 99.9% sure the group shot their video months previous to us...and it looks like they were using the boat that Captain Tom now owns...I'm just stating the "ha-ha, I paid money to watch someone do what I already did" factor of it.


Note #6: with regards to The Costa Rica Challenge: an hour & a half with a tarpon...on a 14wt? Were you using 6x tippet? Not to call anyone out, but...I dunno, I'm definitely no expert, but it just seemed long to me...

A little over 2 hours later, our IF4 experience was over.

Door prizes? No.

Guest speaker(s)? None.

Giveaways? Nope.

Fifty-fifty draw? Uh-uh.

Back in the fall of 2010, a couple of us spoke about hosting either IF4 or F3T here in Fredericton last winter.

My first text message about it: the boys at BabZees Entertainment. You know, the guys who brought the Black Crowes and Our Lady Peace and GirlTalk to town. I figure if we were going to host an event, it was gonna be AN EVENT! Prizes, giveaways, speakers, exhibitor booths, beer, fun...

Unfortunately, the Dieppe screening felt half-assed to me; i.e., "It's eight dollars, grab a seat, watch the videos, and leave. Thank you."

When you tie in the four & a half hours of driving in less than ideal conditions, the whole experience measures as a "meh" at the most.

At least my lovely gf & I got a chance to eat at Arby's on the way out of town.

Music...

One of my favourite bands has reunited & is releasing an album.

I could go into a long, rambling tale of how, at age 21, one of their tracks "spoke to me."

Or a tale of how catching the lead singer as the show-stealing opening act for The Trews caused me to fail an advanced calculus exam the next day.

Or how the lead singer, headlining the opening night of FredRock 2010, came into the Lava Vodka Lounge (where I used to sling booze) the night before & really dug the vibe...and the vodka...and dug it enough to make a special request for a certain brand of vodka the night of his show.

But instead, I'm just going to play their (awesome) new track from their upcoming album.

The Guatemalan Chronicles - Day 3

Read about day one here and day two here.

Setting: 

The Que Vela, Captain Tom's 34-foot super-panga; 40 miles off the Pacific coast of Guatemala

Cast of Characters:

• Captain Tom, Panamax Sailfishing (@panamaxsailfish)
• Jon, iFished.com (@iFished)
• Salty, SoCal Salty (@socalsalty)
• Fish Allen, expat living in Guatemala (@No_Twitter)
• Victor, non-English-speaking deckhand (@No_Twitter_2)
• Me (@mattrevors)
• Pacific sailfish (@Istiophorus platypterus)

You're either bouncing with anticipation (or sick and tired of waiting) to check out what the fishing for sailfish was like, so here's the first day...plus a little treat at the end.

Enjoy.

Sunrise at Marina Pez Vela

Marina Pez Vela in Sailfish HQ in Guatemala

Captain Tom about to board the Que Vela!

Jon, with Captain Tom at the helm

Jon takes the helm for a bit

Dolphins!

My first sailfish, on conventional tackle

What kind of pompous fool tries to catch a jumping sailfish on Instagram?
Me, that's who...

No shots on the fly gear on day one, but at least it looked awesome...

First day's results:

One sailfish each for Jon, Salty, Fish Allen (biggest of the day) and myself, all on conventional gear. Zero shots for me on the fly rod.

I had the first of the day, and therefore the first in Captain Tom's new boat, which was kinda cool!

Oh yeah...the treat at the end....

Here's a vid of Salty hooking (& landing) his first sailfish. Yours truly was holding the Go-Pro...with a lot of coaching from Salty!

There's some awesome footage in there (not really as a result of me...I just held the camera & hoped for the best).

Enjoy!

Why I'm glad to own an Evinrude Boat Motor

Becky told me about this....it has to be seen to be believed:

 

Yeah. Ok, then...

Rocks & Rawkin' Blues

Time/Date: 1745, 03-Sep-11
Location: Northern Saskatchewan (still)

No fishing adventures to speak of since the pike.

I've been up to my eyeballs in rocks.

Here's a little taste of what's been playing on my iPod while I've been slaving away on the rock pile:

Ross & his bastards are local guys, and they bring the rawk. Without a doubt, at any given time those guys are on a cross-country tour (tour dates here). They are musicians that work hard at what they do, and they're definitely worth going to see.

We all bonded over the booze back in the day, when I used to sling drinks at Lava Vodka Lounge. In fact, we hosted the after-party for his CD release bash for the Redemption album. 

It was a pretty easy friendship: I made drinks, they drank them; I like hard-rawkin', whisky-chuggin', bar-brawlin' type blues, and that's what they play. A match made in heaven...if heaven was full of this type of people...

You can follow along with the boys at rossneilsen.com. Ross is also on twitter, @rossneilsen.

And I highly recommend you get their album. You can find it on itunes here.

I'll have some fishy updates (hopefully) real soon.

Gierach Fly Fishing Film Tour Short

Jay of Motiv Fishing (aka, the group formerly known as AEG) recently posted this cool little short featuring John Gierach.

As some of you may have read here (and here), I'm a fan of Gierach's writing; it's personable, insightful and pretty down to earth.

Anyone who thinks the same will probably enjoy the video below.

Click here if you can't see the embedded video below.

Brookies...

Time/Date: 1005 AST, 29-Jul-11
Location: The Shop

James, AKA The Phenom, he of the mad skilz in deerhair popper-awesomeness, also has some mad skilz in the fine art of video shooting & editing.

Definitely worth a few minutes of your day to check out.

For all you folks heading to Moncton for the U2 concert, here's a tune for y'all. And it's not U2.

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Reality TV I can really get into: The Guide House

Sorry for the burst of posts today, but I couldn't pass up sharing this one with you.

I was lurking around Jason Puris' website, The Fin (Twitter here, Facebook here) and stumbled across his YouTube channel. And found a little gold mine of procrastination:

A reality TV show. About fly fishing guides at Montauk, NY, living in a house, a.k.a., the Guide House, while chasing the fall run of stripers, bluefish & albies with their clients.

Fly fishing reality TV. Brilliant. Their might be hope for mankind just yet.

Here is episode 1 (in three parts).

(btw, hit Jason up on Facebook & Twitter, he always has great content posted)

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