Throughout the school year, I have times when I just need the day off. Yesterday was one of those days. The weather was perfect. The prospects of trout rising and gobbling turkeys was more than enough to warrant a personal day. It was the perfect day to enjoy the outdoors here in the Flatland, and I devoted my day to doing just that.
Waking up with the woods
I have never understood why it is called red bud?
I woke up with the woods. I watched the stars fade and the sky brighten on the horizon. It was a beautiful morning. I enjoyed the sounds of spring gobblers calling out for a receptive mate. I had several birds interested, but seductive hens kept them from committing to my calls. Nevertheless, it was a good hunt.
A pretty little gill
That particular piece of property is littered with small ponds. I always try to pack in a fly rod so that I can fish on my way out. Today’s hunt took me past one small pond that seemed unusually void of fish. I saw only four small bass and a handful of bluegill. I quickly caught one of the bluegill and headed home to complete a few chores.
one of my favorite caddis stretches
With my chores finished, it was time to see if the caddis were hatching on my favorite local stretch. I was on the water by 2pm and there were caddis flitting about. A few splashy rises allowed my hopes to become realities. It was not a water covering event, but the caddis were right where they should have been. I found many fish in the faster, broken water. Some rose violently while others seemed to sip confidently from the surface. It was an event that I would have been content just to watch, but I was there to fish and that is exactly what I did.
a picture for Larry
I landed more fish today than I deserved. There were no monsters, but I will take rising fish over big fish any day. I fished for a couple of hours and even took time to enjoy some of the scenery. Spring has finally sprung here, and the valley seemed to be celebrating. The flowers, the wildlife, the trout, and I enjoyed the amazing weather here in the Flatland.
Our state flower
new to the world
I love making little fly fishing films. It combines two of my favorite activities, and it gives me a tangible product that we can share with our family and friends, “This is what fly fishing is like.”
While I’m still behind in editing two of our fishing trips from 2012, I was able to string together a few hours to whip up ‘December Steel,” which is a very quick look at our recent steelhead trip on the Rocky River in Cleveland. We are very fortunate to have an immediate audience in all of the subscribers and fans of our Facebook page. Then, Phil Monahan at Orvis caught wind of the video and selected it to be part of the first Orvis Friday Fy Fishing Film Festival.
The only reason we make these videos is because we love doing them, and we love sharing our experiences. We hope y’all enjoy them. Now I’m going to get off of the website and see if I can’t pick back up on editing our Rocky Mountain trip.
If you don’t make a ritual out of checking out the OrvisNews.com site every Friday afternoon, consider it. There’s always some interesting short films from all over the globe of dudes (and gals) capturing some fun moments on film while fly fishing. For instance, our latest little short “Bronze Surface,” which just happens to be featured on the 6/29/12 Orvis Friday Film Festival! Check it out!
Orvis Fly Fishing Blog
If you’ve seen any of our short fly fishing films, you know that we rely heavily on the GoPro Hero cameras. This week in Las Vegas, at the National Association of Broadcaster Convention, GoPro made an announcement about an exciting free upgrade for the Hero2 that adds some software and flexibility that makes editing the look of your GoPro footage very simple and very powerful. Click here to read the full press release.
You might also note some GoPro banners here on the Flatlander site. We are very proud to have GoPro sponsoring our little endeavor. If your in the market for a new GoPro, we be much obliged for clicking through one of the banners here on the site. Happy fishing!
Things are hopping along well at Flatlander. We’ve created a Facebook page for Flatlander Fly Fishing. For those of you who are already on Facebook, you can simply hook up to us at facebook.com/FlatlanderFlyFishing. There we will post many of our blog entries, videos, photos, news, and some useful links. Hope you join us!
Found this video on the Orvis Friday Film Festival blog. Really enjoyed it, considering my bias towards the bronzeback.
Film and fly fishing. Two of my favorite things. Put them together, it’s a lovely combination. Shane and I have made several attempts at documenting some of our adventures. Filming our trips has brought a whole new aspect to the sport…a new dimension. Not only are we trying to hook a fish, but also capture the essence of the adventure on film. It’s not easy. Trust me.
Knowing how difficult it is to give aesthetic justice to the sport of fly fishing on film, I am continually floored by the footage coming from amateur filmmakers and trout bums. The Fly Fishing Film Tour is a showcase of some of the best of fly fishing short films, trailers, and documentaries. The Tour visits dozens of cities each year. 2012 was the first year that Columbus has hosted the Tour, and it was quite a success.
When I bought my tickets, I got a sense that the crowd could be a little slim. Wrong. The largest theater at the Gateway Film Center was nearly filled to capacity. Overall, the quality of the films was quite impressive. Beautiful images, great storytelling, and some great action in and on the water. A couple of the selections were subpar, but not bad by any stretch of the imagination. I’ll cease further detailed comments about the films themselves. I’ll just say that the films are worth the price of admission. Hands down. Many of the selections are available to view at various outlets on the web, or on the Tour’s website (see below).
And if watching awesome movies featuring other people fishing isn’t your bag, there are several other things going on in the lobby of the theater. There were a dozen or so booths featuring products and demonstrations. Some of the booths were local businesses and organizations, and there were also some regional and national organizations represented. There was also a substantial raffle going on that had a fantastic bounty of prizes, ranging from magazines to posters, reels and rods, and one-of-a-kind artwork. Not to mention the opportunity to meet and fellowship with like-minded outdoorsmen who held a passion for their sport.
You can visit the Fly Fishing Film Tour at flyfilmtour.com
The Fly Fishing Film Tour is under way, and it’s coming to Columbus on March 8, 2012. The Tour will be hosted by the Gateway Film Center near the OSU campus, beginning at 6:30pm. You can order tickets the Fly Fishing Film Tour website for $15, or get discounted tickets at Mad River Outfitters.
CrappieLogo
OhioGameFishing.com just released the dates for their 2012 Rick Seevers Memorial Crappie Tournament. In the past, the Tournament was held in the spring at Delaware Reservoir. This year, they are adding another event at Alum Creek in the fall. For more information, visit the announcement on the OGF site.
