Wednesday 21 September 2011

Casting at Shadows...


Yesterday I bought a copy of the "Casting at Shadows" DVD and today it arrived at my desk...

It is a record of Chris Cook's trip of a lifetime to Christmas Island. The introduction sets the pace of life in the Christmas Islands and is a bonus as some film makers concentrate on the sport and omit the environment they are filming in. As I watched the film I was immediately struck by the style of filming; Ben Marlow & Bradley Lucas have given us the quintessential Englishman (Chris Crook) with almost an air of Anthony Minghella's "The English Patient" as Chris stalks the flats. There is no whooping and hollering... Chris comes across as a quietly confident angler and the results speak for themselves... great bonefish come to hand, however, the film does get across the heat & frustration that flats fishing can provide at times.

The pace of the film increases as Chris hooks into a Bluefin Trevally and then on an incoming tide lands a GT of above average proportions. We then go offshore and get to call sharks! See and believe... One shark landed and Chris then hooks into a leviathan... a 3 hour fight with potentially a record breaking fly caught yellow fin tuna. There is no thrash heavy metal music in this film... if there was then I missed it as I was fixed on the fight with the tuna!

If you ever wanted a video of your own fishing trip this would be it... so many of us don't get the photos, don't get the video and would desperately love to fish this type of environment.

Bonus features included a slideshow of the fish caught - some of which never made the main feature but are no less impressive. There is also an interesting piece on the Christmas Island H bomb testing...

A very broad offering linked with good filming that will appeal to many... and if you are considering this trip of a lifetime I think watching this will seal the deal for you...

By clicking the image above you will be taken to Chris's site where you can purchase the film in DVD or BluRay format.

Saturday 10 September 2011

BUG-BOND in "Hatches" Fall 2011 Edition

Congratulations to Bug-Bond Pro-Tying Team member Rune Stokkebekk of Norway for his successful submission to Hatches Magazine... I'd recommend getting your own copy of Hatches to see first hand Rune's excellent article and tying sequences that includes Bug-Bond. Well done Rune!




Saturday 3 September 2011

Basstastic Devon!


2 years ago I caught my first bass (4lbs but the size was immaterial!) it was on the lure and although it was one of those significant firsts it wasn’t the goal I was looking for… it really had to be on the fly! Through various commitments I have had to wait until this year to connect.

If I turn the clock back 12 months I found myself in Devon for a long weekend with my wife… an urge to fish and  tip off saw me at a mark VERY early one morning… the result was a blank.

Fast forward to last weekend… Devon for a week… and I fished 4 separate marks on 5 occasions. It was last year’s mark that was fished twice… the result was 1 fish on day 1 and 4 on day 2! Result!

The key word is “watch”… Yes, watch what is going on around you, swirls or bait fish moving, they are all tell-tale signs of movement from under the surface of the water… cast and retrieve… steady retrieve… stop and retrieve… feel the take and the shrimp fly claims its fish.  Interestingly I preferred not to match the hatch but give the offering of the slower shrimp… would I have had more hits using a match?

The biggest fish was estimated to be 26.5cm… not big but it gets me off the blocks and I know what I’ll be concentrating on tying more of! Oh the Bug-Bond treated fly lasted longer on the back casts clicking on the rock!