Friday, December 14, 2012

My First Fish


A short film about the experience of catching that first fish, told through the eyes of a 5 year old boy.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

On The Side

Chum Salmon Colour PatternCoho Salmon Colour PatternExtreme ColourThat Post-Spawn GlowPaul Vecsei's photostream contains some of the most interesting and beautiful images you'll find anywhere on the web. This collection of pictures shows close up shots of salmon sides depicting the rich pattern variation and vivid color that occurs during the spawning journey.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Casting A Voice



Casting a Voice is a fly fishing conservation film, using the perspective of anglers to examine the risks facing one of British Columbia's most precious resources - wild fish. The proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project would run through some of the most abundant wild salmon and steelhead waters left on the planet. The Skeena River and its tributaries remain a rare stronghold for healthy populations of anadromous fish, while wild fish stocks have declined elsewhere.

Music courtesy of Red House Records (www.redhouserecords.com)
Artist: Greg Brown
Album: Dream Cafe
Track: Spring Wind

Photos courtesy of:
Haig-Brown Institute
Museum at Campbell River
Bob Hooton
Art Lingren

Shot with Canon 7D (Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II, Canon 100mm Macro f/2.8L IS, Sigma 30mm f/1.4, Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8), GoPro Hero2

Produced, Filmed and Edited by Dimitri Gammer

Release Date: Summer 2013

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Sea of Love



Episode 1 - Sea of Love

Elevated high above the tumultuous Sea of Love stands the home of this world's foremost collector of exotic sea creatures, the gajillionaire Old Man Cruikshank. Cruikshank had sent a special invitation to the three bravest sailors known in whisper and legend, The Seafarers. And an invitation from Old Man Cruikshank is not something one turns down...and so the Seafarers' adventure began.

Episode 2
http://www.vimeo.com/7342291

Episode 3
http://www.vimeo.com/15730115

Animated by Jim Dirschberger
Artwork by Ferris Plock & Kelly Tunstall
Written by Jim Dirschberger, Ferris Plock, Kelly Tunstall and Adam Wroblewski
Narrated by Richard Enriquez

http://www.EightyFourFilms.com

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Caps For Sale

A product director's work is never done but here is a look at some 12wt. hats that are finished and for currently available online.
 

Photos by World Angling

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

New Moon Chronicles

I recently had the pleasure of hosting my Norwegian friends Russell Jacobsen and Runar Kabbe for a number days. Their plan was to come to Maine to fish for striped bass during a late season new moon tide. Here is a compilation of video clips and stills that Russell put together from the trip. Special thanks go out to Bob Flight and Joe Ziepniewski for helping to make their visit memorable. Thanks to the stripers for cooperating.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Pulling On The Line

Here's a collection of rod bending shots from recent striper sessions.  Everybody has been getting results (top to bottom: El Pescador, Russell Allen Jacobsen, Joe Ziepniewski, Runar Kabbe).


Tuesday, September 11, 2012

31 seconds 32 inches



Most of the time I try and get a quick picture of the fish I catch but on this occasion my camera accidentally got switched to video resulting in this short snippet from a recent striper session.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Break Free

Sometimes you have to break free from convention in order to learn that typical patterns can be a trap. These are pix of three stripers I caught in a back channel that I typically don't fish because it's almost stagnant until the tide pushes in. These stripers created a wake when they were in pursuit of the micro crab pattern I was throwing because the water was that skinny. Oddly, a hooked fish didn't seem to cause the other bruisers to become skittish or disinterested.

Photos by Steve Stracqualursi

Friday, August 10, 2012

La expedición comienza


GEOFISH
Volume 1: MEXICO - The Expedition Begins

The plan is simple: bridge the language gap, convince the Federales that you’re not trying to smuggle cooking oil into the country to corner the market on cheap fish tacos and at the same time, spend little money, sponge off the local delicacies and see if you can kill stomach cramps with a combination of tequila and lack of sleep. Trying their best to avoid break-ins, break-downs, break-ups and broken rods, join four fish bums as they cover 8,000 miles of Mexican dirt in hopes of finding out-of-the-way locations—with fish, and escaping with captured memories.

Armed with nothing more than fishing rods and cameras in hand, the GEOFISH series will follow 4 fisherman turned filmmakers as they travel around the world in a diesel pick-up converted to run on cooking oil while soaking flies at every opportunity they get. With a new obstacle around every corner and the determination of setting foot where few people dare to go, the angling quartet cuts their own path through some of the planets most rugged terrain on a mission to find the world’s greatest spots never fished.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Sigur Rós - Ég anda



Sigur Rós 'Valtari' Mystery Film Experiment: Ég anda by Ramin Bahrani
Taken from the "valtari mystery film experiment" - more details: sigur-ros.co.uk/valtari/videos/
Valtari is available to purchase now: sigur-ros.co.uk/valtari/buy/

Directed by: Ramin Bahrani
Produced by: Summer Shelton
Cinematography by: Hunter Baker

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Restless Native


This wild Maine rainbow crushed a caddis imitation on a stretch of the Kennebec River in Bingham. Temperatures were in the 90's and zebra caddis were coming off in droves; making the wild rainbows aggressive even in full sun.


Photos by Rene Braun

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Fly Test

You know a crab fly is effective when you catch crabs with it. Oddly, on this day I caught five crabs with it. They seemed to be everywhere along with sandworms. The crabs I caught ranged from greenish yellow to reddish brown and they were all released to be caught another day.


Photo by El Pescador

Monday, June 4, 2012

Fortunate Tradition

I met Sean McCormack somewhat by chance seven years ago at the Marlborough, MA fishing show where he invited me to join him for a float down the Kennebec River; water he knows like the backs of his hands. This trip has become a fortunate tradition for me and it has taken on a life of it's own. Each year we drift along in a continuum of conversation, experience and gear testing. This year I brought my friend Jeff Florman and we floated the Solon section of the river. Sean has a particular interest in dry fly presentations but we spent most of our time throwing streamers at the bank, imparting action to them in hopes of enticing consistent activity from fish too uninspired to grab bugs off the surface because hatches were either too Spartan or inconsistent. Conditions were excellent (flow levels and weather) for this earlier-than-usual drift.

I tossed a weighted maribou sculpin pattern that was akin to what I would typically throw while holding an 8wt. in my striper skin. I felt right at home lobbing casts and imparting action with a 5wt. in the freshwater. Jeff winged a Gartside maribou streamer with a bullet head and even hurled a dropper streamer in certain deep sections. To our satisfaction, many presentations were met with aggressive acceptance. The catch list included browns, brookies, salmon, river tarpon (chubs) and a smallmouth. The rainbow eluded us.

Sean prepared a shore lunch around midpoint that would rival fine restaurant fare. The menu consisted of mixed olives for an appetizer followed by pan seared chicken breast with mushrooms, onions and sauteed green beans with slivered almonds.  Fresh pineapple and papaya completed the regal dinning experience. We sat briefly before stowing the kitchen and continued our drift down the Kennebec.

At this stage everyone was aware that time was now limited. Things seemed to matter just a bit more than before lunch. Small talk was sparse and silence filled the chat voids. Each cast, presentation and sales pitch held heightened significance. A missed strike seemed to have more impact than before and each fish caught felt more revered.

At the last bend in the river before the take out we slowed and scanned the surface for risers. They were scant but there were sippers to cast to. Streamers were removed.  Tiny dries were presented. I flicked my fly into a feeding lane that so far had been met with refusal.  Light was almost gone when the take happened. I set the hook and felt the familiar spontaneous head shaking. I uttered "little one" because there was no significant feeling of mass on the line's end. A second later the fish broke the calm surface revealing 16 inches of landlock salmon frenzy. A final surprise in a day of buoyant surprises. We all smiled inwardly as the fish was released into the dark water. Sean rowed to the take out where we broke down rods, stowed wading gear, closed boxes and covered the boat to be trailered away until next time.



Photos by Jeff Florman and Steve Stracqualursi

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Voices Against Tar Sands

NRDC International Director Susan Casey-Lefkowitz introduces Voices Against Tar Sands.  Visit NRDC Flix, the Way Upstream Network or click on the video window (Voice Against Tar Sands selections) after completion and listen to people across this country tell in their own words why tar sands is a threat to their communities.  www.stoptar.org

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Elwha Update

We've heard a lot about potential impacts of the dam removal on the Olympic Peninsula's Elwha River since it began in September 2011. How will salmon populations respond to the destruction of the two dams? In this Science Café, George Pess of NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center explores how scientists track the dam's effects on salmon and what results they've discovered so far.

Monday, April 9, 2012

On The Water



Best Animation, I've Seen Films Festival, 2011, Italy
First Prize, Computer Space Int'l forum, 2011, Bulgaria
Best Animated Short & Audience Jury Award, Reggio film festival, 2010, Italy
Best Student Animation, Animateka Int'l Animation Festival, 2011, Slovenia
Best Student Animation, Istanbul Int'l Animation Festival, 2011, Turkey
Best Student Animation, Stoke Your Fires festival 2011, UK
Best Student Animation, animation festival Zwolle, 2011, the Netherlands
Best Int'l Student Animation, Animarte festival, 2011, Brazil
Best National Student Short, Playground festival, 2010, the Netherlands

More info www.OnTheWaterthemovie.com

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Drive-by

Hancock Pond I stopped to grab a quick drive-by shot of Hancock Pond on my way to the 12wt. distribution and customer service facility.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Crab Catcher



In the days before his son leaves for college, Steve Jones, a lifelong crabber from Wittman, Maryland reflects on his life as a waterman and what he thinks the future holds.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Hands On Deck

12wt.com is now live with two new gloves. Hats are in the works and should debut soon. A shirt isn't too far off either.  Stay tuned. Photography by Will Benson and Tim Pask. Editing and production by Pleasant Hill Studios.
 

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Good Sign

Good Sign

I was wandering across Spring St. in NYC headed for an audition when something caught my eye.  I stopped and smiled.  I took this as a good sign.  LePescadeux