reviews

Fly Fishing Large Western Rivers--Winter and Spring

Reviewed by Scott Richmond

Fly Fishing Large Western Rivers, by Rick Hafele and John Smeraglio. Published by Laughing River Productions. Joe Blundon and Scott Griffen of Bullwynkle Video Productions produced the series. Each video is about 50 minutes long. $24.95 per video. Available in many fly shops or online (google the title).

uring the introduction to video Winter Fly Fishing on Large Western Rivers, Rick Hafele plays a bit of blues harmonica--then pretends his lips are frozen to the cold metal of his instrument.

A little later, John Smeraglio is giving a riverside chat--and a Bullwinkle moose head floats down the river behind him.

Those two incidents give some hint that this is not your typical fly fishing video.

To be sure, this is practical, professional-grade material. But it has its light moments and doesn't take itself too seriously. (We could use a little more of that in the fly fishing world.)

There are four 50-minute tapes in this series, one for each season. The first two--winter and spring--are now available, with the others to follow soon. The entire focus is on trout, so you're not going to find steelhead in the winter video or bass in the spring tape.

Oregon anglers may find this video series particularly interesting because it was filmed on the Deschutes River. The hosts are Rick Hafele, the well-known angler/entomologist/author (and a Westfly, Inc., board member), and John Smeraglio, a guide and owner of the Deschutes Canyon Fly Shop in Maupin, Oregon.

Winter Fishing

Winter Fly Fishing on Large Western Rivers covers many aspects of winter fly fishing, including reading the water, tactics, flies, tackle, trout food, clothing, and more. I was particularly pleased to see a short section on angler etiquette.

This is not a slick, guitar background, two-guys-catching-fish-after-fish-in-a-pretty-place kind of video. It's filmed in winter; the sky is overcast, the anglers are cold, the hatch comes and goes. That's the way it is--except when it's worse. But there's a wealth of practical advice here. It's worth watching several times to glean all the nuggets; many useful ideas are tossed out, but not belabored, as John and Rick pick up a trout here and trout there on a typical February day.

Spring Fishing

The next video in the series covers spring fly fishing. This video focuses more on matching the hatch because there are many more hatches to match in spring than there are in winter. More than once John and Rick seine the river--both the bottom and the surface--to discover what's going on and to choose an appropriate fly.

This time the two hosts are in shirt sleeves instead of polar fleece. They are obviously enjoying the weather and the fishing more than in winter. And are perhaps more comfortable with being video hosts.

In addition to the usual good advice you can expect a few zingers. For example, if you've been in Oregon long enough you may recall Rancho Rajneesh (on the banks of the John Day, the next drainage to the east). Well, in this video you'll experience the "Bugwan." 'Nough said.

What? No Website?

It would be handy if there were a companion website for this video series. All the fly patterns, regional hatches, tactics, good streams for each season, etc., could be listed there. But I guess that's what Westfly is for.

This video series does what videos do best: it shows you images of people doing what you and I should be doing, and it does it in an entertaining way.

Bottom Line: Entertaining video series covering trout fishing tactics in all seasons. Reviewer Rating: 4

Scott Richmond is Westfly's creator and Executive Director. He is the author of eight books on Oregon fly fishing, including Fishing Oregon's Deschutes River (second edition).

Uploaded 09/24/2002.

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