Third Year Fly Fisher

     6/05/13

        Another month has passed (where does the time go?)
        so I guess it's time for another brief update.

          I've been an absolute road dog as of late, grinding
         out the miles to and from Michigan. I'm trying to get
          up there as much as I can, to get as much footage as
          I can, with hopes that come November I have what I
          need to start slapping this project together. It's been a struggle.

           I'm completely at the mercy of ma nature and so far this
            year she has been a bit rude. What a difference a
            year makes however. last season was a drought
            year while this year is a high water year...opposite ends of the spectrum
             and it does not make shooting this thing any easier.

            Some week ends have been a bust, some productive
            and others somewhere in between. Last weekend
           I was finally at the right place at the right time and
            we were treated to a dandy of a Drake spinner fall
           and hatch. It was about as good as I've ever seen
          it on that river. It was almost to good...by 11pm
          there were bugs wing to wing on the water. It's like
         trying to hit the lotto getting a fish to pick your fly
         out of the thousands floating down the river.

         I'm leaving again tomorrow morning and for once
        have a handful of days to hopefully get some footage in
        the can. The weather looks so so...but should be just good
       enough to make some things happen. I need it, the fish catching footage
      is a little light right now. This ain't out west where you know day in and
      day out you can stick some fish...the AuSable doesn't play that way.

     I have about 4 or 5 more interviews to get and the meat of it will be shot. Then it's just
     sceneics and fishing footage. I knew that latter would be tough but I had no idea of
                   how tough it has been. Case in point, I'm suppose to be following a father/son
                    hex fishing starting next Saturday...the problem is, I don't think we'll be in hex
                    by then...and there is no reshoot since the dad is coming in from Conneticut.

                     And there in lies the problem and challenge of trying to hit bug hatches! i'm
                     not sure what plan B will be but I suspect we'll be fishing Drakes or Iso's.
                     Oh well...I did shoot a little bit of them fishing Hex last year. But, you never
                     know, maybe things kick into high gear and we'll get some bugs in a couple
                     weeks.

                      So that's the latest on the project....


         I had to go to Oklahoma City to do some field producing a couple weeks ago.
                   I'll tell you what, spending a day in that disaster
                    will slam life into perspective real quick.
                     I've never seen such devistation in all my life
                    and I hope to never again. I don't know where
these poor folks even begin to pick up the pieces and start over...geez.

The following weekend I was up in Baldwin, MI fishing the Pere Marquette river...
what a beauty this thing is. It's definitely one of my favorite rivers in the state
and it certainly did not disappoint once the water levels dropped...as has been
the case for most Michigan rivers this spring, but in the long run it's a good
thing.

Anyway, caught a 7pm grey drake spinner fall that I won't soon forget.
Every 16 to 18 fish in the river was out feeding...it was pretty cool.
We all had some great shots at fish...most battles were won, but there
were a handful lost as well.

                                I just did a couple international wholesale deals to
                               distribute all my dvd's in both Germany and Brazil.
                            I think that's pretty cool and seeings as though all the dvd's have all been
                         out for awhile and they are still selling, and selling pretty well...I'm greatful!!

                     So thanks once again to all of you who have supported my little pet projects!!
                  Hopefully with a little luck the AuSable dvd will hit it's releease date
               and maybe be equal to or better then the previous efforts. Speaking of which...

THE BROTHERS BROWN piece got a little love in this months THIS IS FLY.
Paris Fleezanis who is the brain child/publisher (and former Michigander)
reached out to me when the trailer was released. I've had a nice relationship
with the E-zine over the past few years and they have been nice enough to
have done feature stories on the Musky Country, HOTD and now the AuSable
projects. So thanks to Paris and THIS IS FLY for the spotlight!!!

The long version of the Brothers Brown is done and I'm prepping that for the
final surround sound mix. It runs about 43 minutes and will also be a
special feature on the final dvd.

I have another special feature that i think folks are really going to enjoy
as well. I have about 90% of it shot and hopefully in the next trip or two
I'll get the rest in the can then start cutting that it. I may try and submit a short version
of it to the film tour but I don't think it's really the kind of content they are looking for...but you
never know. Regardless, I think it's going to be a great addition to the DVD.

I have high hopes for it...fingers crossed and a little luck it could be a good one, and the perfect project to retire on!!!

Brad Bohen (Mr. Musky) whipped through Chicago a few weeks back and I had a chance to
meet up with him and have a beer or three. It was nice to catch up, it had been a couple
years. If all goes well I'm going to try and make it up to Musky Country in late October for the big Musky Ball...should be a hoot!!

I posted a pic on the stills page from last Saturday of some Drakes sitting on my camera about 2am.