I am a whore for a good fly-fishing video, the original TroutBum Diaries still has a place in my heart as the ultimate fishing video (probably because it was so different than anything out there at the time), and every once in awhile I will pick up a few and watch them.
Hustle & Fish has been out for awhile, but I just now got around to picking up a copy from Feather-Craft. The movie was written/ directed / filmed by a couple of guys with a long resumes — Steve Apple has guided in Alaska for 7 years and Dave Wilson has worked with the likes of The History Channel, Comedy Central, MTV, and Animal Planet. Needless to say I expected a lot from this film — even though I was told the film was “different”.
The movie centers around the main character quitting his job at a big box store retailer and traveling the country to try and sell copies of a film he had shot earlier (Fishsizzle). In the process, he gets back to his basics as a guide in Alaska and finds the love for the sport that he lost. He sold a few copies of his movie, but that takes a back seat to his journey along the way.
The movie is more traditional movie like (complete with script) than traditional fish porn movies (e.g. TBD and Soulfish) but has plenty of big piggy porn to keep you watching. The scenery that is shot along with the fishing, make this worth the watch. This is a higher quality production than some of the earlier films, as the photo slideshow at the end shows that they used camera crane jibs and the like during the production.
It is definitely worth a look, as it was entertaining with good camera angles and the picture quality really bumped the bar a bit with this film. 3/4 Stars (only because the humor dies about 1/2 way through and it goes to straight fish porn).
–Matt Tucker
