Fly Fishing Film Tour — Headed to Springfield, MO (Oct 14, 2010)

The Fly-Fishing Film Tour, yes…..that one, is headed to Springfield, Missouri thanks to the people at Recycled Fish and the Missouri Department of Conservation.  I learned of the possibility of this a couple of weeks ago, but was told to keep it on the down-low.  The official announcement will be made tomorrow, but above is the flyer that will be launched.  The show will be free, but will be limited to the first 150 people who sign up for it.  So act fast, and enjoy the show.

Tapam; A Fly Fishing Journey — Drake Video Award (Best Fishing)

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/14877592[/vimeo]

Daniel Göz and Jan Bach Kristensen won top honors at the 2010 Drake Video Award contest during the Fly Fishing Retailers show in Denver earlier this month, by sharing the adventure of fly-fishing for tarpon out of float tubes…….freakin’ float tubes.  Seriously, this is some crazy good videography and the fish porn in it isn’t bad either.  Job well done to the both of them.  You can check out some of Dainel Goz’s photography and blog here and can see some of Jan Back Kristensen’s photography here, and had a write up back in March in an issue of This is Fly.  Both sites are definitely worth a look.

When Guiding Goes Gangster — Drake Video Award (Best Humor)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq_Bj9EruBI[/youtube]

The Drake recently held its Drake Magazine Video Awards at the Fly Fishing Retailers show in Denver, and it looks like RA Beattie added another award with his short entitled “When Guiding Goes Gangster”, as it won “Best Humor” in the contest.  RA has a pretty good blog about the filming of it, the award, and a 7-11 trip after he won the award on his blog, which you can read by clicking here.  Anytime you can combine fly-fishing and Snoop you know something good will come of it.

North Fork of the White River featured on Outdoor Channel

Ozark Fly-Fishing Guide Brian Wise is no stranger to the OzarkChronicles.  Brian is a good friend of mine, and a really good fisherman; if the guy would only catch a fish on a turk’s tarantula I might actually think he can walk on water.  So it is with great pleasure (and maybe a hint of jealousy) that I am posting that he is once again a television star.  Earlier this spring, an episode of Outdoor Channel Outfitters was filmed at River of Life Farm on the banks of the North Fork of the White River, and Brian was one of the guides featured in the episode to help with a Project Healing Waters event that was being hosted at ROLF.  After speaking with Brian about the show and the event, I can tell you he had a blast doing it.

The episode also features an Ozark Fly Fishers member, Mike Ott, doing extremely well on the water in Brian’s boat prior to the event.  This is at least the second time that Brian has shown-up on the Outdoor Channel and I seriously think this guy should invest in an acting coach or something (perhaps Mr. Paul Dallas can give him some advice about being on camera).  You can view both shows by CLICKING HERE.

Gear Review — Sage DXL Typhoon Boat Bag

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cC5Cn1Oh6o&hd=1[/youtube]

I have been ever fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time, and last year, The Far Bank Enterprises., used one of my photos in one of their holiday marketing materials.  In trade for the photo, I received a Sage DXL Typhoon Boat Bag.  Generally it is pretty bad form to review and, or, bitch about something that was given to you (as so I learned after filming a nice thank you to William Joseph for the lack of “waterproofness” of their version of a boat bag — you can see that video here); but I figured it was OK to brag about something when it lives up to its advertised expectations.

First things first, the Sage DXL Typhoon Boat Bag is B-I-G.  It looks more like a soft-sided cube cooler, than it does the traditional shape and size of a kit bag or boat bag.  The bag itself is roomy, thanks to it size.  The outside features various side pockets, but not so many that you might forget where you put things.  Every pocket has a specific purpose, and one of the side pockets has a fly patch and tool dock that are removable and can attach to the velcro on the top of the bag when in the boat.  The bag also features a one-handed flap that gave me fits at first, but on days when it isn’t raining, it will save from having to futz with the water-resistant zippers to get in the main compartment of the bag.

The inside of the main compartment of the bag is a blank canvas, with two big dividers that have a little clear compartment to store maps in, and two smaller dividers to further segment out the compartment.  The lid features, what looks like a significantly more protected water-resistant compartment to store your wallet, keys, cell phone, etc.

While the advertisement on Sage’s web site stop short at claiming the bag is truly waterproof, by reminding us that the bag is not submersible, I was curious just how “waterproof” the bag was and decided to break out the video camera and fill up the bath-tub and head to the ‘testing laboratory”.  The bag held up well and did not leak when sitting in 3″ of water in the tub, and actually wanted to float around the tub.  I was impressed with this, while the bag was in the tub no longer than 5 minutes, if it were going to leak I would have seen some moisture in the bag from this small test.  I then decided to try out the bag in the shower, and placed it directly under the shower head for about 3 minutes, simulating a pretty good rain storm.  The bag didn’t leak a bit during this test either.  You can see the results of the video test here.  In short, I have to tell you that I am pretty darn pleased with these initial results after testing the bag.  I am going to transfer my gear to it and put it through the season with me this fall and winter, and will even use it to store some photo gear in when in the boat.

–Matt Tucker