Welcome to Week CXLV of ‘Fishing Parkland Shorelines’. Like most of us I am a novice fisherman, loving to fish, but far from an expert. In the following weeks I’ll attempt to give those anglers who love to fish but just don’t have access to a boat, a look at some of the options in the Yorkton area where you can fish from shore, and hopefully catch some fish.
Winter is a great time to watch a few films on fishing, and there are a number of excellent ones online these days.
One which I discovered a while back is ‘Follow the King’, by Vaidas Uselis and Black Fly Eyes Films.
The film follows a fly fishing trip to British Columbia after big King salmon, which for a Prairie boy is exotic enough to draw me in pretty quickly.
King salmon are one of those fish which have a rather special reputation among fishermen. It would be up there with grayling on a fly in the Northwest Territories, Tarpon off a boat, or the biggest natural rainbows you can find out there. Of course salmon are not a fish we find here, so it becomes a trip to dream of, and Uselis has taken the trip for us, and has caught the action on film to share with viewers.
It is an experience which you can see in the eyes of the fishermen on film. There is excitement and joy and near disbelief at the fishing. It is great to see.
And then there is the scenery. British Columbia has a dramatic landscape in general, and around the places big salmon lurk it is even more stunning, and it’s all there on film.
Then finally there are the fish.
King salmon are big shouldered fish. They bend rods and pull line and when they finally come to hand they are creatures of great beauty.
I think that is the best thing in a fishing film, how one gets to see the big fish up close and personal.
So I had to learn more about the film and so I searched out Uselis and managed to arrange an email interview with the filmmaker. He explained the Black Fly Eyes is their team name.
“Our team consists of three friends who are obsessed with fly fishing,” he said. “Originally we are all Lithuanians who permanently live in Norway since 2002.”
So the trio like fishing. Many people, even those among my readers, like to fish, but that does not mean we carry film cameras with us to capture our catches. So why do the Black Fly Eyes?
“All three of us share the same interests, fly fishing and besides that we are all interested in filming and photography, what we can call a second passion,” offered Uselis. “Passion to art, self-improvement in videography, photography at the same time capturing moments that gives us a lifetime of memories.”
All right, that makes sense. I get the idea, as I too like combining my interests around fishing, whether it’s collecting stamps, creating recipes, or making lures.
Uselis noted at this time filmmaking “is just a hobby,” but added “who knows one day it can become a career.”
So are fishing films of particular interest to Uselis, or just when the trio gets a good story opportunity?
“Mainly it is just about fly fishing cause this is what we mostly do,” he said.
Ultimately, it comes down to loving to fish for Uselis.
“For me fishing is not just about getting a fish, it is so many more,” he said. “Since childhood I was nature lover, so the connection with the nature and having people around me with the same philosophy is just blessing.”
As for the film ‘Follow the King’ Uselis said it was a film which evolved over time.
“The idea for the name came from the real experience fishing and chasing this incredibly strong Anadromous, simply describing you have to really work hard to get those fish to take the fly and even harder to land them successfully,” he offered.
As for the idea for trip Uselis said, “a friend of our team had been there in 2012, so we all decided to get back to BC in 2014 and that’s exactly what we did. Filming is just naturally when we are going for our fishing adventures.”
What did surprise me is that Uselis said there were no real logistical issues filming in Canada, even though they were flying in from Norway.
The film was shot in July 2014, in the Terrace, Kitimat and Kispiox areas of B.C.
The film certainly caught my imagination, and I told Uselis.
“First I thank you for your compliment, yes it was obvious that some of the scenes were really spectacular and I already knew it where and how I was gonna present them while editing the movie,” he said.
While I liked the film, I was curious what Uselis thought made the film special.
“I think many things, like beautiful nature, beautiful rivers, wildlife, spectacular catches, good example how to treat the fish, talking about catch and release,” he said.
Uselis added as a filmmaker he of course sees things he would do differently now.
“Everyone of us has self-criticism, when I look back I can see that I was too quick in addition process,” he said. “I feel I could do better but it’s not the last movie by the way I continue learning.”
That said, he admitted viewers have liked it.
“Response was only the positive I think people who watch such a movie has quite the same philosophy,” he said.
You can find the filmmakers on Facebook as ‘Black Fly Eyes’ or watch the Vaidas Uselis movies on Bimeo such as ‘In search of silence’ https://vimeo.com/95574717
