FLY FISHING FILM TOUR CENTERS ON CONSERVATION

In years past, the Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T) has rolled through Bozeman in mid-winter, providing visions of impossibly inviting beaches and schools of migrating tarpon for anglers weary of the frozen rivers and lethargic trout of the Northern Rockies. Sponsors like Costa, Yeti and Simms gave out stickers and showed off their newest product lines. Local fly shops raffled away rods, reels, lines and hats. The sold-out audience grew more animated with every film, the most epic shots earning whoops and cheers as each angler added another destination to their never-ending fly fishing bucket list.

Despiste the restrictions of COVID-19, F3T is determined to deliver an equally stunning show to anglers this year, albeit in a virtual format. Included in the 2021 lineup are two films focusing on conservation and gigantic freshwater fish, thousands of miles apart.

The Exponent spoke with Guido Rahr, CEO of Wild Salmon Center and star of the F3T film “River Tigers,” about the filmmaking process and conservation implications associated with the movie. The film was captured on the Tugur River in far eastern Russia, a vividly wild landscape with some of the healthiest remaining salmon ecosystems on earth.

In the Tugur lurks the largest member of the Salmonidae family: Siberian Taimen. “It was kind of bittersweet, to be honest, as a fisherman because I’m usually allergic to talking about where I fish,” Rahr said, only half-jokingly. But the Tugur and other rivers in Russia are increasingly vulnerable. The Russian government wants to develop the area and Chinese-backed logging companies are vying for permits to extract vast swaths of timber. “Finally, we reached the point where we needed to tell the story of the Tugur,” Rahr said. “Someone once said that you’ll protect what you love, and you have to know it exists before you can really love it.”

Part of Wild Salmon Center’s conservation strategy involves establishing local organizations to defend conservation gains. Rahr insists that communities in far eastern Russia deserve credit for the steps they have taken to protect their salmon. Locals organize to combat poaching, and some schools now educate children about the value of Pacific salmon and pristine ecosystems.

As for fishing, the Tugur epitomizes the idea of a wild river. Tucked away in one of the most remote corners of the world, the Tugur largely escapes the impacts of civilization. The fishery is dangerous, thrilling and largely unexplored. Wolves and brown bears are ever-present, and extensive logjams booby-trap the river. The wilderness, along with world-record taimen, sets up an incredible adventure captured masterfully on camera for “River Tigers.”

The Exponent also spoke with artist, fly fishing guide and F3T filmmaker Johann Du Preez about his new film, “Rewa Rodeo.” The film follows Du Preez, along with a crew of talented anglers, on their journey to Rewa Eco Lodge in Guyana, where they chase giant arapaima and shed light on the Rewa community’s commitment to conservation.

Du Preez works with IndiFly, a nonprofit that helps Indigenous communities develop a local economy centered around fly fishing and conservation. In Rewa, the locals have stopped killing arapaima and shifted their focus toward creating a catch-and-release fishery. “The fishery and the livelihood of the people really go hand in hand,” Du Preez said. “Almost 90% of the village is employed through the eco-lodge in some way.”

According to Du Preez, the Rewa River’s productive arapaima fishery results from the locals’ conservation efforts. “If it hadn’t been for the people of Rewa that stopped killing arapaima and protected them, there wouldn’t be a fishery now,” he says. In the past, arapaima were killed and harvested, and their skins turned into boots and handbags. The new catch and release practices on the Rewa allow the arapaima a chance to recover, and the marked improvement of the fishery indicates a conservation victory.

Landing arapaima on-the-line is no easy task, but Du Preez insists that the filmmaking process went smoothly. “It was a lucky project for me,” he said. “Guys really converted a lot of fish and gave me a wonderful platform to film. The stars really aligned to make this project work”.

The packed theaters and buzzing crowds synonymous with F3T will be sorely missed in Bozeman this year, but a phenomenal slate of films for the 2021 virtual festival will tide us over until in-person screenings are safe. The film tour will be streaming its outstanding lineup of fly fishing mini-movies from Wednesday, March 10, to Sunday, April 4, with tickets available on their website.

Purchase your tickets for the 2021 Fly Fishing Film Tour at https://flyfilmtour.com/fly-film-tour-2021-tickets/. To learn more about the Wild Salmon Center and its valuable conservation efforts, head tohttps://wildsalmoncenter.org/. To explore Indifly’s work with Indigenous communities, visithttps://www.indifly.org/, and to see more of Johann Du Preez’s breathtaking fly fishing art, check out his Instagram @johanndupreez_art.