Monday, April 27, 2009

The Northern Angler Flyfishing DVD Review 4-27-09

Pike on The Fly - In Pursuit of the Water Wolf
featuring Barry Reynolds

If you have ever fished for pike on the fly rod, then you know how exciting it can be and if you haven't done it before, I think this DVD might have you wondering why not! Pike flyfishing expert Barry Reynolds takes us to Alaska and Saskatchewan in pursuit of Esox Lucius, the "water wolf", the northern pike and when it comes to big fish and big action, this DVD delivers. In the beginning Barry answers the question of "why flyfish for pike?" by saying that pike hit flies with bad intentions, no little nibbles, they strike and mean to do the fly serious harm. The DVD shows some of the biggest pike ever caught on film, one of them tapes out at 54" and a number of other 50"+ fish are shown. On a scale of 1 to 10 for "fish porn" value, I would put this DVD at a 10.2, with the one caveat being that much like actual porn, there is a somewhat unrealistic aspect to it, in that the DVD is filmed in a place that has more 45"+ pike than anywhere else in the world. That doesn't make it any less enjoyable to watch though, just don't expect to grab the fly rod and head out to Boardman Lake to catch trophy pike after trophy pike. In terms of instructional value, there is a bonus section on gear that lays out rod/reel, leader, and fly choices very well, but it lacks a bit in terms of actual tactics and how to find the fish. For that info, Barry's book Mastering Pike on the Fly is the way to go. Read the book for the instruction, watch the video for the excitement, and get out there and try it!

The Northern Angler

2 comments:

All about the grab said...

Great review. I have watched this DVD some 30 times since buying it a year ago.I even use it as an education tool when doing talks on Pike fly-fishing at schools with the kids and at fly-tying classes I run here in Finland. I have to disagree though with his statement that there are more 45' pike found in Canada than anywhere else in the world. The Baltic sea here in Scandinavia has probably the largest pike in the world.This is not to take people away from your blog but if you go to my label cloud and click on Big Baltic Pike you'll understand what I mean.
Anyway nice read buy the way and have a wonderful week
Simon

The Northern Angler said...

Hey Simon,
That's funny you said that because honestly as I was writing that line, I was thinking about an article from Esox magazine about pike fishing in Europe and some of the pictures were mind blowing to me! So I agree with your disagreement, perhaps someday I can find out firsthand! Love your blog by the way, lots of fun "gadgets" and info too.
Kirk