A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF FLY FISHING HISTORY.
Narrated by Tom Skerritt who played Norman Maclean's father in"A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT"
SYNOPSIS
At the turn of the 20th Century, a handful of pioneers carried their fly rods into California's remote north coast and gave birth to a culture that would revolutionize their sport. For a select few, steelhead fly fishing became an obsessive pursuit without compromise.
Leading the pack was the mythical, Bill Schaadt, an off-kilter fly angler famous for his ruthless pursuit to be "in the fish". The new endeavor was marked by a demanding, unspoken code, which made breaking in almost as difficult as breaking out.
By the early 1980's, the Golden State's coastal fisheries found themselves caught in a spiraling decline. As California searched for its disappearing salmon and steelhead, these men foraged for their souls.
Ted and Bill Rivalry
In the 1940s and '50s, an unpopulated California reigned as a sportsman's paradise. While famous fly fishing
names sprouted out of the Bay Area like wildflowers (Myron Gregory, Jack Horner, Phil Mirravelle, Buddy Tarantino, Jimmy Green), two of the sport's most
accomplished anglers lay nestled away on California's remote north coast.
From the 1940s-90s, Bill Schaadt and Ted Lindner were two of the most successful and dedicated anglers fly fishing ever produced. With origins tied to the golden years of California's Russian River, these close friends would eventually become bitter enemies.
Ted Lindner, the WWII veteran, was a hard-nosed, highly successful and highly competitive angler. A product of the
Great Depression, Lindner learned to embrace the quiet resourcefulness and self-reliance that defined his generation.
To Lindner's counter-point was the flamboyant and loud Bill Schaadt. With an endless bag of angling tricks that included razor blade flies and cutting anchor ropes, Schaadt was a larger-than-life figure.
At first glance, they were polar opposites: Ted Lindner, the stern authoritarian and Bill Schaadt, the reckless talent. But at closer inspection, they were both completely devoted anglers who shared more similarities than disparities. Their unique lives and spirited feud became a metaphor for the rise and collapse of California's north coast fisheries.
The DVD will be released later this summer.
