If you missed yesterday’s Part 1 of our interview with 9p#5 Media, please read it here.
What’s the hot topic in the fly fishing world in France these days?
The diminution of water quality and fish habitat would certainly be at the top of the list. Certain regions have population density-related pollution problems. This has two particular consequences: it’s the principal factor in the deterioration of the quality of fishing in our French rivers. The headwaters streams where the trout come to reproduce are more and more filled with silt. Moreover, it seems that the temperature of the water in certain rivers has gone up over the course of the last decades, and that poses a problem on trout territory.
We don’t want to be moralists and we understand well that fisheries ecosystems are very complex. There’s a lot of debate on fish management, on the place of catch and release, stocking, fishing season dates, etc.
Regarding salt water environment, we’ve been learning just this last year what and how things work best. We are listening attentively to what’s said to understand it all.
We really enjoyed your last video “Praises of Slowness”; please share a bit about how you developed the concept for the video.
The Ain River is a river that is unique in the world, a river that produces very big fish which come close to 80-90 cm. These trout can also have a unique behavior: they eat for example gammare (scuds) along the bank’s edge. As you can see on the video, they can lift their back out of the water during those times to eat the gammares in as little as 10 cm of water. This is why we love this river so. But you have to practice a lot if you hope to catch fish here because they are very wary. This sight fishing leaves nothing to chance and demands an thorough understanding of the river and fish.
In the film, we wanted to show that this type of fishing demands a slowness of style, and that you must know how to melt into the scenery if you hope to approach a trout from nearby. You must not make too much movement in the water, not lift your feet (to avoid the noise of pebbles rolling underfoot) hide everything that might reflect a glint from the sun.Take the time to understand what the fish is doing when he is seen. It is this rhythm that we wanted to share and show in the video.
Are you and your team full-time professionals in the fly fishing industry or do you have other “pay-the-bills jobs/businesses to run?
We are not professionals at all in the fly fishing industry. Nico is a teacher; Pierre has a fishing guide’s license and has been a guide for several years. Today he is employed as an activities organizer in a tourist bureau and is an experienced blogger on www.flyfab.fr.
Our films are made on a completely amateur basis, without a budget. We have bought our cameras and sound equipment little by little with our own means. We are learning regularly, next to friends who are audio-visual professionals, about audio-visual, how to film and the best way to edit. And then we’ve developed in our work with the help of people on the net, our friends and families; everyone helps us a bit. It’s in this spirit that we posted a “tip jar” on Vimeo; we think that certain people who like our work can then also help us financially according to their means.
In the meantime, we will see how things develop. We would like now to take on more ambitious projects and professionalize our method: make longer films, with a distribution other than the internet…we have plenty of projects. So now what is left is to find the people and businesses to help us make this happen. So we are looking for sponsors, something that is not easy to do, in despite the popularity of our videos.
What’s your favorite time on the water – whether a season or a hatch or whatever?
We can speak of 3 moments:
The first is fishing quiet water, on the rivers where we sight fish for large trout who are often close to the banks. The goal of this type of fishing (and this is seen on the video) is to move very slowly and carefully. Trout often feed along the banks, so we must be really discreet. A trout may approach who will almost feed at our feet.
The second: I believe now we can say that hunting tuna or Atlantic bonito in the Mediterranean is a time we love on the water. It’s very exciting, unbelievable and absorbing. The discovery of salt water fishing may be the most exciting for us, because it is totally new, since we have always loved fishing for trout. This feeding frenzy, the noise made by certain fish during the hunt…and then the fight, the power…it’s really terrific!
Finally the last moment is the one where we premier a film that we’ve just finished on the web. To see how people appreciate it, see the fruit of our labors finished and shown…it’s very gratifying. We are always eager to see how a film shows on the infinite canvas that is the internet, and to note a few hours later that the film has been viewed in Korea, in South Africa, or in Nepal…
If you could encourage fly fishers to do just one thing in terms of stewardship this next year, what would that be?
We do not wish to moralize at all, telling people what they must or must not do. We have our methods, our point of view about fishing, our own actions to promote and defend it. But we certainly don’t have the only answer. It’s really complex. After all, we often tell ourselves “if this part of the river is only catch and release, it will certainly have big fish!” In any case we have ourselves the desire to help create catch and release sections in our beloved home waters: the Creuse. Wild and magnificent, with beautiful potential fishery even if the fish stay a modest size. We will try to work to create the first catch and release river section in this region.
Thanks again to Nico and Pierre for taking the time to thoughtfully respond to our questions and share a glimpse into their very interesting European fly fishing world. All images in via 9p#5 Media.
