So learning of a place like Mossy Creek — the spot the Trow brothers have since named their fledgling fly-fishing shop after — might only occur after putting in considerable time and effort on the narrow grapevine that I left behind when I made the move to the fabled-turned-familiar waters of the Rocky Mountain West.
The trout streams of Virginia, the ones worth fishing anyway, certainly weren’t heavily advertised. But the best ones were, and remain, heavily regulated by the state’s Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, which typically prohibited bait and required catch-and-release practices for fish below a certain size. Only one — Mossy Creek — is restricted to fly-fishing only, with a bag limit of one trout over 20 inches. That should serve as signal enough.
I was introduced to Mossy Creek through the medium of film (DVD, actually), and specifically the film titled “Blood Knot,” one of several premiering at the sixth annual Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T), which opens at the Oriental Theater in Denver on Saturday.
Mossy Creek is but one of many places featured in the films of F3T, albeit a more tangible location than Labrador or Mongolia or even Alaska, given my kinship with the Commonwealth. But in this season of snow and ice, it’s not only nice to be reminded of the places we know, but to be inspired by the places, people and fish we may someday come to know.
“We’ve got a great mix of stories and species this year,” said F3T tour manager Ryan Thompson. “There is a great blend of trout, saltwater pursuits, some anadromous fish and even carp and musky to round things out. Some films, like ‘Blood Knot’ from TwoFisted Heart Productions, are more story driven, while others, like ‘320’ from the young filmmaker Jako Lukas, are action packed and will leave you salivating for a new 10-weight and a ticket to the Seychelles.”
Local legend John Gierach will tell you that he’s just a fisherman from Lyons, albeit passionate to the point that he has built his life and career around the activity. With nearly 20 book titles to his name and magazine features galore, his passion has taken him around the globe and landed him in another of this year’s feature films, “North of Wild” from Gray Ghost Productions.
It’s a different place to find a guy like Gierach, the self-professed curmudgeonly trout bum who still prefers books to movies. But the film takes him back to the place where his fisherman’s soul is most at ease.
“I consider Labrador the center of the spiritual universe for brook trout,” Gierach said of the remote province in northeast Canada, where “North of Wild” was filmed. “I’ve been up here a lot. This is like my favorite place to go in the whole world, actually, and I’ve written about it a lot. And I’m always torn when I write about it, because I really would like it to be my secret.”
Even after watching Gierach and his cohorts haul in brook trout weighing up to 10 pounds, it’s unlikely his wild northern honey hole will be overrun anytime soon. It has taken more than 200 years and the advent of the float plane to get these four fishermen to this untapped resource. Returning with the film was a courtesy.
“Seeing new water is a huge deal in fishing, and you don’t get to see new water that often,” he said. “There isn’t that much new water. You have to come to a place like this to find a river where, maybe it’s been floated and maybe it hasn’t.”
Or, if you’re in Denver on Saturday, you can simply go to the movies.
Scott Willoughby: swilloughby@denverpost.com or twitter.com/willoughbydp
Read more: Fly Fishing Film Tour tells great stories about great places – The Denver Post
