Running down the man

Now here's something which you don't see that often: fishing for roosterfish from the beach. No boat, no guide, no poling. Just a sand buggy, some rods and a couple of crazy guys literally running up and down the Baja Mexico in the pursuit of some grande roosterfish - like in big.

And it's great fun. It is to watch at least, and it must have been to do... apart from the stings from the jellyfish and the bees... and the sand and heat... and the snakes and the cows on the porch. But the clear water, the hunting roosters close to the shore, the driving around in a sand buggy, and filming from an ultralight. A real boy's dream come trough.

And this seems to be exactly what it is. This is a couple of guys - Ben Knight and Travis Rummel - following another guy - Frank Smethurst - following a dream: to catch a large roosterfish - the Elisabeth Hurley of fish, as Smethurst puts it. A truly classic remark in fly fishing.

Elisabeth Hurley or not, the roosterfish are sexy fish, and the running up and down the beaches to get within casting range of these potential giants is exiting. The pace is high, hearts are pounding, there's lots of excitement, plenty cheering and probably quite a bit of swearing too. The DVD seems to be very representative of the trip, which seems to be on the brink of being headless and on the verge of being irresponsible - not quite unlike trips done by numerous anglers on many occasions. And that's probably why the video is so compelling. It's very much like being there, like a trip you could have done yourself.

The cinematography and production might pull you out of that fantasy, because this is far beyond your average home video. The footage and the mixing combined with a great sound track lifts it up. The rhythm is much like the music video style that we have seen in several ground breaking fishing DVD's the last few years.
The music video concept is true when it comes to the length of the DVD. It's a long music video, but a short DVD. 17 minutes plus 8 minutes extra material!

The producers have obviously chosen to use the best and most exciting minutes of their raw material, and I fully sympathize with that, but on the other hand I'd like to spend more time with these crazy folks and see and hear more about their fishing for Elisabeth.

But still, it's a great DVD and well worth the money and the time it takes to watch - how ever short.