Much of Bryan Huskey’s professional life revolves around catching fish. He catches them on a fly, and on film (well, technically on bytes in the digital era), and on Wednesday, Feb. 22, hundreds of people will see his work on the big screen at the Egyptian Theater in Boise.
Huskey’s film “Doc of the Drakes” was selected for the annual Fly Fishing Film Tour.
Growing up exploring the rivers of Oregon, Huskey moved to Boise in 2000 and realized he had “found his paradise.”
After a decade of holding fly rods and cameras, his passion for living and playing in the mountains became his career.
As a filmmaker, fishing guide and photographer, he handles media and marketing for Silver Creek Outfitters of Sun Valley.
Silver Creek provided the inspiration for Huskey’s film about an aging doctor stricken by Parkinson’s disease who takes a shot at the creek’s famous brown drake hatch.
We talked with Huskey about how it happened, and about his career.
Q: How hard was it to film during one of Southwest Idaho’s most famous and short-lived hatches? Is that what’s known as suffering for your art?
A: Ever heard the saying “Man, you should have seen it yesterday?”
Well the timing of the brown drake hatch on Silver Creek is tough to nail on typical years, let alone the freaky conditions we had last year with winter weather pushing late into May.
The irony of the hatch coming several weeks late last year is it allowed such an incredible story to unfold in front of my camera.
I try not to set expectations for shooting video, especially when dealing with finicky nuances of nature. I usually head out with the pile of video gear and assume I won’t get anything good on film.
Then some days little things will start to show up, like weather, critters, striking trees or insects, and the next thing I know I’m shooting all kinds of cool stuff.
Q: Was this your first entry for the film tour, and what did you think your odds were of being selected. How did it feel when you got the word?
Q: Through a nonprofit fly fishing fundraising event called Casting 4 A Cure, I’ve produced several short segments that run in the tour.
Two years ago, the film tour featured my film “Oregon Water” at select Northwest showings.
But this is the first time I’ve had an actual “feature film” in the tour.
Earlier this year, a short version of “Doc of the Drakes” was selected in the Drake Magazine Film Awards, where it won Best Story and Peoples Choice awards.
It feels amazing to be included with such incredible legitimate filmmakers in the Fly Fishing Film Tour. I can guarantee I am the least qualified in the bunch, and I have no problem admitting it.
I credit my involvement in the tour to a whole bunch of good luck and creative enthusiasm that on rare occasions such as this film can work.
I knew this film belonged in the tour because of the amazing course of events that unfolded in front of the camera, and the genuine and humble nature of the characters in the film.
It’s just such a heart-warming story. We screened it earlier this summer at a film festival in Ketchum and there was not a dry eye in the theater.
Q: Tell me a little about the challenges of crossing over from still photography to video. Did you have to buy a beret, riding boots and a cigarette holder?
Fortunately I already use all those things, so no new purchases required. Actually, I don’t know which came first between photography and filmmaking.
I’ve never had any training in either. As a kid I borrowed the family camcorder for hunting and fishing ventures with buddies. Shaky home movies in the woods were the results.
Same with photography, point-and-shoot cameras are all I had ever owned and used.
When digital cameras came along, I was able to improve through the ability to take more photos and review the results on the spot.
But it’s incredible how much time is required to edit video. The ratio of work time to product time can be staggering.
In short, photography becomes easy in comparison to video, although editing photos takes more time than most people would guess.
But I thrive on editing. I’m just as happy holding the cork of a fly rod, the grip of a camera, or clicking a mouse.
Q: The Fly Fishing Film Tour seems to be a sign of fly fishing evolving from a gray-haired, tweedy sport into almost an “action sport.” Are fly anglers in danger of becoming one of the cool kids?
Q: I think fly fishing has a bit of an identity crisis, and some in the sport are trying desperately to make it something it’s simply not — extreme. I find some of those efforts hilarious.
However, all that said, the beauty of the sport of fly fishing is its individualism. It’s quite impressive how the sport attracts people from such a wide spectrum of demographics.
The countless layers and levels of ability are endless, almost impossible for any one person to know it all, especially when the variety of species and locations are considered.
Q: What’s your white whale, either filming or fishing? What’s the one thing that you would most want to accomplish as either an angler or a filmmaker?
A: There are a handful of people who have inspired me as a filmmaker, and what I want is to inspire others they way they inspired me.
Bruce Brown’s “Endless Summer” and “On Any Sunday” films, Flip Pallot’s “Walker’s Cay Chronicles” and Warren Miller (the inventor of outdoor entertainment films) all tied story lines to their respective sports.
I want to create films that stand apart in a way that money can’t buy. What I feel is important is to deliver a feeling that inspires people, and not just by what they see, but by what they hear and feel.
Strangely the more involved I’ve become in the fly fishing industry over the years, the less “cork time” I’m able to enjoy.
Sure, I’d love to fish exotic locations all over the world, but I’m actually quite content on our local waters.
I have been to New Zealand and other famed trout fisheries, but we have some of the best trout fishing locally.
I’d love to see more, yet I’m so grateful to live here in Boise and can’t ever seem to get enough of our fishing right here at home.
Roger Phillips: 377-6215
The Fly Fishing Film Tour returns to Boise at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, at the Egyptian Theater at 700 W. Main St.
Tickets are $15, and available online at flyfilmtour.com or at the box office on the day of the event.
Purchasing advanced tickets is recommended because this show often sells out.
This year’s line-up includes 10 films including Boise filmmaker Bryan Huskey’s “Doc of the Drakes,” filmed at Silver Creek.
Other films include:
Æ “Reverb” a story about an aging Chicago punk band, Pegboy, who fly fish in Wisconsin.
Æ “The Kodiak Project” about steelhead fishing on Alaska’s famed island.
Æ “Geofish: A Mayan Prophecy” about guys who drive from Portland, Ore., to Belize for Tarpon.
Other films feature Florida tarpon, European trout, Scottish salmon, Canadian bull trout, Montana trout and Canadian char and grayling.
For film descriptions and trailer go to flyfilmtour.com.
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