Maybe it’s just that beginning of the year energy or perhaps there’s something else in the air, but we are fokken amped for what’s to come this year. If you are struggling for motivation in 2025, maybe you just need some inspiration, like the line-up of already released and upcoming fly fishing films we have assembled below. So kick back, relax and watch some local travel, conservation documentaries and trailers featuring unreal fishing sequences below. (Above: Jesse Colten and Tommy Batun celebrate an Xcalak permit with some nipple rubbage. Photo credit Arian Stevens)
GETTING OUT – XPLORER/FLYBRU
We get it, indigenous fish are awesome and invasive fish suck. The guys from Flybru know this, but that didn’t stop them from getting out to find some hungry streamer-eating smallmouth bass in the Cederberg, while testing new gear from Xplorer Fly Fishing. They hated it (the invasive part), but they loved it (the hookups, the gear and the mission).
THE BOKONG RIVER – ROLF NYLINDER
In the far north of Scandinavia, where it’s -24 Celcius and there’s 30-minutes of sunlight each day, your mind must drift into a depression so deep that only by reminiscing about when life was warmer and fish were feeding, will you be cured (somewhat). A year after Rolf visited us in South Africa and Lesotho, he’s looking back at the events on the Bokong, attempting to figure out a hidden detail in a part of an untold story. Long story short – he didn’t. What a masterpiece.
FREE FALLING – UNDEFINED FLY FISHING PROJECT
The salmon are in danger! S.O.S (Save Our Salmon)! How many times must we say it? Holy moly can someone do something about it already before it’s too late? Free falling is a fly fishing documentary on Baltic salmon (salmo salar) in northern Sweden, shedding light on the drastic decline in salmon migration in the wild rivers up north during recent years.
Watch the full film below.
DIRECTOR SPOTLIGHT
Known for directing fly fishing films like “Running Down The Man“where anglers chase down roosterfish on the beach like crazed lunatics, and “Dubai On The Fly“, showing off Dubai’s rich queenfish fishery, RA Beattie of Off The Grid Studios has a double whammy in this year’s film festival line up. There’s Silent Spotter featuring in IF4 (International Fly Fishing Film Fest) and The Hard Way in F3T (Fly Fishing Film Tour).
SILENT SPOTTER – OFF THE GRID STUDIOS
In Silent Spotter, we’re taken back to the flats of Xcalak, Mexico, where sargassum-stalking, floating crab-eating permit are targeted with dry fly crustacean patterns.
“Silent Spotter tells the story of Tommy Batun, an extremely talented up and coming young flats fishing guide from Xcalak, Mexico. Tommy is a budding master, with a nearly supernatural ability to spot fish, and Tommy loves permit. He obsesses about permit, invents new patterns to catch permit. He would talk permit with the most committed permit nerd you know until the wee hours of the morning…except he can’t. At least not the way you’re thinking, because Tommy’s both deaf and mute. We invite you to experience salt water fly fishing differently—through Tommy’s unique perspective.”
It promises to be a fresh storyline with compelling characters and unparalleled fishing sequences. Watch the trailer below, and the full film at this year’s IF4.
THE HARD WAY – OFF THE GRID SUDIOS
“In a world dominated by instant gratification, The Hard Way celebrates a slower, more methodical approach to fishing, filmmaking, and living. Through the lens of Matt Mendes, whose family has lived and worked along the Deschutes River for generations, the film chronicles the challenges of guiding and fishing alongside the cultural and personal heritage of this iconic landscape. Mendes’ story is one of dedication, struggle, and contrast—balancing his grandfather’s legacy as the first Native American guide on the river with the demands of carving his own path in a modern age. The film, opening with narration by Chief Jefferson Greene in the native Warm Springs language of Ichishkiin, takes audiences on a journey through the seasons—a visual love letter to the river and a meditation on the lessons it teaches.
For the filmmakers, The Hard Way was an opportunity to embrace a slower, more deliberate style of storytelling. “In an age when our lives and our media move so fast, we wanted this film to breathe,” said director RA Beattie. “We wanted to invite audiences to fully see the river, to notice the details, and to reflect on why so many of us are drawn to fly fishing and the outdoors in the first place.”
Watch the trailer below, and the full film at F3T.
Into watching all things fly fishing? Check out The Mission’s YouTube channel for more.
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