This is a masterwork.
The mini-series (set in The Florida Keys) is a blast. The info and eye candy are a rare mix.
The director, Howard, follows Andy Mill, an ex-Olympic skier, and one of the best tarpon fisherman ever to cast a fly rod (note: a tarpon is an ancient saltwater sport fish), and a small band of other tarpon obsessed anglers up and down the Keys in search of migrating tarpon. How bad is the obsession? All anglers relocated to Florida because of the fish in question - and two of the three are now divorced. Howard peers at the obsession from the sky and the water- at all hours. Somehow the film makes us feel as if we can steal their secrets, feel their pain, and eavesdrop on the intimacies of their day, and luxuriate in serious cinematic images. Something that is much harder to do than one would think - until they watch a lifetime's worth of fishing programs.
If you are an angler or acquainted with Mr. Howard's work it's actually fair to say that seeing his short films for the first time is like seeing other famous director's before they were household names. Really, It has no current peer. A generation has waited to see the "magic" of fishing. Yet, NO ONE ever sorted out how to do it. It's film-making. A rarity for the sport.
The angling public has channel surfed in desperation on weekends. They've waited patiently while flipping to other sports. Perhaps it required both a fisherman and a filmmaker to finally capture it. Helicopter shots, underwater shots, weeks on the water. These guys clearly went for it, and I hope this was not the last time. Fish don't have agents or contracts. Weather does not have a switch. Yet, they got all they went after. I saw Howard at a film festival explain some of his "tricks" for getting his shots. One day, I'd guess he may be studied the way another young filmmaker (his seminal work rhymes with "Gilligan Rain") was a generation ago.
For now, just enjoy.