The Search - Tahiti

publication date: Jul 6, 2008

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author/source: Fish & Fly

"We all desperately wanted to believe. The entire premise for the expedition was nothing more than a few stories and a fair degree of wishful thinking.

The journey had evolved from an exploratory mission into a fully fledged crusade. We had conveniently blurred the thin line between fantasy and reality, fuelled by the promise of virgin waters."

Words that surely capture the imagination of any travelling angler and a pretty good introduction to this first of 3 DVD titles we will be reviewing over the next couple of weeks from Intrepid Angler and Gin Clear Media.

A nice touch inside the DVD case for "The Search - Tahiti" is a small booklet of text and pictures introducing the team of Kent Fraser, Nick Raygeart, Craig Worthington, Simon Cox and also Matt McHugh of UK based travel firm Fly Odyssey. It also includes some nice photos and short snippets from journal entries and general information on the ultimate destination of Tetiaroa, 30 miles off the coast of Tahiti that help to set the scene and add a little more interest all around.

Sitting down to watch the film the old adage of "half the fun is in getting there" certainly applied to this expedition as we initially follow the team as they survive a few days at sea on a local freighter as they travel towards their remote island destination. This includes a few stop-offs along the way catching exotic reef species and even swimming out to a drop-off to target larger species while keeping a wary lookout for sharks.

But the focus here is on finding bonefish and when they finally reach the atoll they had heard about it does not take them long to find the fish, but rather than turn this into a glory film the reality is maintained with multiple breakages and losses, mainly as a result of the coral "bommies" studding the lagoon. With 10 weights becoming the main weapons needed both due to the size of the fish encountered and the need to keep them away from the coral, there is a nice selection of fish shown with some breaking the magical 10lb barrier and of course the background scenery is also stunning. There is something about Polynesian light that seems to have a certain clarity about it - probably thanks to the lack of pollution that we are habituated too here in 'civilisation'.

What I particularly liked overall about this film was the completeness of the story as although the fishing is central to everything there is also an element of travelog here too. A nice addition is also the section on the research effort they helped to initiate in the region (see the second trailer below).

Finally a valuable warning to any would-be fishing adventurers out there - unless you enjoy coconut and rice - make sure you pack enough food for your expedition!

Now click on play below and watch trailer for The Search-Tahiti.

Research Trailer