As the opening bars of the backing track start to play and the sweeping panoramas play out on screen you could be forgiven for thinking you were about to watch a classic spaghetti western – all it needs is Clint Eastwood riding by to complete the scene. Rumours of shootouts and the deep western drawl of the narrator only serve to support this imagery even further. Just to underline the point the film is even labelled as a “Fly Fishing Western” in the titles. A Backyard in Nowhere showcases adventure fly fishing for pike in the backyard of Alaska where bullets and profanities fly as easily as the large pike flies, but where the fish are large and hungry and attract fly fishers good and bad!
We Say
Fly fishing for pike, while not new, is definitely growing in popularity and this DVD will certainly encourage more to take the plunge and give it a try. Who wouldn’t want a large toothy predator attached to the end of their fly line that appears apparently out of nowhere to lunge at your fly in a swirl of white water. With a propensity for tail walking on occasion and enough muscle to give you a good battle they are a worth adversary for the fly angler and the bonus is they thrive in waters both near and far, but particularly in hard to reach areas like Canada, the Baltic Sea and in this particular case the back-country of Alaska, the ‘backyard’ of the local native Americans that are central to the storyline.
Liberally sprinkled with great fishing, superb pike action and with some stunning fish captured this is not however your average fly fishing movie. This one comes with a PG17 rating thanks to a healthy sprinkling of nudity (courtesy of an impromptu christening), drug use and explicit language. This is not the movie to show to your granny, well not unless she is into all that too!
Now that I have your attention have a look at the trailer below!
a BACKYARD in NOWHERE official HD trailer from Sellfish Media & Smatis Film on Vimeo.
Before viewing the trailer please note that the DVD is rated PG17, it contains explicit language, profanity, drug use, nudity.
They Say
”A Backyard in Nowhere” is an independent documentary that mixes Western and Gonzo elements with traditional fly fishing.
Blinded by stories of giant Northern pike, a trio of fly fishers set out to explore the remote Innoko River in Alaska. They end up getting a whole lot more than they bargained for.
After the fly fishers meet the Native Americans that live in the drainage, their adventure begins to take wild twists and turns. Moving deeper into the Backyard, the fly fishers find some of the best pike on the fly fishing ever caught on film. But, to their misfortune, the Backyard turns out to be a lot like the old West. Generous servings of booze, taking the law into one’s own hands and gun slinging over a piece of land, are challenges that need to be overcome to find the giants of the Innoko.
The result is a film that has been compared in style to that of grindhouse flicks, putting an end to the idea of fly fishing as ”the quiet sport”.
Running time: 52 minutes
Subtitles: English
Audio: Dolby 2.0
Format: 16:9 PAL
Rated PG17: Contains explicit language, profanity, drug use, nudity.
This DVD is exclusive to Fish&Fly and FishingMagic here in the UK
Click here to buy now – price £24.95
