Fly fishing film festival coming to LSSU on April 6
SAULT STE. MARIE — This year, Lake Superior State University will see the return of a classic local event — a film festival all about fishing.
The fly fishing film tour travels across the country every year with films that tell stories about life, family, the environment and more through the lens of fly fishing.
In previous years, the LSSU event also included activities such as public awareness displays, a silent auction, workshops, a fly-tying competition and more.
"There's a certain romance about being out on the water and doing this, whether you're catching fish or not. It's a way for folks to go out, connect with the natural resources and the films capture that," said Simon Freeman, special project coordinator at LSSU's Center for Freshwater Research.
Also called F3T, the fly fishing film tour has been around for almost 20 years. Most of the entries are short films that range from documentaries to short stories and informational films about styles and types of fish and fishing.
"The tour includes really cool documentaries and inspiring stories about the sport we all love as well as some cool stories from different parts of the world," said Freeman.
LSSU hosted the tour years ago, and wanted to bring it back because of the large amount of fishermen in the Sault area.
"The different parts of St. Marys River are world class fly fishing areas largely popular because of steelhead and Atlantic salmon populations," said Freeman.
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One of the films being shown, called "Pop Flies," depicts how things like fishing are passed down from one generation to another and how important it can be to a specific family.
F3T takes films made by amateurs all over the world and showcases them as fundraisers for local organizations. The film tour began this spring to mark the beginning of the fishing season across the country.
The festival starts at 1 p.m. at the Arts Center on Saturday, April 6. Entry is free to LSSU students. For public access, the cost is $25. The cost of entry also allows visitors to enter the silent auction. All funds raised go towards supporting the LSSU fisheries club.
"The money raised will go towards our fisheries and wildlife club here at Lake Superior State," said Freeman. "They do a lot of work and that money goes fairly quick with how active the club is. They send our students to conferences to protect natural resources, and funding our undergraduate research. When a little bit of money is available to them, they can make really cool programs."
— Contact Brendan Wiesner: BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Sault News: Fly fishing film festival coming to LSSU on April 6
