Spectacular! That is the best adjective I can come up with to describe East by North East, produced by Matt Stanton and Carter Davidson for Gray Ghost Productions.
I’ve seen my share of outdoor films, from hunting, fishing, kayaking and an myriad of good movies aimed at teasing the senses, creating fidgety in your pants and to get you off the couch. East by North East is really in a league of its own. It’s hot!
Let me first be a bit forthcoming in that some may think my review of this movie would be influenced by the fact that I know many of the players. In another life, I coached a little soccer, baseball and skiing. Carter Davidson, Luke Gray, Nathan Harvey, Jen and Stephanie Percival and Mitch Cummings all at one time or other were a part of my life and I coached them in various sports. At times some of them might have wished I wasn’t part of their life (as coaches sometimes can be) but I have to admit, I stand in awe of their accomplishments and the lives they lead.
Little did I know at the time, some 15 or so years ago, that Carter Davidson would find his passion behind the lens of a camera, that Nate Harvey would be navigating some of the most exciting white water in his kayak, or that the Percival girls loved fly fishing and Mitch Cummings would be the master of landing the big one.
What sets East by North East apart from other fishing movies is simple really. ExNE is original, creative and complete. ExNE isn’t like “all the others” but you need to get a copy to view for yourself.
Creativity begins with the title itself and never quits through 70 minutes of fun and adventure. Davidson and crew have captured the thrill that drives all avid fishermen, through unique shots, camera angles and the presentation of one-of-a-kind characters, all in some of the finest fishing waters in North America.
East by North East is a movie that isn’t afraid to expand the limits of fly fishing. The DVD begins with a trip to the British Virgin Islands, fly fishing for bonefish. Through the journey on film, the cast wets lines on the Upper Magalloway River with Rick Estes, hits some isolated back country native brook trout ponds with Erik Lippman and dazzles us with bass fishing with Mike Jones.
But it doesn’t end there. I laughed so hard I nearly spit on my computer screen watching Bill Pierce and Mike Jones trying to net a huge pike caught in downtown Lewiston, Maine on the Androscoggin River, a place that once was famous for toxic fumes peeling paint off houses.
Jump from there to Winterport, Maine and you’ll find the McKay brothers, Tait and Jax, all of perhaps 8 and 10 years of age, wielding their fly rods like pros and hauling in fish seemingly with little effort. Davidson says the two boys were born with fishing rods in their hands. I believe it.
The show isn’t all about success with every cast or fishing only. As Luke Gray physically headlocks and drags “Stoo” Mason from his distillery at the Sunday River Brewing Company, they head for Canada to do some Atlantic salmon fishing. They soon find out why the Atlantic salmon is called the fish of 1,000 casts as Luke exclaims, “It should be called the fish of 5,000 casts!” as he and the others got skunked.
Adding even more variety for your viewing pleasure, Davidson explains that Nate Harvey, an accomplished whitewater kayaker and instructor, finds fish for him while spending time upside down in some pretty wild and deep pools.
Of interest to me personally was a segment of the movie that touched on the history of the Androscoggin River. The Andy begins in the Rangeley Lakes area, meanders into New Hampshire for a spell, returning to Maine and eventually merging with the Kennebec River at Merrymeeting Bay on the coast.
I grew up on that river many years ago. At one point of the film, Rocky Freda, a Maine guide and outfitter who utilizes the resources of the river in his business, tells viewers that few houses can be found built directly on the river because it once was so polluted, nobody wanted to live next to it. I did. I played on the banks of that river as a kid. I watched as the river went from one of the 10 filthiest to what it is today. It’s an incredible success story achieved mostly because the people wanted it to happen.
East by North East gives all a chance to witness the bounty this spectacularly scenic river now brings.
Still not complete, you’ll be entertained with legends and characters like Charlie Lowe, Will Gilson, Lefty Kreh and Rik Dow. There is nothing more entertaining than listening to Dow’s unique and often bizarre perspective on life in general, say nothing about fishing. Combine the two and you’ll walk away either scratching your head or laughing it off.
If all of this isn’t enough to capture your attention and hold it for 70 minutes, no other fly fishing film breaks between scenes with fishing tales as told by noted Maine humorist Joe Perham. I have to admit that the stories told in this movie are more on the line of “Tall Tales and Damned Lies” than the more believable fishing yarns often spun by some of Maine’s more colorful characters.
And to polish things off on a very complete and expansive movie, the camera zooms in on Charlie Lowe, to a face that has seen many years on the water, slipped on more rocks than most people see in their lifetime and caught more fish than………well, let’s just say he’s caught a lot of fish. His parting words to the camera, “Fish more and you’ll live longer.”
Now that’s complete!
If you would like to purchase a copy of East by North East you can find it at the following locations:
Online:
(soon) at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Store and,
Maine Guide Fly Shop
In Maine:
Aardvark Outfitters, Farmington
Eldredge Brothers Fly Shop, Cape Neddick
Fly Fishing Only, Fairfield
Maine Guide Fly Shop, Greenville (online available)
Sun Valley Sports, Bethel
Bear River Trading Post, Newry
Bethel Historic Society, Bethel
Tackle Shop, Portland
Van Raymonds, Brewer
In New Hampshire:
North Country Angler, Conway
WS Hunter, Concord
Fox Ridge Outfitters, Rochester
East by North East will be available at other fine tackle shops and outfitters, so check with your favorite store and see if they have a copy.
Tom Remington
Below is a list of all the nominees and winners of this year’s Sportsman Channel Awards and the categories each show was nominated for.
Raised in the western mountains of Maine on the banks of the Androscoggin River and the village of Bethel, Carter Davidson is an avid fly fisherman, a producer of outdoor adventure television programs, documentaries and most recently executive producer of Gray Ghost Productions fly fishing film titled “The One.” Beginning in 2000, Carter first got his start with Maine PBS, producing and editing a long list of Emmy nominated magazine series and documentaries. Later, he traveled across the globe to locations such as New Zealand, France, Argentina, Chile, and British Columbia to film all sorts of outdoor adventures from extreme skiing, whitewater rafting and kayaking, skydiving, mountain biking and of course fly fishing. In 2007 Carter founded the video production company Gray Ghost Productions and began his search to film and capture the essence of fly fishing.
