Location X

Format: DVD
Length: over 90 minutes Writer/Director/Producer: Jamie Howard
Web: www.howardfilms.com

IS THERE A FISH that fills more dreams of fly fishing success, is responsible for more fights among guides and competition among anglers, or gobbles up more money, time and excitement than Megalops atlanticus?

Jamie Howard took the question seriously — even if he knew the answer already — in "Chasing Silver: A Tarpon Journey," the first of his film tributes to the sport. This summer we got his follow-up,
"Location X," another thrilling study of the obsession, but with a focus on place rather than personality. In a cloud of secrecy, we are transported to a clandestine spot to fish with a masked guide (Racer X, anyone?), lured by reports of large, willing tarpon in shallow water. Passing through dark mangroves identified only by a lone stake with a black 'X' burned into its weathered surface, we travel with unknown and unsuspecting anglers to wide, mottled flats backed by a featureless shoreline. It all looks normal enough, even sedate. Then we are yanked to our senses by some of the most spectacular tarpon eats yet captured on film.

Howard invited three anglers: Greg, a Bahamas bonefish guide; Rachel, a west coast fly casting instructor, and Tom, the only tarpon-savvy participant. The film wastes no time setting the tone, with Greg coming unglued after a triple-digit fish inhales the fly very close to the boat. Funny how, with tarpon, you never tire of seeing that eat. But it wasn't until Howard brought his vision to filming the sport that most could get a sense of the workout a heart takes when an aggressive tarpon takes the fly within a rod length of the boat.

The eat, after all, is the moment that drives us to stake out before light, to pole the entire basin, to carefully construct the leader and shock. Sure, the strike, the runs, and the jumps all contribute to make tarpon fishing the penultimate game, but it is seeing the fish slow down, elevate and track the fly, then commit his whole force to capturing it, that shakes us silly.

In "Location X," Howard uses the same high camera angles and high-definition clarity that characterized "Chasing Silver" and captures multiple sequences of flies cast to fish in clear water. The astute angler is able to follow the presentation of the fly and its manipulation in relation to the fish's angle and direction of movement. He feels the fish's attitude improve after sensing the fly and sees his body coil before taking the fly. In truth, all the articles and books yet written on tarpon fishing can not provide the visual lessons learned from studying multiple shots filmed at ridiculously close range. A few minutes spent in study here will not only give anglers a laundry list of things they need to practice, but also perhaps provide some experience with the take and the fight that will calm nerves when the real thing happens — at least until the first big tarpon grabs the fly and breaks off.

Andy Mill once described fly fishing for tarpon as "part ballroom dance and bar room brawl." Appropriately, the "Location X" soundtrack shifts from delicacy to drama, the high-pitched sound of a violin suddenly keeping pace with the heart-pounding grabs and jumps. It's easy to underestimate the importance of music in any film, and in a film where getting it wrong would insult the fish, Howard is always on cue.

In contrast to his first film, however, there is less How-To here, less explanation from the players about what they are doing or trying to achieve, the guide's sometimes overly specific barks of instruction notwithstanding. The theme may quickly stale for those who got the message the first time ("'Location X,' get it?") with continued references to not knowing where the anglers are located or going that sometimes kills the pace. Fortunately, Howard does succeed in preserving the unanticipated missteps we all make when big tarpon take the fly and run roughshod over our nerves and tackle alike. And we are left wondering, as we should, where all this magic is taking place.

The DVD's bonus segments on tying the toad and Floaty Fly by Matti Majorin are clear and useful. The interviews with Rowland and the Masked Guide were succinct and pithy, in contrast to the rambling monologue of Rowland/Tudor in "Chasing Silver." And the "best of" compilation of shots, eats and jumps is enough to make even the most jaded tarpon fisherman jump up.

Tarpon have been a visual delight of filmmakers for over 30 years. No film has yet captured the jumps of tarpon as well as the Guy de la Valdene classic from 1974, "Tarpon," with its gill rattles shattering the slick calm of the Marquesas. Nor can any film replicate the sly humor and southern drawl of a youthful Billy Pate exclaiming "I'm not talkin' about a 4-pound record for bluegill" in the classic Scientific Anglers series on fly fishing for tarpon. But together, "Chasing Silver" and "Location X" highlight the mystery and obsession that is tarpon fishing like no other films to date. This latest work — where Howard takes a stronger directorial hand and more risks — heightens our urge to go back to a place in our memory where tarpon fishing days live, and calls more of the uninitiated to warmer waters.