Officially Kickstart-ed!

11/15/11

Today marks the launch of the Hardwater fundraiser on Kickstarter! We've been waiting a LONG time to share our trailer with friends and family, and with those who may have never thought about or been particularly interested in ice fishing!

It's exciting to see the names of contributors as they come in - friends, neighbors, colleagues, old basketball teammates, family, and even strangers who have seen our trailer and decided to back our project. It's a remarkable feeling!

Over the next 30+ days, Dan and I will spend a lot of our time networking, sending letters, making phone calls, and updating our film page on Kickstarter.com, and on Facebook. WHEN...that's right, WHEN we reach our goal of $13,000, we will begin the process of finalizing this film and entering it into the Maine International Film Festival. Until then, check our Facebook page, follow us live on Kickstarter (Search "Hardwater") and stay tuned on the blog for updates, photos, videos, famous Hardwater quotes and stories, and other fun stuff!

Join the Hardwater team! Let's make this film a reality!

Thank you in advance!

- Ryan

Hardwater Facebook page

We created a Facebook page for our film, which includes a peak at our new film poster, created by the highly talented Kris Johnsen of Portland, Maine. "Like" it, and share it with your friends!

Hardwater on Facebook!

Low & Clear

I found this trailer on The Drake website [The Drake is by far the highest quality fishing magazine out there right now - check it out]. This film looks beautiful - quirky, intense, funny characters, and amazing cinematography. Not ice fishing, but close...Can't wait to see it!

"It's what you make..." / Inside the edit room

motivation on the door of the Hardwater editing room

We're working towards completing the rough-cut of Hardwater. Our target date for completion is September 1st! Below are a few more photos of the editing cave, where all the magic happens. Stay tuned for more film updates, some (unrelated but) awesome tarpon fishing footage from my recent trip to Florida, as well as a great interview with Danish filmmaker/photographer/scientist Jan Bach Kristensen!

edit.edit.edit.

Dan, posing

our Maine map of shot locations

The Final Shoot

This was my 3rd trip to East Grand Lake near Danforth and the New Brunswick border, fishing with Tim Jackson, Ted Weymouth, and Bob Foster. The fishing was slow (probably due to the full moon).

For those following the film, we've completed our production phase! On to post, and lots of editing! Stay tuned.

Here are some photos from the recent East Grand Lake trip:

another beautiful East Grand sunrise

Tim Jackson with an 8-pound lake trout

Ted with a huge cusk caught on a jig-pole

staring contest

Bob picking up at the end of the day

headed back to camp

looking toward Greenland Cove

the long drive home

Howatt Goes Pike Fishing

Jeff Howatt, avid outdoorsman, math teacher, and registered Maine Guide, is one of our main characters in Hardwater. He's been ice fishing central and western Maine for close to forty years. Prior to this season, Jeff had fished exclusively for cold water species, particularly lake trout and brook trout. Admittedly, Jeff had never even seen a northern pike, even though these invasives have been in Maine waters since the late 70's. He referred to them as "fake fish" and predicted that catching one would be as boring as "shooting a decoy."

Well, he changed his mind pretty quickly after hooking and landing two pike within ten minutes of each other in late January, the second of which was nearly fifteen pounds. He was able to share the moment with one of his good friends and fishing buddies, Roger Bolduc. Below is the 14.7 pounder - the largest freshwater catch of Jeff's life.

Kids Derby 2011 (photos)

Hardwater character Tim Jackson, owner of JackTraps, INC., held his 2nd annual ice fishing derby yesterday in Monmouth. The derby is for kids under the age of 12. Here are some pictures I took yesterday, used with permission:

Long Lake Trip

We'd heard a lot of stories about the giant landlocked salmon in Long Lake, situated at the very top of Maine. The lodge owner I spoke with a few months back said they hadn't caught any "big" salmon this fall, but plenty of "mediums," which to him meant 5 to 7 pounds (!!!)  Needless to say, we were pretty psyched to have three days to fish.

Unfortunately, three fishermen (not in our party) went through thin ice the first day we were fishing. It made the news in Bangor and Portand that night, and several people called to make sure our crew was OK. Here's the story from the Bangor Daily: Ice Fishermen Fall Through Thin Ice on Long Lake

Fishing with Tim Jackson (Jack Traps, INC) and Bob Foster, an old-school fisherman who used to fish with Tim's dad, we managed to land 16 salmon in three days. We didn't find the big fish - but caught several between 2-3.5 pounds, the biggest of which we brought back to the cabin for dinner! Our interview with Bob went well - we had great lighting and a beautiful ice shack in the background. Also - Dan caught his first salmon through the ice!

We captured some amazing underwater shots - shots that have never been done, shots that we've talked about for years now. These we'll save for the film!

Below are a few pictures from the trip.

Snowstorm

Salmon with hook-jaw, 3.5lbs 

What happens when the power auger jams up? Time to break out the chisel...

Opening Day, 2011

During the filming of Hardwater, we've witnessed some impressive fish being pulled up through the ice: an 18 pound togue on Sebago, several over 10 pounds on East Grand Lake, and a handful of pike over ten pounds.

When I'm not behind the camera, I'm usually fishing for big northern pike, and I've caught lots of them over 10 pounds - including a 19 and a 17, both from Long Pond in Belgrade. The action can be slow - maybe two or three flags a day. But it's well worth it when one of those flags turns out to be a monster. That was the case this past Saturday - landing the biggest northern I've ever caught (to be fair, my dad hooked and played the fish out for the first 20 minutes, I finished the last 10 minutes and grabbed the fish under the gills). She was 43 inches long and 20 inches around. On a scale that evening, she was an even twenty-two pounds.