Fishing

The Fish That Becomes an Obsession for Fly Anglers

What is it like to chase a fish long enough that it starts to feel personal? Wild Fly’s Belize permit film explores the obsession, doubt, and persistence behind the pursuit.
Ken Baldwin|
Scott Finanger of Wild Fly with "fish on!" in Belize.
Scott Finanger of Wild Fly with "fish on!" in Belize. | Photo provided by Wild Fly Production

I have this dog. She’s obsessed with the squirrels in our backyard. She’ll sit at the back door staring out the window for hours, waiting for one to show up. When it does, she barks and cries until I let her out. She never catches them. And she never stops trying.

Maya the pitty, shepard, retriever smiling to the camera.
Non-Catching, squirrel chasing, extraordinaire. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

When a Fish Gets in Your Head

I don’t look down on her. I don’t think she’s crazy. I know the feeling — a lot of us who call ourselves fly anglers do. We’re an obsessive bunch. We can lock in on one species of fish and follow it straight into something close to manic tunnel vision.

For me, it was striped bass in the surf. Not just striped bass, and not just the surf. It had to be a striped bass on a fly rod in the surf. That combination became the thing. The longer it took, the more it mattered. The closer I got, the bigger the fish grew in my head.

How Far Anglers Will Go for One Fish

I know a lot of anglers get like this. I’ve seen the obsession range from, I’m committing every weekend until I catch this fish, to, I’ve committed my life — no wife, no real housing, no bills, no backup plan. Just chasing the next shot.

I’m not going to call it irrational — when you’re in it, it feels completely rational. In fact, some of my clearest thinking has happened while I was living that life.

A Story As Old As Fishing

And it's not a new idea. One of the greatest books ever written is about an angler obsessed with catching a fish: Moby-Dick. The scale is different, but it's the same story — a pursuit that becomes bigger than the catch itself.

The Obsession on Screen

I watched the real-life version of this obsession play out in the film 20 Days to Catch the Holy Grail of Fly Fishing by Wild Fly Productions.

Scott Finanger of Wild Fly at the start of his 20-day permit quest (Belize), standing on a dock looking at the camera.
Scott Finanger at the start of his 20-day permit quest (Belize). | Photo provided by Wild Fly Productions

Scott Finanger of Wild Fly has given himself 20 days in Belize to catch a permit. Sometimes with a guide, other times he goes about it on a DIY.

At First, It’s Just Fun

It started out entertaining, a travel film, light, easy and fun like road trips are supposed to be.

A drone shot from above of a boat with a guide and a fly angler fishing the flats of Belize for permit.
Like a dream. | Photo provided by Wild Fly Productions

It didn’t stay that way. The entertainment value was always good, but before long it turned into something deeper — watching an angler struggle, unravel, regroup, find brief victories, and then run straight into the next setback.

What looks like a fishing story on the surface gradually becomes something more personal, a study in persistence, frustration, and doubt.

Where the Film Gets Personal

I found myself invested less in the fishing scenes and more in the moments when Scott is one-on-one with the camera — just him and the lens — talking through how the day went, where his head’s at, and the doubt starting to creep in. You can see the emotions building. It doesn’t feel scripted, but more like a spilling out of what the pursuit is doing to him.

A tired and frustrated Scott Finanger looks to the side of the camera while he is having his photo taken.
Scott expressing the frustration from a day of chasing permit | Photo provided by Wild Fly Productions

More Than a Highlight Reel

This isn’t your typical fly-fishing highlight reel. A short video is mostly eye candy, but it can’t carry the emotional weight of chasing an obsession. At 2 hours and 12 minutes, this is a feature-length film that will take you on the full arc — the anticipation, the setbacks, the doubt, and the small wins that keep someone in the hunt.

Get some drink and food and make an evening of it. It is a film worth watching on the biggest screen you’ve got. The camerawork by Thomas Barzilay Freund and Ivan Orsic captures the beauty of Belize and its fisheries. Add to that Scott Finanger’s willingness to let the camera see the unguarded version of himself, and you’ve got a film that tells an in-depth story of obsession and the pursuit of a white whale. ~ Ken Baldwin - Follow me on my X account

"Slow down...listen to the hoppers...be patient with yer wife...eat sardines with hot sauce... catch “Gagger” trout!!!" – Flip Pallot

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
Ken Baldwin
KEN BALDWIN

Ken Baldwin is a Writer/Editor for Fishing On SI, where he writes stories about fly fishing and the lifestyle that surrounds it. His writing and photography have appeared in Men's Journal, Catch Magazine, Fish Alaska, and the American Angler. He also created and hosted the TV show Season on the Edge, which aired on NBC Sports and in seven countries, showcasing travel, adventure, and culture through the lens of fishing. For twenty years, Ken worked as a fly fishing guide in Alaska, which gave him opportunities to hang out with and photograph the Alaskan brown bear. His experience photographing the brown bear helped him land a job with the Netflix documentary Our Planet 2, narrated by David Attenborough. If you dig deep enough in Ken's resume, you will see that he played the terrorist "Mulkey" in the film Die Hard 2 before fly fishing took over his life. Ken is a graduate of the University of Washington.

Share on XFollow foxalear
Home/Fly Fishing