![]() ![]() What made this project particularly engaging is that although we spend a lot of time out on our home waters, its almost always with a fly rod in hand and the camera in the box. We have two oceans, with tarpon on the Atlantic and a whole array of amazing species in the Pacific, lots of lowland lakes and rivers with bizarre and amazing species found nowhere else like the machaca and guapote, or rainbow bass, and we even have incredible wild rainbow trout fishing in the highlands. Q: What was your favorite part about filming in Costa Rica?Ī: We are blessed to live in Costa Rica, which is basically fishing heaven. ![]() Regardless, we hope the final film captures some of the beauty and excitement that makes up machaca fishing, and we hope it inspires people to come to Costa Rica and catch one themselves! It became a serious labor of love, and probably took way longer than it should have. Besides that, before our film the fish was almost completely unknown to the fly fishing community, so we decided to make the film to also introduce our beloved machaca to the world. So for starters, we wanted to pay homage to something we genuinely love. They are fast, eager to attack aggressively on the surface, and inhabit most of our incredible jungle rivers. It’s not the most beautiful or the biggest, but it’s extremely unique in its feeding habits and probably amongst the most downright fun fish to catch anywhere. Q: What inspired you to follow and document the story of the machaca?Ī: Costa Rica has many wonderful fish to chase with a fly rod, but the machaca is one we really hold close to our hearts. We're excited for Tom and happy our Exocett SS series served him well as he produced this film.We caught up with Tom and Federico to get the ‘Behind the Lens’ take: The Tropical Fly Collective team used Thomas & Thomas Exocett SS rods (160 and 200 grain) in the making of this film, and their light in-hand feel, ability to throw an overweighted line and heavy fly, as well as the backbone to turn a solid machaca in heavy current made the rods invaluable tools to get this project done. Instead of focusing on the angler, however, the film will focus on the fish itself, showcasing intimate footage of machaca in their natural environment to dive into the secret lives of these rainforest fish. Told in documentary style, this film serves as an introduction of the machaca to the global fly fishing community in a light, funny, and adventurous fashion. The film “Machaca – A Botanical Tale” by Tropical Fly Collective follows several of Costa Rica’s most noteworthy botanical events to tell the story of the relationship between the machaca and the forest. The feeding behavior and fishing techniques can be easily identified with by trout fishermen the world over, but what makes the machaca so unique is that its diet is mostly vegetarian. The machaca, a fish native to the lowland rainforest rivers of Costa Rica, is one such discovery. In an ever-shrinking world, discovering species new to the fly fishing community has become harder and harder. What follows is nothing short of extraordinary. ![]() For adventurous fly fishermen this means tie on a popper, hop in a raft, and float down jungle rapids. Different seasons mean the ripening of different fruits or flowers, and the machaca follow the harvest much like trout chasing hatches. Trees towering over the rivers drop fruit into the swift currents, and machaca lie in wait for the botanical feast. In the rainforests of Costa Rica there is a relationship that doesn’t happen anywhere else on the planet. Machaca-A Botanical Tale- from The Fly Fishing Film Tour on Vimeo. ![]()
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