From its colorful opening shots to its action packed close, complete
with a pretty girl, captain Ken Neidlinger's "Secrets to Successful
Fishing for Trout and Salmon on the Great Lakes" is a keeper.
It has something to offer both novice and experienced Great Lakes
anglers. And while not without some minor flaws, the 45-minute video is a
deal at $20.
"We hope this video will make the beginner fisherman a good fisherman,
and a good fisherman better," said Neidlinger, a 30-year veteran fishing
guide on Lake Michigan and the St. Joseph River.
And it should.
Neidlinger covers all the bases -- and then some -- when it comes to
fishing for trout and salmon on Lake Michigan. He discusses boats, lures,
tackle and hardware along with tactics and techniques he's refined over
the years.
It is Neidlinger's first crack at producing a how-to fishing video. And
as knowledgeable and personable as he is, the video's strength relies
equally on the careful crafting and vision of John Holod, its producer.
Holod, a well-known travel film maker, enhances a potentially dry topic
by capturing the mood and beauty of Lake Michigan along with hard-core
technical details. His camera captures the joy of children fishing, the
excitement of steelhead jumping and the glory of fishing at sunrise and
sunset on the lake. His images are a pleasure to see.
Neidlinger's own Lake Michigan boat is a 32-foot sportfisherman without
a fly bridge. But he doesn't for a minute espouse a bigger-is-better
philosophy.
"You don't need a boat this size to catch salmon," he says. "You can do
it in a 10-foot boat."
The size simply adds comfort and convenient space for customers,
Neidlinger said. It's the right tackle and techniques that make the
difference.
For instance, jointed Rapala's are Neidlinger's favorite lure for
springtime fishing when the coho are in the shallows from 6- to 30-feet
deep. When they move out into the lake, a dodger and fly combination is
the ticket.
Yellow Birds may come out of the package yellow, but Neidlinger paints
them orange so he can see them better in the water.
Neidlinger is honest and very much himself, which is a big plus. He not
only tells his secrets, but he shows them and makes them easy to grasp. He
makes easy work of filleting big fish. Viewers learn to deploy a sea
anchor to save their boat engines and reduce trolling speed when the wind
is aft.
Viewers also benefit from how different lures are rigged and run.
Slow-motion segments show how each acts in the water.
For all its strength, it's too bad the video has a few minor flaws -- a
misspelled product name and a misspoken word are two examples. The others
are even less significant, perhaps nervous mannerisms of a charter captain
turned video show host, a real man put before the camera without much
training who, for all intents and purposes, does an excellent job.
The video is available from John Holod Productions at (877) 783-7227 or
the Web site (johnholodproductions.com).
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