‘Live the Stream’
Documentary catches fishing legend Joe Humphreys in the water
A 90-year-old rock star of the fly fishing world is the focus of an award-winning documentary film that premiered online last week.
“Live the Stream: The Story of Joe Humphreys” is a beautiful wade in the water with the lifelong Pennsylvania fisherman. A highly rated book author, former leader of the U.S. Fly Fishing Team and host of an ESPN fly fishing series, Mr. Humphreys directed the Penn State fly fishing program for 19 years. He caught his first trout, a 6incher, when he was 8.
“But [fishing] is so much more than just catching fish. It’s every aspect of it,” said Mr. Humphreys. “Casting itself is an art form . ... It’s about what’s feeding the [fish] relative to water temperature, restoration of waterways and the preservation of species.
“There’s so much to it,” he said. “Giving [people] insights into a quality of life. That’s a whole endeavor in itself.”
“Live the Stream” is neither a how-to fishing video nor a conservationist manifesto. Husband and wife filmmakers Lucas Bell, originally from Cheswick, and Meigan Bell of Sarver followed Mr. Humphreys for a year. Their presentation of his life story illustrates how an angling aptitude led to a love for the species and its habitat, resulting in Mr. Humphreys’ broader appreciation of the natural world.
“A documentary is heavily reliant on the main character. Is he someone you’ll want to watch for an hour or so?” asked Mr. Bell. “Within two minutes of meeting Joe, you realize how unique he is and engaging and charismatic. When he tells a story, you don’t want him to stop.”
In 2001, Mr. Bell was a Penn State student taking a documentary film class while enrolled in the school’s vaunted fly fishing course. He interviewed Mr. Humphreys for a short documentary about the course, which started in the 1930s.
“I got to go to his house and see his fly-tying room,” said Mr. Bell. “Years later I ran into him at the Fly Fishing Show at Lancaster and realized he was a good subject for a film.”
Ms. Bell said she was captivated by “Joe’s passion for story.”
“That’s his magnetic energy, what gives him that drive,” she said. “I wanted to get to the heart of that story. … This is so much more than a fly fishing film. The goal was to make a documentary about a conservationist who happens to be a fly fisherman.”
With its breathtaking cinematography, “Live the Stream” has won 11 festival awards.
Part of what caught the filmmakers’ interest, said Ms. Bell, is Mr. Humphreys’ enthusiasm for teaching fishing skills acquired over a lifetime. A former public school teacher and wrestling coach, he sees linkage between learning to catch fish and appreciating the environment that produced them.
“When I was a kid, my father took me fishing. I was trout-bitten,” he said. “It was such a challenge to pursue the fish, to catch that wily, beautiful thing. It shaped my life. Kids today, it gives them a direction, a goal. The other part is, once they’re pursuing this direction they’re not into drugs. They’re into the great outdoors.”
Always the educator, Mr. Humphreys said he maintains his momentum by teaching what he’s learned.
“These [students] are our future,” he said. “Who’s going to restore the stream water quality? Who’s going to give a damn about nature and what it gives to us? This is a fishing film, but it’s more about life. I try to bring out the beauty of the surroundings. I’ve never seen an ugly trout stream.”
He has seen, however, some ugly casts. The most frequent problem made by fly anglers, he said, is lack of line control.
“If you don’t have control of the line from the tip of your fly rod to your fly, you have excessive line. You have no control,” he said. “You wouldn’t know if you had a take, and if you knew, you wouldn’t have enough line control to hook the fish.”
A longtime critic of the 10 o’clock to 2 o’clock casting profile, he teaches students that the popular technique uses “too much forearm.” In his seminars, Mr. Humphreys demonstrates by making long accurate casts using only the fly rod’s tip section.
“You can make a perfect loop, but that doesn’t have too much to do with catching fish,” he said. “Shorten up the casting stroke. You’re casting to catch, not just to cast.”
At this time of year, fly fishing is different than in the spring, he said, because the fish are in a different feeding mode due to the relative absence of terrestrial bugs that fall from overhanging branches.
“You’ll still have midges and little flying insects — they come up and sip — but the tricos and so many terrestrials are gone,” he said. “It’s mostly nymphs now. You have to go down after them in the fall.”
“Live the Stream: The Story of Joe Humphreys” is available at
www.livethestreamFilm.com and digital platforms such as iTunes and Amazon Prime Video. For Blu-Ray and DVD, go to the “LTS” Store.