Il Pescatore Completo (2019)

A homemade four and a half metre long rod, a carefully braided line made from the tail hair of a stallion, simple flies tied by hand, without the use of a binding stick - this is the so-called Pesca alla Valsesiana. This wonderful form of fly fishing has been practiced on the small mountain streams in the north of Italy at least since the 16th century. Led by Arturo Pugno, a deserving statesman of this sport, the Pesca alla Valsesiana is still practised today by a few followers on the same waters, using the same materials and techniques as back then. It is the most basic and at the same time the most refined form of fly fishing, and it is only mastered by those fly fishermen whom Arturo Pugno calls "accomplished fly fishermen". The new Patagonia film The Perfect Fisher gives us an introduction to this timeless technique of fly fishing, portraying one of its masters and showing the special places where the Pesca alla Valsesiana is practiced with the same devotion and reverence as hundreds of years ago.