Zero 2 Hero in Musky Country: Brad Bohen’s stars

Musky Advice from the Experts.

Ok, here’s part of the deal. To be open and fair I have to tell you this: In January, Brad Bohen drove me home from the Hilltop Bar in Sacramento and safely deposited me at whatever hotel I was staying at. No big thing, but we’d been watching Mikey Weir’s screening of a film he’s been working on, complete with some enormous bass and Nile perch.

I was a little iffy about the Hilltop, but once we got there I discovered it was my kind of place. Cool fish-head dudes all over the place and lots of eye-candy to boot. Now who the hell was that that bought those shots? I think, actually, it may have been

Bohen. So he bought the shots that wrecked, but he got me home in one piece. In other words, I owe him one. You can be the judge of whether this is an unbiased review of Robert Thompson’s new film, Zero 2 Hero, or not. The film features Bohen and fellow guide Brian Porter.

Anyway, I’m all squared up to visit Bohen in June and get a personal tour of what he calls Musky Country, the area in and around Hayward, Wisconsin. I consider Bohen to be a cool dude, a new friend, and someone I hope to spend some time fishing with, my first crack at a legendary fish.

So, about his new film, Zero 2 Hero. I think you should own it, especially if you have any interest in chasing muskies. And if you don’t right now you will after catching this film. And how can’t you like it; in the opening scene there are some diabolic voices (Bohen’s of course) talking about a wet T-shirt contest where Bohen will get to be the trigger man, i.e. the dude with the spritzer wetting down the goods. Are you kidding me? The dude’s been studying Buddhism and meditating in the north woods or something. All the luck.

Here’s the actual dialogue and this gives you an idea of what you’re in for, a seriously sweet vid:

Setting: Sunday, September 12th, northern Wisconsin, 11:10 a.m.

Scene: Brad Bohen in the front of a drift boat casting streamers to the bank of a flat surfaced stream.

“He says, ‘Oh, hey I got a job for you. Ha, ha, ha. You want to run the spritz gun at a wet T-shirt contest?'”

“Ok. Yea, I do. I do.”

“‘Alright I’m going to put the f’in word out. Be ready at about seven. Ha, ha, ha, ha.'”

“I ran the spritz gun at the wet T-shirt contest. It was fun nonetheless.”

“Oh jesus. Holy f’. Here he comes. He tried to hit a pike. There was a pike that came out first. About 25 inches. And a frickin’ muskie tried to take him off the bank. Jesus there he is. It’s a stud…it’s a stud…it’s as stud.”

That’s a seriously cool fish scene and there are other moments during the flick where you’ll want to be the guy casting those meaty flies, but it’s not all about the fish. In fact, this is a film about culture and love of being outside. It’s about not following but leading. It’s about homewaters and a desire to learn them better than anyone else. It’s pretty damn cool.

For some viewers the interviews may drag on. But, if you are into musky’s and planning on fishing them, you’ll devour the information.

Fish-porn guys may feel a little jipped but that’s because this film has more density than most and it depicts people who are really focused, really cerebral, with one agenda in the world that matters—muskies.

You can order a copy of the video direct from Thompson at www.thirdyearflyfisher.com

To check out a trailer visit Musky Country Outfitters at www.muskycountryoutfitters.com/Musky-Media.aspx

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