Joe Brooks: The Story of How Love Changed Fishing Forever

"Joe changed our fly fishing world as no one else has. If you are an avid fly fisherman and under the age of 50, chances are you have never heard of Joe Brooks, but you owe him a debt of gratitude. One of Joe's greatest gifts to fly fishermen is that he opened up the world to all those who followed. Fly fishermen today jump on airplanes to test the waters of the upper Amazon Basin, the trout streams and lakes of New Zealand, and the distant atolls of the South Pacific. But no one dared or thought of this until Joe opened up the doors."

-Lefty Kreh

This is a film about a man who was the epitome of the word “sportsman.”

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Joe Brooks - The Father of Modern Fly Fishing - How love changed fishing forever

Joe Brooks and Curt Gowdy, the first American Sportsman Show, casting into the wind

A video clip from the very first American Sportsman TV show, 1963 pilot program. It was filmed as a fishing competition between two Argentines, Tito Hosman and Erick Gornick versus two Americans, Joe Brooks and Curt Gowdy on Lago General Paz, Argentina. During a horrific wind storm the fisherman were unable to compete, so Joe gives a casting demonstration… into the wind.

A River of Change: The Joe Brooks Story - Trailer

Joe Brooks was one of the most influential sportsmen in American history. He was best known for his regular appearances with Curt Gowdy on ABC’s “American Sportsman” in the 1960’s and 70’s, one of the most popular sports shows of all time and one of the very first television shows about fishing. Brooks had a major impact on modern fly fishing not only through pioneering new techniques, new places and new species of fish, but also through his prolific writing about the sport. Joe became one of the best known writers of the 20th century on fishing. His story has never been fully told.