In 1976, Norman Maclean's novella, A River Runs Through It, introduced a generation of anglers to the lives, loves, and losses of a Montana family. Fifteen years later, Robert Redford's silver screen adaptation introduced a whole new generation to Norman's story.

There are five major casting/fishing scenes throughout the film. John Dietsch, Jerry Siem, and I appear as fly-fishing doubles at various points. While there is more back-story to those scenes than I will discuss here, what follows should still give you an idea of what you're seeing in the movie. The scenes are listed in chronological order:

Breaking Free: Here is where Paul Maclean (Norman's brother) really becomes his own caster, moving away from his father's teachings. The three principle actors, Craig Sheffer (Norman), Brad Pitt (Paul), and Tom Skerritt (the Reverend Maclean), all cast at once, each with their own style. Paul, however, is on his way to becoming an artist with a fly rod.

As he wades upstream, away from his family, he begins to stretch his casting out, reaching beyond anything that his brother or father might have thought possible. The casting is long, smooth, and powerful—and it is done by Brad's double for the scene, Jerry. His seemingly effortless casting helps to create a sense of Paul's journey toward art and grace.

Roll Casting: This is the scene where Norman returns from Dartmouth and the two Maclean brothers decide to go fishing. Shortly after they arrive at a "good hole," Paul is into a fish. The quick cut-away shot is a silhouette of me doing some furious reeling upstream of a big boulder. What you don't see is John and couple of other members of the "fish crew" hiding behind the boulder, assisting with trout wrangling.

Norman then begins to roll cast, but he is, as Paul notes, "rusty." Paul suggests that his brother, "Cast...into the current," in order to give him "a better base, add some distance." Norman does not exactly appreciate the encouragment, but once Paul goes for a walk upstream, Norman gives it a shot.

Norman's first roll cast here is a "warm-up," and my arms do the doubling during the cast. Satisfied with the results, Norman takes a look around and spots a lee behind a mid-stream rock. As he prepares to cast, Jerry's arms come in, and then all of Jerry (from the back) steps up to make two roll casts across the river. Norman may have been away from fly fishing for a while, but he certainly remembered how to cast again in a hurry!

Shadow Casting: Immediately follows Roll Casting and is Paul's main casting scene. This is explored on the Shadow Casting page.

Bunyan Bug: This is a long scene, and there is only one brief moment—where Paul first crosses the river—where a double (me) was used, and only for wading. This is, however, where Norman out-fishes Paul by matching the hatch with a "Bunyan Bug Stonefly Number Two."

Final Fish: Also known as the "Big Swim" or "When John Almost Drowned for the Camera." The footage for this scene was shot at two different times—August of 1991 and March of 1992—and used two different doubles.

The scene really gets going when Paul wades out into the river, having spotted a perfect eddy on the far side of a raging rapids. As Paul casts, the film becomes a blend of Brad's own casting, images of line loops (some shot elsewhere), and a brief clip showing my arm from the Roll Casting scene.

Once the huge rainbow takes the fly, Paul has to follow it down the rapids. The first part of that mix shows Paul struggling against the fish and the river. A number of the close-up shots from behind were actually filmed in March, using a skeleton crew and one very frozen double (me). I have never been as cold in my life as I was during that shoot, but I didn't have to drown for the camera; that was John's duty.

Skipping forward in the scene, but back in time to August, Brad took his plunge through the rapids, followed by John's disappearing act—the first full-on "fly-fishing movie stunt." To get the final footage, John took some pretty good rides down the chute, ending up upside-down and totally underwater at one point. Despite a few unwanted gulps of river and a temporarily lost rod, John got it to all work out in the end.

Of course, a film can only be so long, and some of the fishing did not make it into the final cut. There was also a huge amount of additional fly-fishing work done for the film over many months by many talented people. The contributions of all involved helped to make the fishing an integral part of the story.

In 1976, Norman Maclean's novella, A River Runs Through It, introduced a generation of anglers to the lives, loves, and losses of a Montana family. Fifteen years later, Robert Redford's silver screen adaptation introduced a whole new generation to Norman's story.

There are five major casting/fishing scenes throughout the film. John Dietsch, Jerry Siem, and I appear as fly-fishing doubles at various points. While there is more back-story to those scenes than I will discuss here, what follows should still give you an idea of what you're seeing in the movie. The scenes are listed in chronological order:

Breaking Free: Here is where Paul Maclean (Norman's brother) really becomes his own caster, moving away from his father's teachings. The three principle actors, Craig Sheffer (Norman), Brad Pitt (Paul), and Tom Skerritt (the Reverend Maclean), all cast at once, each with their own style. Paul, however, is on his way to becoming an artist with a fly rod.

As he wades upstream, away from his family, he begins to stretch his casting out, reaching beyond anything that his brother or father might have thought possible. The casting is long, smooth, and powerful—and it is done by Brad's double for the scene, Jerry. His seemingly effortless casting helps to create a sense of Paul's journey toward art and grace.

Roll Casting: This is the scene where Norman returns from Dartmouth and the two Maclean brothers decide to go fishing. Shortly after they arrive at a "good hole," Paul is into a fish. The quick cut-away shot is a silhouette of me doing some furious reeling upstream of a big boulder. What you don't see is John and couple of other members of the "fish crew" hiding behind the boulder, assisting with trout wrangling.

Norman then begins to roll cast, but he is, as Paul notes, "rusty." Paul suggests that his brother, "Cast...into the current," in order to give him "a better base, add some distance." Norman does not exactly appreciate the encouragment, but once Paul goes for a walk upstream, Norman gives it a shot.

Norman's first roll cast here is a "warm-up," and my arms do the doubling during the cast. Satisfied with the results, Norman takes a look around and spots a lee behind a mid-stream rock. As he prepares to cast, Jerry's arms come in, and then all of Jerry (from the back) steps up to make two roll casts across the river. Norman may have been away from fly fishing for a while, but he certainly remembered how to cast again in a hurry!

Shadow Casting: Immediately follows Roll Casting and is Paul's main casting scene. This is explored on the Shadow Casting page.

Bunyan Bug: This is a long scene, and there is only one brief moment—where Paul first crosses the river—where a double (me) was used, and only for wading. This is, however, where Norman out-fishes Paul by matching the hatch with a "Bunyan Bug Stonefly Number Two."

Final Fish: Also known as the "Big Swim" or "When John Almost Drowned for the Camera." The footage for this scene was shot at two different times—August of 1991 and March of 1992—and used two different doubles.

The scene really gets going when Paul wades out into the river, having spotted a perfect eddy on the far side of a raging rapids. As Paul casts, the film becomes a blend of Brad's own casting, images of line loops (some shot elsewhere), and a brief clip showing my arm from the Roll Casting scene.

Once the huge rainbow takes the fly, Paul has to follow it down the rapids. The first part of that mix shows Paul struggling against the fish and the river. A number of the close-up shots from behind were actually filmed in March, using a skeleton crew and one very frozen double (me). I have never been as cold in my life as I was during that shoot, but I didn't have to drown for the camera; that was John's duty.

Skipping forward in the scene, but back in time to August, Brad took his plunge through the rapids, followed by John's disappearing act—the first full-on "fly-fishing movie stunt." To get the final footage, John took some pretty good rides down the chute, ending up upside-down and totally underwater at one point. Despite a few unwanted gulps of river and a temporarily lost rod, John got it to all work out in the end.

Of course, a film can only be so long, and some of the fishing did not make it into the final cut. There was also a huge amount of additional fly-fishing work done for the film over many months by many talented people. The contributions of all involved helped to make the fishing an integral part of the story.

Production still from publicity shots for A River Runs Through It (J.Borger personal collection).