Thank You Western Rivers Fly Fisher for a great TOM Film Screening!

We are always immensely grateful for the opportunity to participate in events that show us just how special the community of anglers and wild fish activists are that support the work of Native Fish Society. Thursday, September, 28th, marked one of those memorable occasions! The incredibly fun, engaged, and generous community at Western Rivers Fly Fisher in Salt Lake City, Utah, opened up their doors for a screening of the new Native Fish Society film “TOM” produced in partnership with Patagonia and with the support of Epic Waters, Babine Steelhead Lodge and created by Chase White and Asher Koles of Black Koles.

Any time we get to show the new TOM film, centered on the life and work of Native Fish Society staff member Tom Derry, we have a great time with folks. The TOM film is just plain fun and packed with the wisdom and warm-hearted expressions we know and love from Tom Derry. Executive Director Mark Sherwood was on hand to share case studies of wild abundance - like the incredible recovery of the Metolius River’s wild, native rainbow trout and the power of grassroots community stewardship - such as Oregon’s statewide protections from instream mining that started with a call action from River Steward Stan Petrowski! As Tom says, “rivers and fish need friends.” And we found many great friends, new and old, at Western Rivers Fly Fisher.

As a special draw, the crowd gathered at Western Rivers had a chance to hear directly from one of the film’s creators, Asher Koles. Asher is based in Salt Lake City, and Western Rivers was the shop he guided fishing trips out of prior to his move into recreation and conservation marketing and co-founding the creative marketing agency Black Koles. Asher is a gifted storyteller, and it was a pleasure to hear from his own perspective what Tom Derry’s work and legacy means.

Earlier in the week, Asher also attended the Drake Magazine’s film awards in Salt Lake City where TOM won the 2023 Conservation Film of the Year award! Congratulations Asher and the whole TOM film team! Thank you to Tom Bie and the Drake Magazine community.

To cap off Thursday night’s screening, Western Rivers Fly Fisher and Patagonia hosted a raffle for incredible prizes, with all proceeds supporting Native Fish Society. We cannot thank Asher Koles, shop owners Ken Davis and Bryce Nichols, and the Patagonia Fly Fish team (including Dexter Levandoski and Emily Gribble) enough for helping pull together such a wonderful night!

As we move into the fall and winter and folks head indoors, we’re looking forward to hosting a screening of the TOM film near you!