The novel – and now a movie!
End of the Line
September 2025
By Polly Dean
The feature film Looking Through Water is now in theatres. Partially based on the novel of the same name by Bob Rich, it has a theme of a family bonding and healing through fly fishing.
The On The Fly South crew has crossed paths many times with Bob Rich. We met Bob two decades ago, while working and fishing with the Golden Isles Red-Trout Celebrity Tournament on St. Simons Island, Georgia. That tournament was a spin-off of the original Redbone Tournament in Islamorada, Florida benefitting research for Cystic Fibrosis. Bob Rich is the owner of Rich Products, a dealer in sea foods that is headquartered on St. Simons. His company was the title sponsor and major supporter of the tournament for several years. Splitting his time between homes in Islamorada and the Buffalo, New York area, he also owns the Triple A Buffalo Bisons minor league baseball franchise and is a member of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.
Bob Rich
On a closer note, a couple of excerpts from Looking Through Water have appeared in the pages of On The Fly South (Day One – Bonefish in May of 2021 and Day Two – Tarpon in October 2020). Bob also has authored several other books based on his experiences and passions for fishing, whether it is competitive or just for the love of the sport. The proceeds from the printed version of Looking Through Water were donated to Project Healing Waters to support military veterans in finding healing through fly fishing.
The storyline of this film is a generational drama where pain and healing between a man that has emotional bruises of his own, and his bruised and bitter grandson that interact and navigate the waters via a fishing tournament in San Pedro, Brazil. The plot is described a wealthy, hardened tycoon William McKay as his world is crashing from a hostile takeover of his company. William receives an unexpected call from his father Leo, who he has been estranged from due to abandonment, with an invitation to a father-son fishing tournament in Brazil.
The story weaves in characters, including a fishing guide with secrets of his own and a local female doctor whose kindness shines through his doubts and defenses. William navigates the waters, punctuated with clumsy casts, arguments and even rediscovering bonds not thought possible.
The plot continues with humor and heartache to present-day with William now taking his grandson on a memorable fishing trip of their own. Looking Through Water is a generational drama where family members discover second chances and healing, while on and off the water and through fishing together.
