MIDCURRENT²

I am appreciative of being featured for the second time on MidCurrent for my fly fishing work. The Photography section showcases images from all over the globe and is a must-see. Thanks to Tim Romano for his assistance with round 2.

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Images added:

iCarry 2 Much

Last weekend I traversed a river carrying what onlookers initially thought to be an adolescent pachyderm on my back. In actual fact, it was my photo pack carrying 2 camera bodies, 3 lenses, 1 strobe, spare batteries, various filters, and a full size tripod.

While staving off compression fractures of the L1-L5 vertebrae, it occurred to me that I should lighten up. Literally.

As an exercise in enjoyment, once in a while this season I am going to shoot on my iPhone. Using a measure of creativity and a layer of abstraction to overcome the technical limitations of the camera, smart phones can be powerful tools. Even better, many offer applications which can perform basic post processing, also eliminating the need to download and re-work images later.

Float like a butterfly, and sting with 3G.

Defrost

Winter really steams my olives. The seemingly interminable combination of short days and vast expanses of hard water get me feeling more bound up than a wheel-of-cheese diet. This morning dawned crisply enough to freeze my rod guides solid, but the sun was out and I was itching to flex the new Sage VT2 that I’ve had in hibernation the last 2 months.

Kind of a fun image - this was captured and post processed entirely on the iPhone. I will be posting some product photography and more thoughts on the VT2 down the road.

It was more of an exploratory venture today, checking out a piece of water that was entirely new to me. Fishing was slow but I enjoyed unfurling some casts with the new stick and putting fly to water for the first time this year.

Thanks to JayMorr for showing me some new stomping grounds. Check his blog over the next few days to see more imagery. This shot is courtesy of Jay, which I “cartoonified” in Photoshop.

American Angler Magazine

The March/April 2010 issue of American Angler Magazine is now available. Philip Monahan's article about brook trout features a few of my images.

AA is among my favorite magazines for both content and photography, and it was an honor to be a part of this issue.

Midcurrent Featured Photographer

Many thanks to Marshall Cutchin and Tim Romano for featuring my photography on MidCurrent, which is one of the world's largest providers of fishing news, media, and techniques. It's an honor considering the guys who have been featured previously are some of the best in the biz.

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There are plenty of exceptional images in the photography section, drop in and check 'em out.

Returning to the Scene

I once threw two size 13 hunting boots at a skunk in the pitch darkness of night while inside a new $1000 wall tent. This may seem slightly brash to some, but my potato chips had come under assault earlier in the evening by a chipmunk of ill-repute who I thought had returned for seconds.

After my Vibram-soled mortars failed to drive off the intruder, I extricated myself from a warm sleeping bag, walked over to the card table, and turned on my flashlight. It was at this juncture that a case of mis-stinking identity became apparent. There, directly between my feet, was a voluminous tail in the full, upright, and locked position.

What followed remains a partial mystery due to the frenetic pace at which events transpired. During what amounted to only a few seconds, I conservatively estimate that I circumnavigated the interior of the tent 3 times and attempted at least one MMA rear choke hold. Seeing that my foe was attempting to lock in a firing solution, I began jamming his launch sequence with blistering midnight profanity. At one point during the match I ended up outside the tent without using the door. It was here the skunk forfeited the bout and disappeared, much to the delight of the tent’s owner -- my father.

Last weekend Dad and I returned to the scene of this very incident, and caught brook trout in obscene numbers until our rotator cuffs had worn down to nubbins. It was great to spend time bending graphite together during the day and reminiscing around the campfire at night.

This is Fly

It was fun to collaborate on an article for This is Fly Magazine Issue 18 with Jason Morrison on fishing photography. Check it out at http://www.thisisfly.com/ , on page 71 (back issues #18).

Bouldermania

There are strange things done in the Boulder sun
By the fools who moil for trout;
The mountain trails have their fishing tales
That would drive a man to scout;
The Utah nights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of a lake not large
I caught a hundred brookies.

I have long been a fan of Robert Service and since he was born in Lancashire, England at the head of the Ribble River I don’t think he would mind that I’ve adapted his words to fly fishing.

Boulder Mountain in Southern Utah is home to many species of fish, but the brook trout is perhaps its most sought after denizen. Dark green backs flecked with jewel-like spots are set on fire by brilliant red fins that cut through the water on ivory edges. Few things in life are as magical as a brookie in crystal clear alpine waters.

As callibaetis hatched this weekend in prolific numbers at 10,000 feet and eager trout demolished our imitations, life became a series of simple connections.

Hand to Rod

Rod to Line

Line to Fly

Fly to fish

My Grandfather fished Boulder Mountain in the early 1900s on foot and horseback. Almost a century after his first Boulder Mountain casts, at one of his favorite lakes, it seemed fitting to land a fish for every year that has passed since then. Thanks for blazing the trail, Grandpa.

Thanks to writer and photographer JayMorr for the good company on this trip. I'm sure some of his images from the weekend will be coming to a fly fishing rag near you. Don't miss out on his shots at Fly Fisherman Forum.

Something Wicked

Hemingway once wrote that he thought of the sea as “feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favors, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them.”

I have always viewed Henry’s Lake in much the same way. Fishermen often discuss this stillwater in hushed terms, theorizing that there are actually only 7 gallons of liquid in the entire lake. The rest of the volume consists of piggish trout gormandizing on the vast amounts of forage the shallow weed beds constantly make available.

Like the ocean, Henry’s gives or withholds great favors. Gluttonous cutthroats, hybrids, and brook trout lurk beneath the surface. Few places in this geography offer a better chance at fish over 10 pounds, but the lake is a fickle and wicked mistress.

The term “hatch” cannot really be used to describe what happens from time to time on Henry’s Lake. A plague of biblical proportions comes closer. At times, untold billions of chironomids rise from the surface and blanket every square inch of real estate within miles of the lake. Such are the choking clouds of insects that the only way to avoid inhaling them is to breathe through clenched teeth, pausing every couple of minutes to wipe the protein sludge from your incisors.

Naturals can be so prolific that convincing a trout to accept an imitation is like peddling tofu at a Texas steakhouse. Favors this weekend were withheld, as billowing clouds of black caddis and chironomids broke like waves upon the shores. Masochistically I always return to Henry’s, hoping to find the wild instead of the wicked.

Ririe Reservoir produced good numbers of runty smallmouth bass, and the occasional fine spotted Snake River cutthroat.

The pups got some field time too, which they can’t get enough of. My Mom’s mastiff puppy Harley is now up to 65 pounds, which will likely be about 25% of his adult weight.

Next week, it’s off to the Boulders in pursuit of brook trout.