Fishing, Fishing, Fishing!!!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on my Blog…been fishing a lot this summer.  Mary Ann and I spent 6 weeks fishing in Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado.  In Oregon we fished the Owyhee River, in Idaho we fished the Salmon River, Marsh Creek, and Bear Valley Creek, In Wyoming we fished the New Fork River, Savery Creek, North Platte River, and Encampment River.  In Colorado we fished the Frying Pan River, Yampa River, Service Creek, and the Poudre River.  And, we used a variety of bamboo rods along the whole trip.  Here are a few random photos from our “summer vacation”.

The Sawtooth Mountains near Stanley, Idaho.

The Salmon River

A beautiful Salmon River Cutthroat.

Marsh Creek, Idaho

A Marsh Creek Cutthroat

The New Fork River, Wyoming with our great guide, Ryan Hudson.

A beautiful New Fork Rainbow

Mary Ann fighting a Savery Creek Rainbow.

Cicadas were the bug-of-choice at Savery Creek

A Savery Creek Rainbow

A Frying Pan River rainbow that took a PMD Comparadun.

The Yampa River in Colorado

A beautiful brown that came to the surface for a dry.

A Yampa River Cutbow

Euronymphing on the Poudre River in Colorado

Service Creek, Colorado

A nice Service Creek Brookie

Photographing Fish When Your Alone

Trying to photograph a good sized fish when you’re out by yourself can certainly be challenging…and frustrating.  I learned the hard way last year, and ended up with a cell phone going for a swim!  Wrestling with a fish one-handed, getting it out of the net, removing the hook, positioning everything just right, and then operating your camera for a self portrait often just doesn’t work.  Here is a great way to get a beautiful shot:

Find a spot where the water is calm and only about an inch or two deep, hopefully that you haven’t muddied up yet.  Lay your rod down in the water.  Holding the leader about a foot above the fish, guide the fish out of the net with the hook still in place and slide it up to your fly rod.  In most cases, I’ve found that the fish will cooperate and lay on it’s side for a quick photo….and….you haven’t even needed to touch the fish or take it out of the water.  Slide the hook out, and with a little nudging, the fish will slowly move away.  Here is a photo I took yesterday while fishing Marsh Creek here in Idaho:

A Beautiful Marsh Creek Cutthroat Trout.

A Beautiful Marsh Creek Cutthroat Trout.