Adipose Fin...

Here are a few more fin shots.  Both are from yesterday on the Lost.  I have been carrying a Nikon macro 105 2.8 with me on the river in lieu of something wider.  It was a rare day for me as I fished the Wood.  We had cool grey skies and zero wind.  The bugs (baetis) really didn't start where I was until after 2.  Hopefully the Fall baetis gig gets ratcheted up.  We'll see.

 

Adipose fin from a rainbow.  I get the black background from dialing down the exposure and backlighting the subject.

 

Brook trout from the Lost River.  This male Brookie was no larger than 10 inches and was in full spawning color and had a very prominent jaw realtive to its overall size.

 

Wet & Cool Real Fall Weather On Silver Cr.

So the weather has finally changed.  It is cool and wet and rained for the first time here in about a month.  I fished Silver Cr. today in mixed rain with baetis and mahogany duns starting around 10:15.  This weather should get our Fall fishing going and the cool weather is slated to continue for at least the next 4 days.  Think baetis...

 

Here are more close-ups of rainbow fins:

 

 

 

 

Tricos

Fall tricos?  Yep, that's right.  Tricos are still happening on the Lower Lost due in part I am sure to the warm weather we are having.  High today in Mackay was about 80.  The warm weather is slowing down the mid-day baetis however.  That should all change on Monday when cooler and potentially wet weather is supposed to arrive.

 

 

 

Rainbow Fins

Here are a few macro images from two different rainbows caught today on the Lost.  The unseasonably warm weather has slowed the fall baetis down a little but the Lost is still fishing well.  Depending on where you are, tricos have been starting around 10:15 or so and going to about noon.  Photos taken with the nikon macro 105  2.8 lens with exposure compensation dialed down 1 stop.

Backlit anal fin from a 15" rainbow

 

Backlit tail from a 9" rainbow

More Of Silver Creek

Here's another image from Silver Creek today.  The baetis have been very strong starting around 10:45 AM or so but it is the most challenging fishing of the day by far.  The fish are selective and eating SMALL baetis and they want the fly to look like the real deal which is far from easy to see...  So, the hopper fishing by noon and especially if the wind picks up has been great.  The hopper does not need to be right on the bank either.  The callibaetis afternoon thing is starting to wane.  I saw a few today but the fish never really got on them where I was...

 

The rising fish ended up missing the baetis in the picture below and the baetis drifted on a few more feet and then flew away.

 

Fall on Silver Creek

Here are a few images from today on Silver Creek.  Low 80's and just about zero breeze.  Baetis early and then hopper action.  Callibaetis did not happen where I was...  Some mahogany duns are showing up too.  More of the same weather forecast for the next 4 to 5 days.

 

 

 

Silver Creek

I was on Silver Creek again today and had a fantastic day.  Virtually no wind and low seventies.  Not many people around and Fall fishing at its best!  Baetis followed by callibaetis around 12:45 and hopppertunity picked up as the day went on.  I saw over a dozen October caddis as well.

 

 

Silver Creek Brown

Here are two images of a brown caught today on Silver Creek.  I converted one to black and white.  WIND and cooler.  Hopper weather.  Water temps are and have been cool.  I took two readings, one at 9 AM and the other around 12:30, and both read just under 51 degrees.

 

 

Fly Fishing Photography

Here are a few images I took of tricos today on the Big Lost.  Tricos on the Lost are quite a bit smaller than their relatives on Silver Creek.  They are thinner and two hook sizes smaller.  Around a true #24.  The good news is that size does not matter as much.  With that said, a tiny trico spinner behind an easier to see dun can make quite a bit of difference.  I have been fascinated with trying to capture bugs in the air.  I have a long ways to go and much to experiment with...

 

I thought the blue sky took too much away from these airborn tricos so I converted these two images to black and white.

 

 

Echinacea And Hollyhock

Here are a few images from my garden.  While Fall is certainly in the air and in the higher elevation color, the weather is spectacular with highs in the 70's.  The fishing too is very good at the moment!  Post Labor Day crowds (or lack thereof) and terrific through the middle of the day fishing.

 

Echinacea

 

Hollyhock

Being On The River

A few days ago I had the great pleasure of fishing with someone who, a year and a half or so ago, was only given a few months to live due to colon and liver cancer.  He is cancer free at the moment and I really could not have been with someone who was more excited--in an understated way--to be on the river.  I was really given a gift by virtue of having had the opportunity to fish with him and gain a very fresh and grateful perspective on life.  Here's a shot of his hands and the fish he has on in the background.  Present tense all the way...

 

 

Here's a link to a short video called, "Dark side Of The Lens."  It's worth checking out and the photographer is incredibly talented.  Here it is:  http://vimeo.com/14074949

More Yellowstone Images...

Here are some more Yellowstone images:

 

The light and mysteriousness and the density of the forest and the feeling of no end to the trees made me try and duplicate that sense.

 

The sky was broken with passing thunderheads.  The sun came out for just a moment and...

 

 

Pine needle and water drop after 2 consecutive days of rain.

 

I refer to this tree as the "lightning tree."

 

Late Summer weather made for some incredible skies...

Yellowstone Grizzly & More Yellowstone Images In Black & White

Here are a few more Yellowstone images.  The weather here has turned to Fall!  Highs somewhere in the mid sixties and most of the crowds have gone.  It's a spectacular time to be here in Sun Valley...

 

 

 

Yellowstone River near Alum Creek:

 

Yellowstone Falls:

 

Icebox Canyon:

 

Late Summer Storm.  Icebox Canyon:

 

 

Trout Creek:

 

Tower Falls:

 

Soda Butte Creek:

 

Lamar River:

Soda Butte Creek:

Yellowstone Fishing

I just got back from 7 days in Yellowstone guiding in the Lamar Valley.  The first half of the trip was cold, wet and a bit windy while the second half was mid-seventies and sunny.  The poor weather made for some amazing skies and moody sunsets and even lightning on my first night.  The fishing on Soda Butte and Slough Creek was quite good despite the as to be expected crowds.  I had one day on the first meadow of Slough that was slow, otherwise it was tons of fun with hoppers, baetis and green drakes.  I'll be posting pics the next few days...

 

Above the Ice Box Canyon on my first night I was greeted with a little weather:

 

The Lamar River:

 

Last light on Soda Butte:

Canyon Wolf Pack

Fishing first: It was COLD today. The east entrance to Yellowstone was closed this morning due to snow. What a way to send off August. We hiked in to the first meadow on Slough Creek and it was about 48 when we left for Slough and maybe 50 when we returned. Blustery and gray and intermittent rain. Absolutely nothing was going on in the way of hatches. Tons of smallish #12 or so lethargic hoppers in the grass. We found one pool loaded with fish and did not see another fish in any other spot. The warmer weather to come could change things for the better. Soda Butte, however is fishing well.

I finished up my guide trip up Slough around 3 or so and headed for Dunraven Pass and the Hayden Valley. I made some coffee on top of Chittenden Rd. in strong winds and snow showers at about 9,000 feet. I hit the road to look for grizzlies in the Hayden Valley and maybe the Canyon Pack.

I stopped not far beyond where Alum Cr. meets the Yellowstone and took a short walk and ran into a very interesting wolf researcher. I learned a lot from him in a short period of time including where the Canyon pack rendezvous point is which was only a couple hundred yards from where I was and within clear view. Not long after he left I watched five nervous elk run across the meadow in front of me and into the Yellowstone River where they stood and waited and watched over the timber line they had just come from. After about a half an hour of watching the eIk I saw a beautiful gray wolf trot out from the timber line and onto the meadow in front of me. The elk were clearly aware of it's presence. Five minutes later a black wolf and two pups came out from the timber and essentially traced the same route the first gray wolf took. Ten or so minutes later another black wolf appeared and took the same route as well. I watched the five of them meet up and play for about an hour or so.
After leaving the Canyon pack I took off to scout out a fishing spot on the Yellowstone and came across a large grizzly. I was able to capture some images of it due to it's close proximity to me. I also saw another grizzly earlier today from a distance through my binos on the Lamar River. What a day!
Above are more iPhone images from today...

Soda Butte Creek & The Lamar River

In 1938 the building I am staying in was the second largest log building in the country. I am the only person staying in this two story monster. Every floor board creaks. When I walked in to the main store this AM, Matt, the attendant asked with a smile how many ghosts I had seen the night before. "That building makes some spooky sounds and especially when you are alone. There are apparently ghosts in there. I won't sleep in that building."

On the fishing front, I fished Slough Cr and Soda Butte today. Slough Cr was tough. Windy and cold and zero hatch. I got three cutts to eat a green drake cripple. Soda Butte on the other hand was good. Discerning cutts fed on the surface until the light got too dark. We caught good sized cutts on #18 # 20 baetis. A herd of bison moved across Soda Butte as we fished. They are in rutt and apparently a bull died about five days ago in the Hayden Valley and there were at one time up to eleven grizzlies feeding on the carcass.

Here are a few shots I took today with an iPhone camera. The Lamar is pictured above.