Patriotic Cattle Guard

Here's an image of a cattle guard I crossed a month or so ago heading over to Yellowstone.  You don't see too many like this one.

 

 

Here's an image of a Dead End sign in Mackay.  It's in a field not too far off a road.  No kidding?

Fall Brown Trout

Silver Creek has been hit or miss lately with the weather all over the charts, but next week is looking very promising as the day time highs should be near 60 at Silver Cr. and some clouds.  Could be one of the last really productive weeks of the season.  We'll see... 

 

 

Baetis

Here's an image I have yet to post that I originally converted to black and white.  I have a couple more weeks of trying to improve my on-the-water mayfly shots before winter sets in for real and a baetis here and there is more of an anomaly than a clock-work fall hatch.  Supposed to be a bit warmer today.  Near fifty in Picabo.  I am heading back down to Silver Creek later this morning.

 

 

Here's an image of a baetis and midge drifting together. 

Fall Big Wood River Baetis

Here's an image of a five-legged baetis I took yesterday on the Wood.  There were a few around and the weather lately has been "baetis weather"; cool and cloudy.  This pattern could easily continue into early November.  November can be one of the more enjoyable times on the river.  Virtually nobody around and potential for great dry fly fishing and even streamer fishing for LARGE browns...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Color

Here are a couple images of a maple tree and fall color and wind and rain for saturation and a longish exposure... 

 

 

Big Lost River

Here are a few new images and with the exception of the brown being released, were all taken on the Lost.  The weather just turned to rain/snow/cold/wet/yuck....  Looks like colder and wet weather through at least Wednesday. 

 

 

 

Fall Color

Brookies spawn in the Fall and have turned brilliant and vibrant colors.  Here's a pic of a small, yet incredibly colorful brook trout:

 

 

Still unseasonably warm weather here with a change slated for this weekend.  Rain and rain and rain and cooler weather by Sunday.  Hopefully the grey weather to come induces a little stronger baetis.  While the fishing has been good on the Lower Lost, it certainly has not been what it can be due to fewer than normal mid-day baetis.  We'll see...

Trout Fins

Still macro but no bugs...  Here are two images: one of a brown trout's adipose fin and the other of a brook trout's anal fin.  Backlit and shot with the Nikon 105 2.8 lens.  The Fall weather here is still spectacular.  Highs in the sixties and mainly sunny!  I fished Silver Creek today and had great baetis for two and a half hours starting around noon.  We hooked and caught one fish on a hopper.

 

 

 

Mahogany Duns...

I justed received and tried out new extension tubes on bugs at Silver Creek a couple days ago.  That essentially allows me to get much closer and as a result get a greater magnification.  Mayflies that I saw were: Baetis, Mahogany Duns, Tricos & Callibaetis.  Mahoganies and Baetis were the only mayflies I saw in great numbers.  October caddis are also fluttering around Silver Creek at the moment.

 

Female Trico

 

Female Mahogany Dun

 

Mahogany Dun

 

Mahogany Dun Tail

 

Callibaetis

October Caddis

Well, I have spent the last 3 days on Silver creek and other than seeing baetis every day, each of the last three days has been completely different.  Three days ago I saw MANY mahogany duns and the last two days I only saw a handful.  The fish still recognize them but not all of the risers are willing to eat them.  Today, as it was windy early, hoppers worked quite well and the two prior days they didn't seem to garner much attention.  Tomorrow the wind is supposed to BLOW.  Gusts to 28 mph.  We'll see...

Here are two October Caddis images from yesterday on Silver Creek:

 

 

 

October Trico

Here's an image of a female trico taken on Silver Creek two days ago.  While there are not many tricos left, there are certainly a few lingering.  I took the shot below not long after the trico emerged.  Silver Creek is a pretty cool place to be right now as Sandhill Cranes are there in abundance and sounding out their prehistoric garble.  A heard of elk is on the upper end of the preserve and some of the bulls can be heard bugling...  Moose, too, have been wandering around the preserve, albeit quietly.  Raptors in abundance--from bald eagles to the smallish and erratic flying harriers-- are seeking out their prey including overly abundant voles. 

 

Silver Creek Fall Baetis

Here's an image I took today on Silver Creek of a baetis.  This baetis was/is tiny!  A #22 or #24.  Mahogany duns are also getting smaller, already.  The mahoganies I saw today were around a #18.  There were tons of baetis mid-day and the fish were on them.  Hoppers are still around and are still working.

 

I used spot metering and metered the baetis and dialed down the exposure compensation 1 stop.  Shot taken with the Nikon 105  2.8 lens.

Silver Creek Dragon Fly

Here are a couple images of a dragon fly at Silver Creek.  I fished the Lost today and had a north wind until around 2 and then it became calm with a broken sky.  A few tricos are still lingering in the late AM and usually a strong baetis in the afternoon, but not today, or at least not where I was.  Still decent fishing if you are willing to nymph... 

 

 

Fly Fishing Photography...

Sometimes the tiny details are spectacular.  A small mahogany dun casting a perfect reflection on glassy water.  The electric blue of an adult damsel fly.  The sky on a particularly brooding day.  Here's an image taken of an unusually vibrant gill plate on a rainbow trout.  Photo taken on Silver Creek using a Nikon macro 105  2.8.

 

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