Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikon Micro ƒ2.8 105mm
Kane Lake
Here's a pano from Kane Lake, Idaho in the Sun Valley area. It's a great summer hike and only about 4 miles each way...
...And one more entirely different image. It's of Winston, an English Setter, in a drift boat.
Picabo Quinceanera
I was hanging out at Picabo Angler, in Picabo, Idaho a few days ago and there was a Quinceanera happening behind the store and on part of the airstrip. A Quinceanera is a Latin American celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday. It generally marks the point between girlhood and womanhood. The birthday girl and a few of her friends walked into the store and I raced out to my car and grabbed my camera and got a few quick images of her and a few of the others...
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikon ƒ2 35mm
Silver Creek Brown Trout
Here's an image shot today on Silver Creek. Not a ton of bugs but a few Tricos, lots of Baetis and some PMD's. The beauty of slow fishing on Silver Creek just means fewer people...
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikon ƒ2.8 14-24
Short-Eared Owl
Below are a couple images of a Short-Eared Owl taken near Silver Creek today. There were actually 3 owls which constitutes a "parliament." (A group of owls is called a parliament. ) Short-Eared Owls are predominantly diurnal and are about 15" tall but look much larger when flying due to their wings.
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikon 80-200 ƒ2.8 afs
Hailey Rodeo 2013
Tonight, July 2nd, was the first of 3 nights of the 2013 Hailey, Idaho Rodeo. I was not planning on going but the skies were ominous and there was a little lightning so I thought I would head over and try to get a few lightning shots.
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikon ƒ2.8 14-24
Idaho Westslope Cutthroat Trout
Where's Waldo? I came across this tiny stream recently that was loaded with spawning Westslope Cutthroat. Pretty cool seeing fish in such a small piece of water.
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikon 24 pc-e
Big Wood River Green Drakes
It's Green Drake time on the Big Wood River near Sun Valley, Idaho. The next week or so should be some of the best fishing of the summer on the Big Wood. Below is an image of a bent rod on the Wood from a day ago...
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikon ƒ2.8 14-24
Kane Lake
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikon 24 pc-e
Silver Creek Brown Trout
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikon ƒ2.8 14-24
Big Wood River Green Drakes
Green Drakes on the Big Wood River have not started yet, but the drake nymphs are really abundant in shin deep water up and down the river. My son, Charlie and I turned over some rocks yesterday in Hailey along the Big Wood and found a ton of green drake nymphs. The river is fishable yet swift now but expect this hatch to happen after the Wood has dropped a little more which will likely mean an incredible Green Drake year on the Big Wood. With colder weather forecast the Big Wood should drop over the next few days. Look for adult Green Drakes around the 24th or so of June...
Silver Creek Brown Drake
Ok, I know the Brown Drakes are done on Silver Creek for the year, but here's one more. I can never get enough of this hatch. When it all comes together and the spring air is warm and the wind lies down and miniature submarine wakes crisscross in the water and an emergence starts and spinners start to swarm in the air and it gets a little frenetic and the next hour and a half you never want to end.
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikon Micro 105 ƒ2.8
Pahsimeroi Valley Ranch
I was recently hired to photograph a ranch that's for sale in the Upper Pahsimeroi Valley in Idaho. It's on a small spring creek that has a growing number of fish including a limited number of salmon and steelhead that come up to spawn. If you have not been to the Pahsimeroi valley, it's pretty spectacular. Here are a few of the images I took:
Brown Trout Release
Here's one more image from a headlamp release from about a week ago on Silver Creek. This was the final great night of Brown Drakes and in lieu of using a flash I used a headlamp.
Fly Fishing Photography & Kids
I spent an entire 15 hour day on the water recently with a ten year old in the group. He didn't complain once and just wanted to fish. Below are a few images from that day.
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikon 14-24 ƒ2.8
Silver Creek Brown Drakes III
The Brown Drakes on Silver Creek have essentially ended but it was a great Drake year. There were 6 strong nights and a handful of really good mornings. Below is a sampling of some of the images I took during the Brown Drake frenzy.
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikon 14-24 ƒ2.8
Silver Creek Brown Drakes II
We have had 5 consecutive Brown Drake nights and tonight should be another great night as there are a ton of bugs in the grass. This hatch kick starts our summer season here and it has been a great one so far. Look for at least two more nights of the frenzy and then a couple of days of sporadic bugs...
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikon Micro 105 ƒ2.8
Silver Creek Brown Drakes
Yesterday's Brown Drakes go like this; the kind of wind that makes eyes tear and spring-green tall grass blowing around like millions of cheering fans and crepuscular nighthawks whooping overhead and then like the hatching of something not visible came tens of thousands of Brown Drakes. It was cold too. Almost no prairie caddis and not a mosquito to be found. Look for the bugs to continue over the next 3 to 5 nights.
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikon 14-24 ƒ2.8
iso: 17,959 (no joke) There was no noise software used.
Big Wood River
Ok..., it's June 1st and the Big Wood River is clear and very fishable. Yeah, it's a bit swift but far lower than the typical flow for this time of year. At the time of writing this, the flow on the Big Wood River is 636 cfs and the median flow is 1,550 cfs. Quite a difference between the current flow and the median. You can see in the the image below that the clarity is really good. I fished the Wood today with my two sons and Will, who is ten, caught his first unassisted fish and has decided he is really interested in fly fishing. We also turned over rocks near the bank and found many green drake nymphs.
Fly Fishing The East Cape, Baja, Mexico
I just returned from a trip down to the East Cape in Mexico. It's on the Sea of Cortez about 45 minutes north of the Cabo San Lucas airport. Lots of dirt roads and cactus and small dusty towns located right on the super clear and warm water of the southern Sea of Cortez where roosterfish come in close to the beach from the deeper blue water. I stayed near the town of La Ribera. The rooster fishing was tough as usual. There was no bait near the beach and we were limited to a half dozen shots a day. The bonus was landing a snook from the beach near Punta Colorada.