Anglers Journal Winter 2020 Cover and Feature

Excited to get the cover and have a feature story on the Faraway Cayes (Honduras) in the new (Winter 2020) issue of Anglers Journal. I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to spend as much time as I did out there a few years ago.

Steve Brown, the owner of Fly Fish Guanaja, spent an entire year jumping through hurdle after hurdle trying to create what Faraway Cay is today. Getting government approval in this third world country isn’t easy… If you haven’t seen the short film, Beyond the Horizon, it’s worth the watch.

It started with—for me at least—the long 26 hour or so boat ride to get to Faraway Cay. Miskito Indians visited us daily. Permit came onto the flats in front of the key on each incoming tide once the reef had enough water on it. Pretty spectacular place…

Sand Dunes and Coastline. Baja, Mexico

These stunning sand dunes were flanked by mangroves on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. Really looking forward to returning in a year to photograph this incredible place and some of the people here.

Big Wood River Winter Images

A few underwater images from the Big Wood River yesterday. The fishing was productive despite the super cold water temp. I thought of the water as liquid pain, as the longer I held the housing with bare hands underwater the more it stung. I’ll have neoprene gloves next time…

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Underwater Striped Marlin Feeding

At times I counted well over three dozen marlin herding and feeding on this particular bait ball. One of the many things that struck me was how quiet it was underwater. Also on this particular session, I was the only one in the water which revealed many different emotions including a little bit of fear. I was struck by the calmness I felt and how it overshadowed my fear. It was absolutely incredible to witness.

Dozens of striped marlin feed on a bait ball off the coast of Baja, Mexico.

Black and White Fly Fishing Prints

I just added two more prints to my black and white portfolio. They are of rainbow trout hunting damselflies on Silver Creek.

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Damselfly Riser II

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Damselfly Riser III

Magdalena Bay. Baja, Mexico

Below are images from a recent trip to Magdalena Bay in Baja, Mexico. It was a great trip and the highlight for me was spending a few days free diving with feeding marlin about 25 miles or so off shore. It was truly amazing and something I plan on doing again next year.

Most great adventures usually involve a flat tire. Ricardo makes a quick fix for the short drive to the launch.

Mangroves, dunes, and mountains…

John and I watched a few different coyotes hunting alone in the mangroves. This particular coyote was taking advantage of the beach low tide provided and was trying to warm up after swimming.

Golden Trevally. John and I didn’t know what this was when we caught it. Maybe a barred jack, we had thought… Apparently there are enough of these around to target them.

Ricardo releases a nice golden trevally.

Bait, in this case young mackerel, swim tightly and frenetically as Marlin and sea lions prowl below.

This was the only sailfish I witnessed while free diving. It was a magnificent steel-grey and certainly had a strong presence underwater.

A pack of dogs on our way to the launch. The dog on the far left appeared to have lost a recent fight.

Each evening while we were taking out, shrimp fishermen were launching to fish through the night.

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A street vendor on a quiet evening gracefully waits.

On the outside of Magdalena Bay and the barrier islands.

Black and White Underwater Striped Marlin Print

I just added the below image to the Black and White Prints section of my site. I took this on a recent trip to Baja, Mexico where I free dove with feeding marlin. This is a place I plan to return to each year for many reasons. While it is a salt water fisherman’s dream location, it’s also a stunning place with many contrasts from feral barking dogs on dusty roads to mangroves and dunes and cactus to blue water off shore. It’s still in some ways old-school Baja. Roosters are the morning wake up call. Dirt streets. It’s a place though that has seen over harvesting and while there are certain fishing practices not allowed, netting in the mangroves for example, it’s a place worth protecting.

In the coming days, I’ll post a bunch of images here on this blog from Magdalena Bay: Coyotes hunting in the mangroves, sand dunes, golden trevally, etc…

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Striped Marlin and Space. Baja, Mexico

Fly Fishing Magdalena Bay Part II

Striped marlin. Magdalena Bay, Baja, Mexico

John Huber stands on these amazing sand dunes after hopping out of our panga at the terminus of a mangrove river. Magdalena Bay is a place of incredible contrasts: Cactus, mangroves, dunes, and the bay itself coupled with the blue water beyond the bay. Then there are the small dusty towns not on the tourism radar.

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Fly Fishing Magdalena Bay

Just returned from an incredible trip down to Baja’s Magdalena Bay. From Mangroves to dunes to cactus and blue water, it was a wild contrast of extremes. I’ll be posting images here over the next few days. The best part of the trip for me was free diving with marlin on bait balls in the blue water off shore approx. 25 or so miles.

I’m considering hosting / teaching a photography workshop next November in Magdalena bay with part of the focus on free diving with Marlin and other components would be capturing the contrast of the stunning sand dunes juxtaposed with mangroves and even cactus. Capturing images of people with a documentary style would be part of it as well. If you are potentially interested, let me know. Fly fishing would also be a component of the trip as the fly fishing for striped marlin can be off the charts good.

More to come…

John Huber releases a striped marlin after landing it on a fly…

A sea lion and striped marlin work a bait ball in the blue water.

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Dangeros Dan

There’s a great piece on Dan Lahren by Chris Dombrowski in the new issue of Anglers Journal. It’s worth tracking down a copy as Chris’s writing portrays Dan pretty darn well.

I shot the below image of Dan as he pulled up in front of his Livingston, Montana home ready to head to The Murray after a day on the Yellowstone River.

Here are a few unpublished outtakes of Dangerous Dan:

Dan in his living room. Livingston, MT.

Silver Creek Baetis

Baetis are the mayflies, from May through November, we see—not always prolific—on an almost daily basis on Silver Creek.

The FlyFish Journal Summer 2019

Val Atkinson and I traveled down to Argentine Patagonia a few seasons ago to shoot and write a story on Jorge Trucco who was, essentially, Argentina’s first trout guide and outfitter. He’s done a lot more for the fisheries in Argentine Patagonia including being the leader in implementing catch and release and preventing the construction of numerous dams on treasured watersheds.

This story is currently in print in the summer issue of The FlyFish Journal. To read the entire profile, go grab an issue…