Fly-fishing and Photography

Pandemic dreams

Pandemic dreams

Ok, it is almost Spring here. We are both fully vaccinated (this week), and my Orvis fly rod broken tip was just returned to me after full repair by Orvis under full 25 year warranty. One week turnaround!!!

Leica needs lessons learned here!!! Wink, wink.

So, I am starting my fishing plans...
Oh, yeah... how about YOU?🙂🙂🙂
 


I have some nice Abel and Ross reels but sometimes I just want to go cheap. $25 Chinese reel.

I've been out a few times this year on a spring creek. Fishing is great and the fish get massive here.
 
Two of my lifelong passions. Only thing equal to the smell of fixer in the morning is the smell of fish slime on the hands after a long day on the river. I'll admit, though, that I never mix fishing with photography. Both require far too much focus (pun intended!), not to mention gear, to try combining them.

Sadly, my career makes fly fishing hard (my vacation times are when the fishing is poor -- high summer and dead of winter) -- not the best seasons for fly fishing here in NY. I could get into winter steelheading I suppose, but that's a level of crazy I probably don't have in me. I still fantasize about long, long rods, spey casting, and swinging those steelhead flies through riffles and pools. 🙂
 
^^^ At least in the West, to hook a Steelhead you have to be on the bottom. Now there are plenty of sinking lines (and Fly(s)) that will endeavor to achieve depth. In my Steelhead days and in the costal rivers on Oregon (October, and especially when you had to fish two days after a fresh rain) it was very difficult to reach to the bottom. My Scientific Angler II line just couldn't do it.

So, in the end I used Oakie drifters with a Mitchell 300 on a trout rod.
 
Dreaming of places like those posted above sure makes this grey time of year much easier. 🙂

I am even beginning to think about upgrading my favorite rod with these beautiful grips!

https://www.timjohnsongallery.com/timmy-grips

Like a sensual leather case around a Leica camera, one can indulge in art for a fly rod, or simply to hang on the wall. At my age, why not???🙂
 
Freakscene said:
Beautiful! It looks like the southern end of Long Tarns.

I spent a very nice day casting up there somewhere about 15 years ago and found out later that there were no trout in the lake I had thrashed to foam with my fly line . . .

Marty
Click to expand...

Marty, that is hilarious!🙂

Some of us, apparently, simply enjoy fishing... regardless of whether we catch anything. LOL.

Just being in this beautiful locations and casting has its own rewards.🙂
 
Freakscene said:
Beautiful! It looks like the southern end of Long Tarns.

I spent a very nice day casting up there somewhere about 15 years ago and found out later that there were no trout in the lake I had thrashed to foam with my fly line . . .

Marty
Click to expand...

On the bright side, you had the perfect excuse / reason not to have caught anything! I've had my fair of fishless thrashing days on water that I know is chock full of trout. Still beats most any other activity, but leaves one's ego desperately exposed to doubt!
 
dave lackey said:
He is not only a fly-fishing expert, but he is liable to break out a bait caster, spinning rod, or his favorite, the bamboo fly-rod he made himself a few years ago in north Georgia.🙂
Click to expand...

Hi David, had not previously seen this thread, but reading thru it this morning caused an instant flashback of 50+ years. My dad had two bamboo fly-rods that hung in our garage when I was a kid. I never had a chance to talk with him about them, but I know he prized them.

Thanks for the memory.

Best,
-Tim
 
Papercut said:
On the bright side, you had the perfect excuse / reason not to have caught anything! I've had my fair of fishless thrashing days on water that I know is chock full of trout. Still beats most any other activity, but leaves one's ego desperately exposed to doubt!
Click to expand...

Great point!🙂 And yet, it is normal to be humbled but especially so by a tiny, scaley, slimey creature that refuses to do one's bidding. LOL..

How many times have I left the water with nothing in hand but my fly rod? And still, I felt wonderful for the experience... even at the expense of the loss of a tiny bit of ego.... Hmmmm.... fly fishing is such a gift.
 
Spring creek in central Washington. Trout are massive here and during the winter fishing is actually really good.



My setup last spring. I traded the lumbar bag for a sling. Best trade I've made in a while.

 
Hi Dave- I just found this thread. I've been dedicated to fly fishing and photography for more than 30 years. In fact, fly fishing is what got me back into photography after a decade lapse. I was standing in the Madison River in the Madison Valley of Montana fishing. Dark clouds and a thunderstorm formed in the distance in front of me. Snow started falling in the mountains on both sides of me. The sun set behind me lighting up the clouds in front of me and producing a double rainbow. I thought to myself, "you know, I should bring a camera with me!"



I have a bucket list trip to a lodge in Alaska set for the first week of August-- it was postponed from last summer due to COVID 19. Attached is a photo of me from the S. Platte River in Colorado.



Take care
Steve Rosenblum


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50948608557_b6e60a6659_b.jpg
 
tied these Scottish flies in 1990, shot thru glass just now w/Q2-Monochrom just to see. Used to use K1000 and print my own mail-order catalogs in the 90's to advert my trout flies for sale, but those pics were not so good and luckily didn't matter because word-of-mouth. On these I twisted the silk gut eyes for tradition...old hooks required twisted gut eyes lashed to the hook shank to tie the line to, before machined hooks with eyes.



L1020009a.jpg
 
Steve, great story! Thanks for sharing.🙂

I noticed the Olympus camera and it occurs to me that would be just about perfect to pack in my own bag. Always wanted one of those!

Nice images you posted too!

Be well, and keep tight lines!
 
Morning!

Wenge (Mark?), your description of work is amazing to me as I greatly admire artisans and true craftsmen, especially those whose work is of such quality.

Would love to see more of your work.

How do you like Q2-M overall?🙂
 
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