The FlyFish Journal Issue 7.4

I'm excited to have a bunch of work in the new The FlyFish Journal including a feature (photography only) on Cuba. The Cuba piece was shot last February on a trip to Havana and the Cuban marine archipelago, Jardines De La Reina. It was my second trip there.
The piece was written by Sarah Grigg who happened, I believe, to have done the same trip as me a month prior.

A feature story (photography) in issue 7.4, summer 2016, of The FlyFish Journal on Cuba. Written by Sarah Grigg.

Here's a larger version of the above image. The shot was taken along the Malecon in Havana on a relatively cool winter's day. I like that the driver is looking forward and that the hand of the driver's side passenger is slightly visible.

Malecon. Havana, Cuba. 2016.

Cape Blanco, Oregon

I just got back from a week long camping trip on the Oregon coast. Lots of wind and a bit cool but beautiful in so many ways.

Cape Blanco Lighthouse

Silver Creek

Here are a few images from last night on Silver Creek. Still the mildest and strangest Brown Drake year I've seen. No massive spinner fall yet. Still could happen... Maybe even tonight.

John Huber and a nice brown.

Picabo, Idaho

So far, the Brown Drake hatch has been extremely moderate to say the least. A few bugs here and there with 10 minute spurts of smoldering spinner falls. I have not yet seen the grassy banks loaded with Drakes. Hopefully that is all in front of us... In the end though, it's all an excuse to be on Silver Creek during the magic hour when the warm light is perfect and all kinds of different birds are calling singing their choir and the wild iris is hit with the end-of-the-day warm light and you know, even though you are likely tired, there's no better place to be on an early summer evening.

The images below were taken last night, May 31st.

Picabo, Idaho

Silver Creek & Riser

Zac Mayhew waits for a riser and an emergence.

Guide Zac Mayhew getting ready to move on to another spot on Silver Creek.

Riser and fisherman.

Night Heron

Silver Creek Brown Drakes

In addition to opening day on Silver Creek, the Brown Drake hatch has also started on the Creek. The next 6 to 7 nights should be fantastic and if you have the chance to check it out, it's quite the phenomenon.

Here are a few images from the last couple of days on Silver Creek:

East Cape. Baja, Mexico

I just got back from a quick 4 day trip down to the East Cape in Baja, Mexico. We were on a quest to catch roosterfish from the beach without a teaser rod. This was my fourth trip like this and to put it simply, it just is not easy to accomplish getting a rooster from the beach. We knew that though and that is perhaps one of the greatest parts of the trip. Put in your time before the trip tying and researching. Spend every minute you have with good light on the beach hoping for something to happen and then hope the fish are responsive.

We saw quite a few fish but had no bait in the way of sardines or mullet. The roosters seemed pretty interested in tracking down the large schools of ladyfish though. We had papa gallo (big roosterfish) crashing within feet of the beach, combed up, and on a mission to track down ladyfish multiple times. When it happens, it happens fast. We just could not seal the deal with our fly...

It's still a great trip though. The people in Baja Sur are friendly. The fact that it's such a hard feat--getting a roosterfish from the beach--to accomplish, makes it even more worthwhile to me.

East Cape cactus.

Mini Super and last light. La Ribera.

Portrait of a man smoking in La Ribera.

We had clouds and some wind which made spotting fish a bit more challenging.

A woman, panga and mangos. La Ribera.

The ubiquitous needlefish.

Sunrise

An East Cape dirt road.

Roosterfish within range...

Hands of a fisherman. Cabo Pulmo.

Cabo Pulmo sunrise.

Moonrise

Our first night in a cheap hotel in Boise. One of us lost the coin toss and was relegated to the floor.

Fly Fishing Guide

Below is a portrait of Fall River Fly Fishing guide Steve Marugg. He's a sweet man with a kind heart. I met Steve at a dinner party a few nights ago near the Fall River. He has lived and guided in Argentina as well and we spoke our mutually poor Spanish at the dinner table, annoying undoubtedly, those who were within earshot.

Steve Marugg. Fall River Mills, California. 2016

Fall River, California

I was sent on an assignment last week to Fall River Mills, California to shoot and write a story on esteemed fly fishing and travel photographer, Val Atkinson. It could not have been a more incredible four days for me as Val is someone for whom I hold a great deal of respect for and he is an incredibly kind and genuine person. His images of world travel and fly fishing have appeared in countless magazines since the late 70's.

We had a bunch of fun but were also able to sit down and talk about photography and travel and life on numerous occasions. We also walked Hat Creek, a favorite stream of his and floated the Fall River as well on a separate day.

Below are a few images from my time with Val.

Hat Creek. 2016

Val on his beloved Fall River.

Susan Rockrise hits Val with the garden house at their beautiful ranch house.

Val's first wading belt which he bought at Silver Creek Outfitters in Ketchum, Idaho almost four decades ago. He learned his lesson the hard way prior to making that purchase and filled his waders.

Portrait of Val Atkinson. 2016

Oak Tree. Hat Creek.

Spring Lupine

We're in the midst of our spring-green here. Cool with some rain and hail and even snow for the next few days.

May is a favorite month of mine. Great clouds and it's green and generally a bit warmer and warming and our rivers here are generally too high to fish so I don't feel as though I need to be on the river every day and end up exploring other places I might not otherwise check out. I am off to, for example, the Fall River in Northern California and then the East Cape in Baja, Mexico and then the Oregon Coast over the next three or four weeks.

The image below was my first image with a new camera--Nikon D810--taken today. Like any new tool, there are minor adjustments to make in order for the tool to become virtually invisible much like a pen to the hand of a writer. I have been shooting with the Nikon D3s for the past 5 or so years and upgraded yesterday to the D810.

Why the upgrade? My D3s is essentially lumbering into the mortuary to find its place. The memory card slots are broken. The frame is partially bent from a fall. The grip has fallen off in many places. I want a back-up camera. I'd like to print much higher resolution files (the D810 is a 35mm sensor with 36 mega pixels compared to the faster 12 mega pixel D3s), I am indeed sacrificing speed (ie frames per second and iso in exchange for much higher resolution) but really want a higher resolution file as I am shooting more and more at a relatively low (100-1,600) iso and decided against the Nikon D5. If iso and frames per second were my two priorities than the Nikon D5 would be my choice but that's not my case.

In any event, the image below was my first image taken with the Nikon D810. Shot today near Hailey, Idaho.

Lupine. Hailey, Idaho.

Melrose, Montana

I just got back from a weekend on the Big Hole River in Melrose, Montana. I was with my oldest son (13) and we had a couple of great days on the river and camping. My drift boat got smothered in mud after driving it over Trail Creek Summit; not sure it was worth the time saved...

Anglers Journal Cuba

Here's a link to a feature I wrote and photographed on Cuba. This story appeared in Anglers Journal about 6 months ago. Many of the published images do not appear in this digital piece unless you already subscribe. This was based on my first trip to Cuba about two years ago. I was there for my second time this February. I have more work that will appear in upcoming issues.

To read this story click: Anglers Journal

Source: http://www.anglersjournal.com/adventure/cu...