Excited to have the cover of the new issue of American Angler. This shot was taken a few summer’s ago on Silver Creek on what was a truly memorable July day on Silver Creek. This was in the afternoon which meant the crowds had left after the morning hatch and the Creek was virtually void of fishermen—at least on the section I was on.
Big Sky Journal Fly Fishing Issue
Excited to have a photo essay in the new issue of the Big Sky Journal. Thanks to trout guides here in Idaho and Montana and also in Argentina and New Zealand for being a part of it.
Fly Fishing New Zealand
Two shots of the same location… Up close and pulled back.
South Island Fisherman and River Landscape
9:30 pm and still a bit light… This image was taken from our camp looking upstream on a warm summer evening a week or so ago. New Zealand.
Black and White Underwater Brown Trout Print
I just added the below image to the Black and White prints section of this web site. I shot it on a recent trip to New Zealand where the water can be extraordinarily clear.
Fly Fishing The South Island. New Zealand
Heaven… This was a river that I had been wanting to visit for years and finally was able to make it in.
Emily Rodger in the distance gets in one last pool before the sun goes down on a backcountry South Island river.
South Island, New Zealand (On A Mouse Year)
I just got back from a great trip down to New Zealand’s South Island. I was down there on a few different photo assignments both fly fishing related. The South Island is my favorite place to trout fish on the planet for a variety of reasons including the challenges of spotting / stalking the fish coupled with the fact that it’s just beautiful there. An added bonus is the Brown Trout can get really big as well despite the fact a great day on the water typically doesn’t mean catching dozens of fish like it can in the States and Patagonia.
This also happens to be a mouse year which, for those of you who don’t know, in short means: The native beech trees historically every seven or so years produce a great deal more (10x to 100x) the number of seeds which is called masting. Non-native mice and rats that feed off of the seeds have such an abundance of food they begin to reproduce at a much greater rate and all of sudden there are far more mouse and rats scurrying around South Island beech forests.
The South Island is known for large and wary brown trout to begin with but on mouse years some fish can add 40% more weight. The mice eventually make it down to the rivers edge on many watersheds where many believe, as I do, that mice actually try to cross the river. I’m sure some accidentally fall in but anecdotal evidence points to the intent to cross and generally mice do this at night and brown trout are known to be nocturnal feeders…
I’ll be posting more images but here are two images of the same fish both above and below the water. We estimate this brown to be in excess of 15lbs but unfortunately didn’t have a net to weigh it.
I’ve tried hard not to post many fish out of the water over the last few years but I’m including the first image below to show the size of the fish as you’ll likely agree that the second image below—which is of the same fish—appears smaller.
Emily Rodger holds a beautiful South Island brown.
Happy New Year!
Winter. Silver Creek.
Idaho Winter Landscape
Here’s an image I took last night. The temp was 5 below zero. An otherwise beautiful evening though…
Silver Creek, Idaho
Idaho Winter Landscape Print
I just added the image below to the “Giclee Color Prints” section of this site.
Wheel Line. Winter. II
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…
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.
Damselfly Riser II
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.
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…
Striped Marlin and Space. Baja, Mexico
Underwater Striped Marlin & A Lone Sailfish Feeding On A Bait Ball
A lone sailfish moved in out of the blue on this bait ball that had been being predated on by striped marlin and sea lions.
Black and White Striped Marlin
Striped marlin
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.
Source: striped-marlin-underwater