Stream of Consciousness
definition -- noun 1. the continuous flow of ideas and feelings that constitute conscious experience
Stream of Consciousness
Tippette #3: Some Thoughts On Photographing Fish
These days it seems more of us are enjoying photography along with our fishing. I love looking at old fishing photos and thinking, "I remember that day with those guys on that beach or that river....that was great." It´s not just the photo it's the story behind it that always brings a smile and sometimes even a good ol' belly laugh.
I recently guided professional photographer Bill Bachman on the Henry's Fork.
Our mission was to drift with two other Firehole Ranch boats and get photos of them fishing Box Canyon. Alice Owsley, highly respected senior guide and outfitter at the Ranch, guided Bill's wife, Sally, and brother, Todd.
Fly fishing legend with too many credentials to mention, George Kelly, had Bill's parents, Bill Sr. and Sheila, who are admittedly getting on in years and still fishing their butts off. They are a truly inspirational couple to know.
So we had two top notch guides, a crew of excellent fly fishers, a professional photographer and me, the new guy at the ranch. No pressure or anything.........actually I was stoked and it turned out to be a lot of fun.
We had a great day. The weather was awesome with just enough clouds to make any scenery pop. Everybody caught fish and we didn't have more than a couple of innertubes and air mattresses bounce off our boats. Bill was getting lots of good stuff and I was having fun helping him find certain shots, setting up for good angles on the other boats, learning things along the way and actually giving a little well-received input. It was getting late in the day and we hadn't really gotten a great photo of anybody with a big fish. We had lost sight of George's boat and Alice was a couple hundred yards downstream. Bill was fishing and I had just dropped anchor in one of the last honey holes when I noticed Sally waving her hands and signalling they had a big one. I pulled the hook, rowed down, and anchored up next to Alice's boat. I was in fairly heavy water so I had to back row hard to get my boat to stop and somehow the anchor held. Todd was fighting a beautiful rainbow in some pretty good current and Alice began dragging her anchored boat down stream with one hand while holding her net in the other. I let out some anchor line to stay with her. Todd fought a bit then Alice dragged the boat a little farther. This went on until I was out of rope. As I hauled my anchor line in I realized I was hung up. I scrambled to the back of the boat, reached down into the water, grabbed the line and somehow shook the anchor loose. I got lucky this time. I should have known better than to drag my anchor through a spot like that. We slid down next to them as they landed the fish and got some quick shots.
Alice took the fish over to the bank and released it under a log where it could safely recover. As I prepared to continue down the river I noticed my feet were underwater. I had kicked one of my boat plugs loose while struggling with the anchor. OOOOOPS! I enjoyed the way we all worked together to get those photos and observing Bill orchestrate the whole thing made me think. There´s a lot of simple stuff we can all do to get better fishing photos.
Here are some ideas. Please write in with ideas of your own and if you have any good fishing photography stories please share them with us. If you do we'll send you some Bay Anglers swag.
ALWAYS WET YOUR HANDS BEFORE HANDLING A FISH. It reduces the amount of protective slime you wipe off the fish which also helps you clean off your hands more easily.
FISH WITH BARBLESS HOOKS. It's a lot easier on the fish and comes out quicker. It's also safer for you and everyone around you.
FISH HEAVIER TIPPET. You can horse 'em in quicker plus avoid breaking off and leaving hooks in their mouths.
USE A NET. The net speeds up the whole process and you can easily keep the fish in the water if the photographer is not quite ready. Also somebody can hold the net under the fish incase you drop it. I can't stand the sound of a fish hitting the floor of the boat.
You can hold the net under your own fish.
The net can be cropped out or you can just move in physically or with the zoom.
Maybe it's better to zoom the dork with the net right out of the picture.
WORK TOGETHER. There are many things you can do to help each other. One person can hold the net while the other gets the hook out. Anybody with a free hand can get water bottles or other junky looking stuff out of the way.
HAVE THE CAMERA READY. If you're in a boat keep it out. Try using a leash. Sometimes I keep a camera around my neck. After awhile I don't even notice it. Sometimes I leave the leash sticking out of my bag or vest so I can grab it quickly.
HOLDING THE FISH. When holding the fish with only one hand try holding it closer to the head. If you hold it in the middle it can wiggle loose easier which causes people to squeeze too hard. Most fish are more solid nearer the head, and it seems to make them wiggle more when you grab them around the middle.
The best thing to do is lift them gently above a submerged net by holding the tail with one hand and craddling them with the other. There's no need for squeezing. If the net is in the water you can raise the fish above it, snap a shot in about 5 seconds and have the fish right back in the water. It also looks great if the fish is wet with water dripping off it.
USE A BOGA GRIP. It's not as mean as it looks. Actually it prevents you from wiping the protective slime off the fish, holds the mouth open while you remove the hook and gives you the weight all at once. You can hold it in the water and you won't drop the fish in the boat. Did I mention I can't stand that?
When the angler is in the photo the fish can be held up close to the face to allow a good close up.
DON'T COVER THE TAIL WITH YOUR HAND. Most people have a tendency to hold their left hand under the belly and their right hand over the tail.
Simply bring your right hand around to the back side like twisting the throttle on a motorcycle. This exposes more of the tail to the camera.
Women should hold on with both hands under the fish and elbows together. I give full credit for that one to my good friend Mickey. Trust me.....it's a good thing. Is that fish out of focus? My bad.
TURN TOWARD THE SUN for better lighting.
There are no rules so get creative.
I love how people hold little fish. Why do the little ones get the biggest smiles?
There's always the cross over grip.
Works both ways.
Catch fish , get the pictures, but get the fish back in the water quick. Remember....just releasing a fish doesn't guarantee it's survival.
Feel free to write me with your ideas about photographing fish and send photos.
I recently guided professional photographer Bill Bachman on the Henry's Fork.
Our mission was to drift with two other Firehole Ranch boats and get photos of them fishing Box Canyon. Alice Owsley, highly respected senior guide and outfitter at the Ranch, guided Bill's wife, Sally, and brother, Todd.
Fly fishing legend with too many credentials to mention, George Kelly, had Bill's parents, Bill Sr. and Sheila, who are admittedly getting on in years and still fishing their butts off. They are a truly inspirational couple to know.
So we had two top notch guides, a crew of excellent fly fishers, a professional photographer and me, the new guy at the ranch. No pressure or anything.........actually I was stoked and it turned out to be a lot of fun.
We had a great day. The weather was awesome with just enough clouds to make any scenery pop. Everybody caught fish and we didn't have more than a couple of innertubes and air mattresses bounce off our boats. Bill was getting lots of good stuff and I was having fun helping him find certain shots, setting up for good angles on the other boats, learning things along the way and actually giving a little well-received input. It was getting late in the day and we hadn't really gotten a great photo of anybody with a big fish. We had lost sight of George's boat and Alice was a couple hundred yards downstream. Bill was fishing and I had just dropped anchor in one of the last honey holes when I noticed Sally waving her hands and signalling they had a big one. I pulled the hook, rowed down, and anchored up next to Alice's boat. I was in fairly heavy water so I had to back row hard to get my boat to stop and somehow the anchor held. Todd was fighting a beautiful rainbow in some pretty good current and Alice began dragging her anchored boat down stream with one hand while holding her net in the other. I let out some anchor line to stay with her. Todd fought a bit then Alice dragged the boat a little farther. This went on until I was out of rope. As I hauled my anchor line in I realized I was hung up. I scrambled to the back of the boat, reached down into the water, grabbed the line and somehow shook the anchor loose. I got lucky this time. I should have known better than to drag my anchor through a spot like that. We slid down next to them as they landed the fish and got some quick shots.
Alice took the fish over to the bank and released it under a log where it could safely recover. As I prepared to continue down the river I noticed my feet were underwater. I had kicked one of my boat plugs loose while struggling with the anchor. OOOOOPS! I enjoyed the way we all worked together to get those photos and observing Bill orchestrate the whole thing made me think. There´s a lot of simple stuff we can all do to get better fishing photos.
Here are some ideas. Please write in with ideas of your own and if you have any good fishing photography stories please share them with us. If you do we'll send you some Bay Anglers swag.
ALWAYS WET YOUR HANDS BEFORE HANDLING A FISH. It reduces the amount of protective slime you wipe off the fish which also helps you clean off your hands more easily.
FISH WITH BARBLESS HOOKS. It's a lot easier on the fish and comes out quicker. It's also safer for you and everyone around you.
FISH HEAVIER TIPPET. You can horse 'em in quicker plus avoid breaking off and leaving hooks in their mouths.
USE A NET. The net speeds up the whole process and you can easily keep the fish in the water if the photographer is not quite ready. Also somebody can hold the net under the fish incase you drop it. I can't stand the sound of a fish hitting the floor of the boat.
You can hold the net under your own fish.
The net can be cropped out or you can just move in physically or with the zoom.
Maybe it's better to zoom the dork with the net right out of the picture.
WORK TOGETHER. There are many things you can do to help each other. One person can hold the net while the other gets the hook out. Anybody with a free hand can get water bottles or other junky looking stuff out of the way.
HAVE THE CAMERA READY. If you're in a boat keep it out. Try using a leash. Sometimes I keep a camera around my neck. After awhile I don't even notice it. Sometimes I leave the leash sticking out of my bag or vest so I can grab it quickly.
HOLDING THE FISH. When holding the fish with only one hand try holding it closer to the head. If you hold it in the middle it can wiggle loose easier which causes people to squeeze too hard. Most fish are more solid nearer the head, and it seems to make them wiggle more when you grab them around the middle.
The best thing to do is lift them gently above a submerged net by holding the tail with one hand and craddling them with the other. There's no need for squeezing. If the net is in the water you can raise the fish above it, snap a shot in about 5 seconds and have the fish right back in the water. It also looks great if the fish is wet with water dripping off it.
USE A BOGA GRIP. It's not as mean as it looks. Actually it prevents you from wiping the protective slime off the fish, holds the mouth open while you remove the hook and gives you the weight all at once. You can hold it in the water and you won't drop the fish in the boat. Did I mention I can't stand that?
When the angler is in the photo the fish can be held up close to the face to allow a good close up.
DON'T COVER THE TAIL WITH YOUR HAND. Most people have a tendency to hold their left hand under the belly and their right hand over the tail.
Simply bring your right hand around to the back side like twisting the throttle on a motorcycle. This exposes more of the tail to the camera.
Women should hold on with both hands under the fish and elbows together. I give full credit for that one to my good friend Mickey. Trust me.....it's a good thing. Is that fish out of focus? My bad.
TURN TOWARD THE SUN for better lighting.
There are no rules so get creative.
I love how people hold little fish. Why do the little ones get the biggest smiles?
There's always the cross over grip.
Works both ways.
Catch fish , get the pictures, but get the fish back in the water quick. Remember....just releasing a fish doesn't guarantee it's survival.
Feel free to write me with your ideas about photographing fish and send photos.
One Nice Roosterfish
Awesome rooster Lance, way to go.
You don't just step up and knock one out of the park like this, people. Lance has been doing this for nearly a decade and he works hard at it. Of course the view from his office isn't all that bad.
Lovin' the Whitefish
Rowan Nyman, head guide at The Firehole Ranch, came up with one of the funniest things I've heard of in a long time. The "Lovin' The Whitefish" photo contest has produced some great stuff. I really want one of my clients to win the Orvis rod and some of them have been more than happy to play along.
It's easy for crazy Canadians. They really do love Whitefish.
Larry kept smoochin' this lovely whitefish even after I put the camera away.
Southern Belle, Molly, wanted to squeeze the life out of this one after it got mud, blood and scales all over her nice white turtle neck. "Have you ever?"
Travis doesn't care about the contest. He's just plain hungry.
Please Note: No animals were hurt during the photographing process..........well maybe just a little.
Have fun every day and remember Whitefish are fish too.
SG
Tippette #2: Quick Tap Release Trick
I fished one day near Punta Pescadero with a guy named Ted from Colorado. I noticed him doing this little trick and I've been using it ever since. It works just as well with fresh water rigs.
With the rod in your left hand and the fly in your right reach up and hook the fly in a guide as close to the tip as you can get to comfortably. (Usually 3-5 guides down from the tip)
Slide your right hand down the leader wrapping it over the top and around the bottom of the reel. With a little practice you will have the right amount of line out when you hook the fly on the guide. I usually leave a bit extra and reel in the slack at this point. It's better if your line is a bit short and the tip flexes just a little to allow your line to make the wrap around the reel.
When you sight a big roosterfish cruising down the trough pull the wrap off the reel, let the line dangle and tap the rod as shown. The fly will fall and you can make a quick false cast or two as you strip line off the reel. If you tap straight down the fly might not fall. Try tapping at a bit of an angle from the right. If you examine the guides closely you'll understand why coming down and from the right works better. Left-handed flyfishers who retrieve with their right hand, reverse everything except the tap. Most guides are shaped the same.
This is a good way to stow your rig any time you don't need to break it down. It keeps you ready with all the knots beyond the guides. More importantly it keeps your leader straightened out so it doesn't get all curly from being on the reel.
Warning: If you stow a rig with two flies in this manner be aware of the top fly. The bottom fly is pretty safe as the point of the hook is inside the guide where nothing is likely to make contact. The other fly is not in a guide and can easily hook anything or anyone that brushes up against it. Which reminds me........ stay tuned for an up and coming blog entry on home made rod carriers.
With the rod in your left hand and the fly in your right reach up and hook the fly in a guide as close to the tip as you can get to comfortably. (Usually 3-5 guides down from the tip)
Slide your right hand down the leader wrapping it over the top and around the bottom of the reel. With a little practice you will have the right amount of line out when you hook the fly on the guide. I usually leave a bit extra and reel in the slack at this point. It's better if your line is a bit short and the tip flexes just a little to allow your line to make the wrap around the reel.
When you sight a big roosterfish cruising down the trough pull the wrap off the reel, let the line dangle and tap the rod as shown. The fly will fall and you can make a quick false cast or two as you strip line off the reel. If you tap straight down the fly might not fall. Try tapping at a bit of an angle from the right. If you examine the guides closely you'll understand why coming down and from the right works better. Left-handed flyfishers who retrieve with their right hand, reverse everything except the tap. Most guides are shaped the same.
This is a good way to stow your rig any time you don't need to break it down. It keeps you ready with all the knots beyond the guides. More importantly it keeps your leader straightened out so it doesn't get all curly from being on the reel.
Warning: If you stow a rig with two flies in this manner be aware of the top fly. The bottom fly is pretty safe as the point of the hook is inside the guide where nothing is likely to make contact. The other fly is not in a guide and can easily hook anything or anyone that brushes up against it. Which reminds me........ stay tuned for an up and coming blog entry on home made rod carriers.
Salmon flies on the Madison
Catchin´ the hatch....This is what´s happening on the Madison River right now. Coincidentally, they´re on the Gallatin River, too. Big meaty monsters. They looked like hummingbirds when we were driving Gallatin Canyon yesterday. Fellow Firehole Ranch guide, Josh, and I got into a ton of little rainbows and some nice sized browns fishing behind the hatch.
Salmon flies do it upside down:
Almost as big as a lighter:
Mr. Golden Stone gets in on the love:
Check out the caviar:
Josh with a nice little bow...must´ve been his 30th of the day. Everytime I looked over I saw his rod held high and his other hand letting one go:
Not only did Josh lead me to this awesome piece of water and rescue the fly box I dropped in the river while struggling to get a handle on this beautiful brown, but he also managed to sprint back upstream and get this photo - great guide:
Salmon flies do it upside down:
Almost as big as a lighter:
Mr. Golden Stone gets in on the love:
Check out the caviar:
Josh with a nice little bow...must´ve been his 30th of the day. Everytime I looked over I saw his rod held high and his other hand letting one go:
Not only did Josh lead me to this awesome piece of water and rescue the fly box I dropped in the river while struggling to get a handle on this beautiful brown, but he also managed to sprint back upstream and get this photo - great guide:
Tippette #1: Hemo-magnetics
Magnetizers/demagnetizers cost anywhere from a buck and a half to eight bucks. You can find them at www.toolcrib.com or www.wihatools.com. I have the 400 10 DGBM made by Wiha and it works well on lots of tools. You can always demagnetize later if necessary.