Images from the Water

I hope you have enjoyed my images from the water posts over the years. I haven’t shared one of these is quite awhile. I’ve been on the Metolius waiting for Mayflies to hatch in the afternoons and found myself with camera in hand, capturing what I see around me. I said this before that the number of images I capture are directly related to insect hatches and rising fish. So I’ve been taking lots of pictures lately.

I spent quite awhile sitting and watching this Rainbow eat just about everything floating near it. Dancingtrout tried to fool it and I watched the trout look at and refuse her flies. These images are incredibly difficult for me to capture and I continue to practice my craft. I take multiple bursts and ended up with around 350 images. After checking for focus and framing, I only kept 19. It was worth it if I can get one image focused and timed like the one seen above.

Here is a different sequence of this trout eating. Look closely and you’ll see a Mayfly with upright wings floating toward the fish.

I did find my first Green Drake a few days ago.

It’s funny, but I’ve seen more Green Drake Spinners than Duns. Here are two images I was lucky to capture of spinners in flight…incredibly difficult for me.

I find these Green Drake Spinners are quite inconsistent to find. They don’t show up everyday and when they do, it might be early or mid-day.

A Green Drake Spinner fall is very difficult to see and harder to capture. They move quickly when I can find them. And trying to focus on a small flying insect? Almost impossible!!!

Here is an image from a few years ago when I found a stationary spinner in the streamside vegetation.

Here I’m playing and landing a nice Rainbow.

And a closeup of the healthy, beautifully colored fish.

Mayflies aren’t the only insects on the river. Here is a Caddis in the vegetation.

This immature bald eagle flew by me and landed in a large ponderosa pine tree and watched fly fishers, hoping for an easy meal.

The next image is a reminder to myself to try a beetle fly pattern every once in awhile.

How about a small Candy Flower (Claytonia sibirica) was growing on a log in the water.

Enjoy…go fish!