A New Camera for Norway

July 6, 2010

Part of organizing for this trip to Norway is getting familiar with a new camera. I feel like this adventure will be one of the best ever and getting great photos is a must. The cameras I’ve been using were not up to par with what’s available these days. On that note, even though I couldn’t afford it, I bought the new point and shoot Canon PowerShot G11. Reviews rave about the incredibly clear photos it takes and its ability to shoot both RAW and JPEG format. It also has many features that standard SLR cameras have.

I read the manual the last two days and today it was time to take some pictures. At first I tested it around the yard but then I wanted to test it on some fish. We have terribly high water on most our major rivers so back to the brookie streams I went. Joining me was, Mark Kuhn, better known as Milkfish. Milky and I drove towards Ashton, Idaho and started wetting lines in random small streams. Unfortunately, even the small streams are presently raging and although fishable, they were slightly off color.

My standard fly for blind casting small streams for trout is an elk hair caddis or a yellow sally. I’ve seen a few sallies around lately so I tied one on my 7 ½ foot 4-weight Ross Worldwide youth series rod. Ross sent it to me a few months back and today was a perfect place to test it. By the way, I was very impressed.

Milky did about the same and neither of us had much activity at first. Then, as a pair of sandhill cranes were scolding me from the bank with some God awful cackles, I caught my smallest fish of the year – a 4” brook trout. Such a pretty fish was a perfect test for the camera.

That was the only fish Milky and I caught. This surge of warm weather has melted the last of our high country snow and water levels have risen for the last time. Our small streams are about a week away from being excellent fishing and the major rivers will follow just after. Luckily, our tailwaters like the South Fork of the Snake will be prime in just few more days.

On the way home, Milky ran over a rock. We were backing up through some sagebrush and unfortunately there was a beast of a rock that tore up the bottom of his car. After we thought all was good, we proceeded down the dirt roads and his car was yelping a sound that was very similar to the upset sandhills I met earlier this afternoon. We made it back to Victor but I’ll be curious as to what is really messed up.

I just downloaded all my practice pictures. I’m very pleased with the results and I think with some practice with the camera settings the pictures will only improve. I just hope that next week the viewfinder is full with a huge Norwegian Atlantic salmon!

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

More Art, Less Fishing and Moose

December 5, 2009

There isn’t much snow on the ground here in Victor, Idaho, but the winter temperatures have arrived. It’s seriously cold and with the exception of a run or a hike I’ve been inside working on various art projects. It’s the exact weather needed to get me off the rivers and on to my work. Most of the artwork I’ve been doing is filling orders for Christmas. These include watercolors of cutthroats, brown trout, rainbow trout and even a muskellunge to name a few. It’s been great fun working at home for myself.

It would be a lie if I claimed I could go a whole week without fishing. And sure enough, a trip to Jackson Hole for a few hours of errands today turned into a quick jaunt up to the Jackson Lake Dam in Grand Teton National Park. Although most of the Park is closed to driving during the winter, the road to Moran Junction and to Jackson Lake remains open. From the dam runs the Snake River. Because the water running through the dam comes from the bottom of Jackson Lake, it’s warm enough that it doesn’t freeze. The warmth attracts baitfish such as Utah Chubs and whitefish that in turn bring in the predatory Snake River Cutthroats and brown trout. The dam turbines also blow through some lake trout from Jackson Lake itself. If you can stand the brutal temperatures, you often catch numerous fish until you’re so cold you can’t move.

Today such fishing was not the case. I fished with my friend Mark Kuhn, better known as “Milkfish” and between the both of us managed only two fish. I caught a brown and a laker. It was a surprise to do so poorly, but perhaps the fish were a little “doggy” because it was literally only five degrees.

Two nice fish certainly doesn’t call for a bad day, however, due to the slow fishing and severe chilly conditions, we opted to head home early to perhaps see some wildlife. Sure enough, our drive hardly let us down. We saw a coyote, hundreds of buffalo, elk, and best of all, several rutting bull moose. One of the bulls was quite large and I managed a few photos. Unfortunately, all I had was my point and shoot Canon so the photo you see is the best I could get. Hopefully in a few days I’ll round up a shot from Milkfish who had a nice camera and a zoom lens.

Global Fly Fishing web site