Adirondack TroutWatch Video
It’s been raining for weeks. We should be in the prime of our fly fishing season and glances at the USGS site for Eastern NY only reveals black dots. Dots notate streams and black is over 100% capacity. Today I decided to go for a drive to check out some smaller creeks I have had my eye on for years. Usually they just warrant passing glances over bridges as I speed on to larger rivers and predictable hatches. Today I knew they would be the only fishable moving water around. When I pulled off the main drag just north of a classic Adirondack town that had a motorcycle festival ongoing which slowed me down but I was in no hurry the pavement quickly gave way to a hard dirt road then deteriated. I parked next to an old rusted steel bridge and looked around. I could tell right away that I would be adding a size 10 stimmy with a dropper of a gold ribbed hare’s ear nymph or prince to the leader. I walked a good fishing distance down stream by way of the road, cut into the woods and started picking my way back through the boulders. The casts were sometimes no longer than my leader but averaged about ten feet of line out and I found fish here and there. Some took the dropper, some took the dry and the browns I landed were spunky and buttery gold. Some wereobviously wild with bright red spots with a smattering of bigger ones which were probably stocked at some point but were starting to turn due to their mountain diet. I lost the only two brookies I hooked, one right at my feet and I even though it was small I wanted the picture anyway. Brookies are our only native fish however due to warmer water temps and invasion of species, the browns now do much better in our habitat. When the day was over, I was completely satisfied. New water, wild trout, and a new adventure in the books.
Shaq – that was awesome! phenomenal solo video/photgraphy work. i know that is NOT easy … and takes TIME to set things up right, get creative shots and , lets not forget, catch fish …
Everyone is different – but for me, the digital technology has added a whole new dimension to my fly fishing. a whole new artform, that i am always experimenting with and learning from … as with all things digital, the thing that i find most cool is this … once you realize …”oh wow! i never knew i could do this or that.” …. that only gives rise to new questions and new solutions and if you are truly excercising your creativity and the digital tools available … it does not take long to realize that … it IS a constant eveloving and never ending learning experience and you are constantly figuring things out from a software/hardware/conceptual/creative perspective and always realizing …. “oh wow! i never knew you could do this or that.” and then the technology changes .. and then you throw in the power of the internet and distribution and interactivity and things get really crazy and fun … and then you may sit back one day and say … “i don’t know what i enjoy more — fly fishing itself or the capturing/production and distribution of “digital fly fishing” content…… for me, it is one in the same … and for me, i love combining the digital technology with the outdoors … the contrast of the two – by nature – gives way to some uncharted creativity … and the possibilities of digital technology are endless … and believe me … if you think things are cool now — stand by … because in the years to come … all of us will be truly amazed at what is possible ….
anyway – i just wanted to say – that is great work on the fly rod, on the camera, and on the pc — it takes a certain level of commitment and dedication and being able to deal with crashing computers, wet cameras, things that don’t work, complicated software and pulling your hair out — but, to the degree which the person can tolerate all those things and stay focused on the end result – so is the level of content — and producing content is easy – producing good content is not — across the board, that was great content and it does not go un-noticed ….
ps – one more thought – fly fishing, is by nature, a solo-activity – and being able to go solo and produce something like this on your own from beginning to end – is so cool. in fact, isn’t that the same characteristics that drive fly fisherman??? so, really, it is no great surprise that you – as a fly fisherman – could put together such a great piece of solo work.
pps – here is what i have learned regarding the capturing and creation of digital content – keep pushing the boundaries of your creativity. go for the shots that are not easy. see what others don’t. when you see something .. don’t just look at it from the perspective of what you can do on the camera … instead … look at it from the perspective of what you can do with it on the computer… the magic resides in the editing and a persons ability to conceptualize and take diconnected pieces of a puzzle and combine them in a way that produces 1 cohesive end result — nice work — look forward to seeing more.
hEY THANKS jEREMY, You and this site is the inspiration and I am having alot of fun. I think you can see your influences in my shots ie the driving to and from ect. This was one of those rare instances when the trout were cooperating well and once I had learned where they were in this little stream I could almost guarantee a fish from each eddy that fit the characteristics. Also there were alot of table sized flat rocks for the camera to be set up from. Thanks again and I look forward to showing you more.
ps: I had called no less than 5 people to go with me to my new place. People had colds, chores, family commits, so I just went. Turned out good on a whimsacal guess about this spot. I think I am going to implement a new rule, No fishing the same spot twice…OK except the D…haha.
ps, nice capture on the trout/walking in the stream transition. Love that
Looks like a great little hide-a-way. I wonder when the last time those runs were plyed with a fly. Nice solo work! It is a good skill to have. It’s getting harder and harder to find people to fish with these days. Everyone seems to have a lot of obligations on their plate.
Shaq, nice video. Your recent work is an inspiration. Solo pics are very challenging and the video set up was really good, especially for a solo effort. I’ve seen that pose of the agony of defeat on you as well have worn it many times myself, a great addition, something we can all relate to. I am going to have to commit to taking pics and video on all of my future outings.
ps. the creek was a bit high to wade, just over my belly button, in the spot that you suggested. I went to the other spot and there were many spinners in the air, but only saw two risers and got a small one on a spinner.
Sweet video Shaq. I’m sure that was quite the task to create. As mentioned pics while fishing solo is a challenge let alone video. Nice work. And that is a great stretch of water you found. It is sad to hear that even up in the Adirondacks Brookies are still tough to find. Read an article in the Times Union that put a glimmer of hope for their comeback though. Basically some that were stocked in November survived the winter. That is hopefully a good sign of things to come.
sweet. so the water is still quite a bit up. good you got one. IN the riffle or pool?
in the pool. the other one very sporatic riser on the far side (road) at the very head. never got to cast to him. at the spot you told me about saw two very sporatic risers but couldn’t get one to take the other lip burned. did not see any others. I keep watching the usgs site and crossing my fingers.