The Underwater World of Rivers

[MJL]

When I was a kid learning how to fish for steelhead, I was told that rivers are a lot like women...They have nice curves

 

I love fishing rivers...I never seem to get bored with the sight and sounds of moving water.

 

The last few weeks I’ve been probing various rivers of all sizes with my camera (and fishing gear) hoping to take some nifty shots of fish in their natural environment. I even bought a cool remote for my camera with the hopes that I’d be able to leave it in the river while salmon and steelhead swim around it.

 

After my carp tourney on the St. Lawrence earlier in August, I hunted the giant goldfish in other rivers closer to home.

 

A corn-eye or doughball-eye view

 

Resistance is futile!

 

 

 

Freedom

 

With less than a month left in trout season, I probed the underwater world of brookie streams...My goal of catching a steelhead-sized speck has not yet been achieved ...But it was fun trying

 

 

Reflection

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, the big brownies didn’t co-operate as well as I’d hoped. But with the salmon in the rivers the last while, I left my fishing gear in the car and set up my camera in a slow, shallow run for an afternoon. I ended up clicking away with the remote while picking up litter left by fishermen (the unfortunate reality of the salmon run)...Unfortunately out of the insane number of pictures I took, none of them came out all that good (I'm guessing they swam by too fast)...For an hour, I waded in the shallows of 1 pool, away from the other anglers, with camera in hand waiting for a fish to swim by. Only managed 1 fuzzy pic

 

Salmon trying to evade the snaggers

 

A double fisting bounty consisting of water bottles, vodka bottles (not the cheap stuff either), cigarette packs, beer bottles, loose line (mostly braid), a wading boot box (you’d think it would be easier to put the boots on at the parking lot ), glow stick packs, pop cans, carton of lactose free milk, a plastic baggie with roughly 4lbs of rotting skein and more.

 

 

Early on I was taught that if you treat the rivers right, the river goddess will treat you back with karma...Karma powerful enough to put steelhead-sized specks, salmon-sized steelhead and blimp-sized carp at the end of your line ...I can still dream...

 

Hope you enjoyed

 

Mike

[ccmtcanada]

Spectacular report Mike! Those pictures are fantastic! Great to see you out fishing as much as you are. We have to hook up for the fall steelhead run! Always a pleasure reading your reports...always very well written and thought out!

[GBW]

you have some great pic's there Mike.

 

good on ya for cleaning up all that trash too! the fishing karma police will pay you back, big time...

[Gregoire]

Great report, the one where you are releasing the brookie with the reflection on the water is unreal. Thanks for cleaning up the rivers as well. I experience the same thing to a lesser scale every time I take my dog for a walk in the park. Some people are pigs

[hammercarp]

Great pictures Mike. Thanks I really enjoyed them.

[bassman87]

awesome pics, thanks

[Pigeontroller]

Great pics, thanks for sharing...And thanks for picking up the refuse of the idiot slobs that went before you!

[ccmtcanada]

 

 

LOVE this picture Mike!

[Terry]

great photos

[solopaddler]

May the river gods smile kindly on your good deed.

 

Unfortunately 'tis the season of the slack jawed drooling, knuckle dragging, garbage leaving bank mutant.

 

 

Outstanding photos!

[fishindevil]

nice pics man !!! they look so tempting...cheers

[Musky or Specks]

May karma reward you. Also the reflection pic is now my desktop

[BCLT]

great pics mike, great write up

Edited September 6, 2011 by BCLT

[Guidofisherman]

Great report. I love the underwater photos. I know they take a little more work to set up and a bit of luck. What camera did you use?

[daryl0815]

Awesome pics Mike, That reflection pic is wicked! There is definitely something special about stream fishing, the sound of water is relaxing when there aren't a bunch of people snagging with a spin cast reel and 4' rod

 

I see way too much garbage some of the places that I go fishing, I think that Karma has been good to you on the streams judging by the variety of fish that you caught!

 

Have you caught any shopping carts lately? now that would be a cool pic

 

I should buy an underwater camera and take some pictures of snags where I fish and put them in a book to use when the river is stained, the camera would pay for itself in hooks/flies, sinkers and floats haha

[whitbyboatguy]

those are really good pictures!

What did you use to take them?

[torco]

Well done, amazing pics. Unfortunate the amount of garbage that is left in our streams. Every year they clean the speed here in town and the stuff that comes out is really upsetting. Anyways I hope karma treats you well and thanks for doing more than your fair share of cleaning around your river.

[Rod Caster]

Very kind of you to clean up the banks of that river.

 

The colors on those speckies really came through on your photography.

 

 

[bigugli]

Outstanding photos.

[misfish]

Two bags and a pizza box.Unreal.

 

Great photos Mike.

[manitoubass2]

These pictures just blew my mind

 

Seriously, these need to be published IMO.

 

Thats so cool man that you spent the time/money to do this, I applaud you

[MJL]

Thanks guys...Glad you like the pics

 

Great report. I love the underwater photos. I know they take a little more work to set up and a bit of luck. What camera did you use?

 

those are really good pictures!

What did you use to take them?

 

Thanks guidofisherman and whitbyboatguy. I was using a Canon 40D. Underwater photography is definitely the hardest type of picture taking I’ve ever done. I’m still learning as I go and TBH, a lot of what I shoot is a result of pure luck - I'm shooting blind 100% of the time, usually just with one hand (the other hand is on the rod.LOL). Prime conditions for underwater photography (Gin clear and high-noon sun) make for some very tough fishing so getting something to take a picture of can be challenging. In many places, the water never really becomes clear enough to make shooting worthwhile.

 

Awesome pics Mike, That reflection pic is wicked! There is definitely something special about stream fishing, the sound of water is relaxing when there aren't a bunch of people snagging with a spin cast reel and 4' rod

 

I see way too much garbage some of the places that I go fishing, I think that Karma has been good to you on the streams judging by the variety of fish that you caught!

 

Have you caught any shopping carts lately? now that would be a cool pic

 

I should buy an underwater camera and take some pictures of snags where I fish and put them in a book to use when the river is stained, the camera would pay for itself in hooks/flies, sinkers and floats haha

 

No shopping carts yet but I am tempted to bring my Marcum underwater camera to the river notorious for them...I want to take pictures of browns in their natural environment

[drewbrew]

I love seeing pics like that ,great job.

[SRT8 smoker craft]

Nice pics and def some good fish karma earned there

[hurraylien]

Nice pics mike hope to see more cheers!