Photos from the Field

Been hitting the water a lot lately now that things are warming up. I am officially taking myself off of blizzard watch but going to keep one eye out for snow storms, hail and anything else Colorado weather is going to throw at me this year. Typically I fish one or two days a week but now will be trying to use every scrap of free time to cast or re-spool. Here are a few shots from various trips over the last week or two.

(Above: American white pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos. This is a major fish eater and we are fortunate that these “fish-bellies on wings” are merely a seasonal visitor.)

Birds are a common sight when fishing and add that extra cool element to the whole outdoors experience. Every once in a while I will pester them for a picture with as little intrusion as possible. Pelicans will sometimes allow a close shot where as the Great Blue Heron tends to be more skittish.

(Above: Great Blue Heron ‘Ardea herodias’ in flight on a cloudy day. I have adjusted the saturation just a bit.)

My camera does not allow excellent quality on the zoom feature so those long distance bird shots and even smaller birds do not photograph as well. The good news is that I am more focused on the fishing and not so much the bird photography so there won’t be an endless stream of bird pictures on my blogilicious.

Herons, pelicans, cormorants and even seagulls can provide clues as to where the fish may be. Birds also have a way of fluttering out of the brush when you least expect them. This adds that extra layer of excitement and panic to those outdoor adventures.

(Above: Here’s a nice shot of a Great Blue Heron coasting into a landing spot. The sport mode can be tough to switch to on the fly so I just grab most of my shots on auto-focus.)

This year has been something else and my toughest yet. I have had to grab fish in between blizzards and fish through whatever comes my way. This is definitely a huge contrast to the previous years where Colorado was facing a 5-year drought. I can pretty much toss out last year’s catch\date information and start over. This all adds to the challenge and my frustration at times to be fishing sunshine and blue skies in 60 degree highs one day and then be freezing the tulips the very next day.

(Above: Grabbed this shot a day after fishing in May. Missed this storm by a mere 12 hours. 24 hours after this…I was FISHING!)

Once again I want to express my sincere thanks for all of those that visit, comment, follow and rate on my blogilicious. Please feel free to shoot me an e-mail with suggestions, how-do-you-do’s or things you don’t want to be seen by the masses. Coloradocasters@yahoo.com

Good luck and good fishing!