More Poindexter Pics

Okay, so I haven't been doing a great job on keeping you current on my fishing adventures. I have gotten sidetracked trying to earn some much needed $$$, but more on that later. As previously posted, I did return to Poindexter Slough outside Dillon, MT in February with Bruce Shedden a longtime flyfishing buddy from Alberton, MT. We once again got into the fish. They were a little more finicky than on my previous trip and I was more focused on my photography but we managed to land several really nice fish with the largest being a 20" brown trout that I caught at the end of the day after I couldn't resist anymore and had to set my camera down.

Winter Fishing at Poindexter Slough

After a long absence, I am once again going to keep you updated on my fly fishing and photography adventures. I have been pretty busy getting the outdoor adventure photography business up and running. Between developing a logo, creating postcards and brochures and pitching my business model to fly shop owners and outfitters I managed an eleven day trip to New York City and last Saturday I was able to sneak away for an amazing day of fishing.

My friend, Chris Williams, and I drove from Missoula to Dillon, MT which is about 170 miles or 2.5 hours. The weather was beautiful. It was in the mid-forties and sunny. We had decided to test our skill at Poindexter Slough which is a public spring creek right on the outskirts of Dillon. It is open to fishing year round and is a tributary of the Beaverhead River. Later in the year, successfully fooling the wary brown trout that dominate the slough may require small (read size 20-22) flies and light tippets such as 6x, however, I have fished it several times in February for the last two years and have had great success with streamers and heavy tippets. What a blast! On previous trips our most succesful flies have been John Barr's slumpbusters in olive size 4 and 6. That changed on Saturday. Although we picked up a couple of nice browns on slumpbusters, the venerable woolly bugger
brought the most fish to hand including the fish of the day caught by Chris Williams, a rare 20"
rainbow trout. We used larger buggers in rust, black with brown hackle and a tiger stripe pattern.

We hit the water at about 12:30 . Of course since I had not fished since October and had hooking trout on the brain, I decided not to bring my camera. I was going to focus on the fishing and that part of the plan worked out as I landed 10 browns and lost a couple more. The smallest fish was 14" with the majority in the 17-18" range. The browns were still a little on the skinny side not having yet fattened up since their fall spawn. When Chris hooked and landed his rainbow trout that changed everything. I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera and continued to fret over it the rest of the day. Luckily Chris had his cell phone and we were able to salvage a picture of the chunky 20 incher. The photo at the top of the post does not do the beautiful fish justice. Chris managed to land 5 other fish including a 20" brown. All this in about four and a half hours of fishing. I'll be heading back over there tomorrow with another friend and will try to post some better photos.

If your interested in wiping the "rust" off your gear and cast, get out to Poindexter Slough in February. The fishing cannot be beat. After arriving in Dillon, stop off at Tim Tollet's Frontier Anglers. They have a nice fly shop that is stocked to the rafters with great fly fishing equipment. They are also very friendly and will point you in the right direction to get to Poindexter Slough.

Hunting Season and The Juried Exhibition

It's hard to believe that almost 2 months have passed since RMSP graduation. I'm still busy working on getting my photography business venture up and running. It has been a busy time between hunting season and the Thanksgiving holiday. Although we had very little snow and the hunting was challenging, I spent two weeks in the field. The first trip was in the beautiful coulee country surrounding the junction of the Marias and Missouri Rivers east of Great Falls in the Loma area. The second trip was close to Phillipsburg as we were based out of the Copper Creek Campground and hunted the ridges surrounding the Middle Fork of Rock Creek. My plans to put some quick meat in the freezer and focus on photographing the rest of the experience didn't quite work out. I took very few pictures, but did take notes that should prove helpful next year. We scaled some steep peaks in search of elk which was physically challenging. I'll need to be in better shape next year and also need to downsize the amount of equipment to minimize weight. With the unseasonably mild weather, I saw quite a few fisherman floating the local rivers. Maybe I should have focused on that instead.

This Friday is a big day for my fledgling career. One of my photographs was selected to be part of the Juried Exhibition at the Gallery Saintonge in Missoula, Montana. It is a big honor for me as there were 546 submissions from across the nation and Canada, and only 37 pieces, including 29 artists were selected for the exhibit. My piece was part of a series of photographs I took with the intent of recreating the feel of antique botanical text plates. The exhibit begins during the normal monthly Missoula First Friday event where studios and businesses open their doors and often provide free food and drinks in order to encourage the local community to support the arts.

My work is titled Eustoma grandiflorum 3 and is a studio shot of lisianthus. You can view it and the work of the other 28 artists at the Gallery Saintonge, 216 N Higgins Ave, Missoula, MT from December 5, 2008 through January 10, 2009. Wednesday -Friday 11-5 and Saturday 11-4.

Anchors Away

I'm embarking on a new adventure as a Freelance Photographer based out of Missoula, Montana. I have recently graduated the Rocky Mountain School of Photography and am feverishly working on getting my business venture up and running. I am looking forward to keeping any interested readers updated on my progress and the also for the opportunity to post some of my current work and personal projects. I may throw in some info about fishing trips on local rivers from time to time as well.