Went fishing yesterday caught a brookie, dropped camera in water!

[bigslackwater]

So I'm new to this forum as of a few weeks ago and I'm getting back in to fly fishing after my first attempt as a teenager. This time around I'm gaining much more knowledge about fly fishing through books and the internet.

I went up to the East Branch of the Antietam in the Waynesboro watershed area. The topic on this board, about the Antietam Creek, is how I found paflyfish.com.

The water was very low compared to the last time I up there. I did find that casting above the dam at the plant was tough with all the low hanging pines. However the water was crystal clear and trout were easy to spot, but easy to spook too.

I ended up catching one brookie, with a foam spider. This is only the second trout I've caught since I started fly fishing so it was an exciting experience. I was surprised to see that I hooked him outside the mouth. I didn't actually see him hit the spider because my cast was around the trunk of a large pine tree. I'm thinking he went for the fly head on, judging by the way he was hooked. There was some blood spotting you can see in the pic, but I think he will survive...I hope. My catch and release skills are still a bit sloppy. I dropped him in the dirt once and fumbled around until I, and the fish, both calmed down! I really need to learn how to release these guys more smoothy. I'm assuming this is a stocked trout but let me know what you think. (See pics)

After fishing around the water plant area, I took a drive up to a horse riding trail that also crosses the creek. I put my camera up on the side of the bridge to take a pic of myself. I guess my heavy feet on the bridge caused the camera to fall off the ledge and in to the creek!! I fished it out but the camera was dead. I managed to get these pics from the memory card...drying my camera in rice and hoping for the best! All in all, it was worth it!

 

[evw659]

you're hooked now! nice fish and i really like your last pic. if it makes you feel any better, i lost my dry fly box while brookie fishing 3 weeks ago that had about 50 of my ties in it.

 

[salvelinus]

Pinch down the barbs on your flies, makes it so much easier releasing fish. Nice fish and pics. Glad you are back in the fold.

 

[bigslackwater]

Salvelinus, I did have the barb pinched. I've been doing this to all my flies...I really need to sit down and pinch all of them in one sitting. Right now I'm doing it as I fish which takes a lot of time. I was kinda shocked how I hooked this fish. You can see the red mark on the photo. It's almost on his gills. It was a big hook. Probably a size 10 but I'm not sure. I'm thinking that smaller flies do less damage and I should lean that way whenever possible. I was trying everything that morning and really only used the big foam spider because I wanted to run a BH prince as a dropper. I wanted something that would hold it up...the letort hopper I was using was being dragged under by the weight of the bead head. So I put this foam spider on and BAM I catch one!

 

[caveman]

Nice fish and a beautiful setting.

Whenever some electronic device falls in the water to help lessen the chance of damage continuing after the dunking, immediately pull the battery.

 

[pete41]

Love those last picture,guessing you have had some lessons judging how artistically they are framed.

 

[volcanomil]

nice pictures

 

[pcray1231]

Nice pics. I "think" it's a stockie based on anal fin, but the picture is tough to tell and it does look colored up real nice.

As far as handling. A few tips. 95% of the time, the fly should be near the outside of the mouth. In those cases, grab the fly, not the fish! You'll find that by grabbing the fly, you can position the fish how you want for a picture, or even lift it out of the water. If you aren't taking a pic, you can just slip it out of the fish without even touching it.

Also, when you lay it on the ground, often the fish flops. You can stop this some by turning the fish upside down. At least slightly so, meaning that even if its laying so you can see its side, if the back is slightly lower than the belly.

And of course, if taking a pic, minimize the time the fish is out of the water. So, for instance, get the camera situated before taking him out.

 

[drews]

Nice pics. Got a camera suggestion if yours doesn't make it (and it makes pic taking more fun) Olympus stylis tough. Water, crush(supposedly) and freeze proof. I have taken some great underwater pics even in Erie in feb with ice everywhere. Takes good video too have never had a problem with fwiw

 

[pcray1231]

I agree with the waterproof camera angle, whatever you may choose.

I use a Canon D10. I never saw it in any stores as they all have agreements with Olympus to not stock other waterproof cameras, but you can get it on Amazon or other online dealers. It's waterproof, freezeproof, shockproof, etc. like the others, and I think rated to a deeper depth so I take that to mean the waterproofing is better.

Positives are that it is much quicker to turn on, focus and take pics than the Olympus, that was probably the selling point for me, it responds quicker and thus I can release fish faster. I also like the strap system where you can securely attach any strap to any corner of the camera. Plus, I always liked Canon's menu system. The battery is one of those proprietary square things, but it charges quick and lasts forever, I'm not sure I've recharged mine yet and I'm 1000 pics in.

I personally think it takes slightly better out of water pics, and slightly worse underwater pics than the Olympus.

Negatives are the shape, the thing is shaped like an egg and doesn't fit well in small pockets, and it's kind of weird to hold.

 

[bigslackwater]

Good News! My camera made it! Put it in rice for a day and it turned on but the lens was still fogged up. After two days the fogging is almost gone. The only problem I see is that the display screen has a few lines in it but this does not affect the picture.

I'm using a Canon A300IS. It's a cheap point and shoot but does a great job. I'm sold on Canon's pic quality. Thanks for the camera suggestions. I'm thinking about a waterproof camera now. I will compare the Olympus and the Canon, but based on my experience, I will probably lean toward the Canon.

Pete41, thanks for the compliment. I'm an amateur photographer at best! I did take a basic photography course in college and really enjoyed it. Learned a lot about lighting, exposure, angles etc... My approach to photography is to take a bazillion photos and hope for a few keepers!

 

[salmonoid]

caveman wrote:
Nice fish and a beautiful setting.

Whenever some electronic device falls in the water to help lessen the chance of damage continuing after the dunking, immediately pull the battery.

And remember that most (all?) cameras have two sets of batteries - one set to power the camera, and a second set to power the memory (usually a coin type battery). My camera took a dunk this spring (as did I) and I immediately pulled the AAs out. However, a few days later, it kept forgetting the date and when I fished out the coin battery, it was corroded beyond belief. I replaced the coin battery with one from my old digital camera and was back in business.

 

[BrookieBuster101]

the fish will be fine, gill plates are very tough. The reason for hooking fish on the outside of the mouth has to do with timing on the hookset. In this case you were a little late and he was in the process of spitting out the non food item when you set the hook.
Put in the hours and everything will run smoothly in no time, but I know its all very exciting.

 

[FarmerDave]

salmonoid wrote:

caveman wrote:
Nice fish and a beautiful setting.

Whenever some electronic device falls in the water to help lessen the chance of damage continuing after the dunking, immediately pull the battery.

And remember that most (all?) cameras have two sets of batteries - one set to power the camera, and a second set to power the memory (usually a coin type battery). My camera took a dunk this spring (as did I) and I immediately pulled the AAs out. However, a few days later, it kept forgetting the date and when I fished out the coin battery, it was corroded beyond belief. I replaced the coin battery with one from my old digital camera and was back in business.

I did not know that so thanks for the advice.

But I am pretty sure my older Kodak Easy Share has only the one set (AA). I just have to re-enter the date and time after replacing batteries. Based on the default date, the camera is 7 years old. Maybe the newer ones have a separate coin battery. I'll be buying a new camera this winter and will look for the extra battery.

 

[stevehalupka]

I have an Olympus Tough for sale if anyone is interested in underwater capabilities