Month: October 2013

New Video from The Fly Collective: Long Shot

Since the first installment, Cold Blue Nights, 7 months ago, I’ve been waiting for The Fly Collective‘s next piece. The Fly Collective is made up of Ivan Orsic of Yukon Goes Fishing (of yukon goes fishing) and Russell Schnitzer (of schnitzer photo).

In their own words: The latest installment has been in the works for months. The quality of work these guys put in to these projects is top notch.

The latest project explores the perspectives and relationships of fly fishers and writers, Jay Zimmerman (no relation to Robert more commonly know as Bob Dylan… at least as for as I know…) and Erin Block (of MysteriesInternal.blogspot.com). It is phenomenal.

“We strive to tell unique and compelling stories within the fly fishing community using a combination of our distinctive styles. Our objective is to be a part of the evolution of fly fishing media, to more effectively connect people with their passions by creating real, identifiable stories of hard-working anglers and guides.

We are based in Colorado, but our roots and reach are extensive. You’ll see plenty of different places and characters featured, documenting the real and growing extent of fly fishing subculture.
We are, proudly, a low-budget operation. It is our hope that you’ll find our execution to be top-shelf.”


A story about a fly fishing couple with a shared passion for chasing carp along Colorado’s Front Range. Jay Zimmerman and Erin Block share glimpses in to their lives as authors, creators of proven fly patterns, and anglers. Fly fishing for carp requires one to push the envelope in order to learn and grow, let alone connect with the fish. It is an ongoing evolution where, as in life, disparate successes are connected by a series of long shots.
Music: Alt-J “Breezeblocks” instrumental
Camera & Edit: Russ Schnitzer & Ivan Orsic
[like] The Fly Collective at facebook.com/flycollective
Inquiries: info@theflycollective.com

The Land of Oz: Day 6

The trip is coming to an end. Our cat at home is likely royally pissed off at us. We are picking up British phrases like “a bit” and “pottering around” and “gutted” and on and on. 

Tom and I surfed in the morning. I was spent after 30 minutes, two caught waves, and one massive pearl dive. 
We had a morning feed with local lorakeet family. 
Later Emma, Sara and I spent the day relaxing, shopping, walking and napping. We capped off the night with more of the same: food, friends and good conversation. 

The Land of Oz: Day 5

We relaxed Thursday morning, taking our time waking, tom and I fished a bit, enjoying morning tea, and reading. We ate lunch at the Regatta, an 1800s pub and then set off for Currumbin on the Gold Coast. The moment we stepped on the balcony we saw humpback whales breaching and chuffing along the horizon. Tom and I went body surfing. We dried off and went to the store to get ingredients for stir fry and ended the night with great company and conversation. 

Those are flood levels with the date of the flood. 

The Land of Oz: Day 4

Sorry about the mix up on the order of posts but we should be back on track now. Today we took on a whole new beast, driving in Australia. Fortunately, I only curbed the car once and we are all home safe and sound. 
We took a day trip up the Sun Coast to see the beaches of Coolum and the Noosa Heads National Park. We explored tidal pools, saw gorgeous shoreline, swam in the pacific, hiked along the cliffs of the national park, saw an Echidna and an Eastern Brown Snake (venomous but it chose not to strike), but did not see a wild koala or any sea turtles. 
The night is being capped off with a nice cup of tea and some Tim Tams (a local chocolatley treat). 

Espresso in the morning!!!

Watch out for koalas!

The Land of Oz: Day 2

Whew…. We are tired but we are happy. We woke today and, after a nice breakfast of Vegemite on toast, we grabbed the ferry to Queen St and hopped on the bus to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. This is a great sanctuary, but what was most special was getting to hold a koala. These are sweet little marsupials. We spent most of the day there. We returned to Brisbane proper and shared a sandwich at a cute restaurant on the river. Later in the evening our friends took us out to Chinatown for dinner. Now we are struggling to stay awake. It is time for bed 🙂 

Sorry for the brief explanations. Can you tell I’m sleepy. 

Jacaranda flower petals are everywhere. 

The Land of Oz: Day 1

I don’t know what happened to Saturday. It was swallowed by international airways and inflight movies. We exited a plane in Brisbane. The Capitol of Queensland Australia. Just as planned, our friends tom and Emma were at the airport to pick us up. After sharing the story with them how we forgot to get our visas but still managed to get into the country, we made it back to their place in St. Lucia to clean up and enjoy coffees. We explored the town by foot, ferry and car. We swam in this pool and went to the top of mt coot-tha and finished the night with pizza and fishing off their dock. We caught a few shark finned catfish and then I was bit off by what we agreed was a bull shark. Not too bad for day one. 

Painting Through Prosek: McCloud River Rainbow Trout

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a “generic rainbow,” but according to Prosek, the McCloud River Rainbow was the strain that was moved from the East coast westward to introduce rainbows. The colors of the fish I find online vary greatly from each other and from Prosek’s version. 

Painting Through Prosek: Steelhead

There are certain trout species that can’t be ignored. I’ve never fished for steelhead, but I believe I understand their importance to the sport. For many anglers, there is nothing more exhilarating than feeling the tug of a running steelhead. 
As such, they are a fish of subtleties. Their patterns shift with their life cycles and age, but as exhibited by Prosek, a few well calculated strokes of with a watercolor brush can “get the gist.” Still, the closer you look, the more you find each scale has its own personality. This is true with all fish, I suppose. 

I chose to use a “blotting” brush stroke in this case to add texture back into Prosek’s image.  

I think I left the pink stripe a little too dorsal on the fish. 
I might add more black to the back to even it out.