Flies and Ice Cream

I know it looks messy,
but don't worry, we've got a system.

Flies and ice cream. Tying flies that is. No flies in the ice cream as far as I know. 

In a little over a week I'm going to be heading into the Chesapeake Bay for a day of fishing with Captain Chris Newsome and my buddy Kevin. A fish in hand is long overdue, I'm hoping this trip will change that. 

Line em up, baby.

Kevin and I got together last night to tie some flies in preparation for the trip. 

Red over orange/yellow provides nice contrast
in the mirky waters of the Chesapeake. 

We got creative with out color combinations and made a mixture of clousers and deceivers and a hybrid of the two. 

Dry, epoxy, dry!

To be honest, I'm not concerned if these flies catch us any fish or not. It was just nice to enjoy a night on the porch with good company, music and some VERY chocolatey ice cream. 

mmmmmm..... Chocolate Ice Cream. 

Painting Through Prosek: Dolly Varden

The Dolly Varden and its subspecies cover a large range. They also seem to wear many colors ranging from olive drab to lavender, and they turn brilliant colors when they turn on the spawn. Because of this, Prosek took the time to document the Southern and Northern subspecies as well as the spawning form. 

Instead of painting all three separately or choosing only one to recreate, I incorporated all three into this  painting. I am pretty happy with the result. I'm also excited because finishing the Dolley Varden means I've completed the Char section of the book. Next we will have a short stint examining his paintings of the Apache, Gila and Mexican Trout after which we will spend the rest of out time on the diverse Rainbows/Goldens and Cutthroats and finally finish on the Browns and Atlantic Salmon. 

We still have a long way to go  :)

Painting Through Prosek: Bull Trout

James Prosek paints two versions of the Bull Trout in "Trout: An Illustrated History." This is a good example of variation between subjects. No two trout look the same. Whether you are talking Brown, Brook, Rainbow, Cutthroat, etc, etc etc. The same probably goes for all fish (sunfish/bluegill or even carp for that matter). 

To assist in finding some of the details of these fish, I have been searching images on the web in addition to using Prosek's fish as a guide. As such, there tends to be a few more differences between my and Prosek's rendition. 

Slowly but surely, I'm moving along. I may make a photobook with shutterfly when this is all done. Some way to have these sitting out in coffee-table-book style. Right now, I just have a file cabinet with all of these hidden away. That's no fun.