Vito1

No I have not. I'll have to check it out this summer.

I stay at my parents' off US-10 near Branch. Its about 15-20 minutes east of Ludington. They built on some property after my Dad retired about 3 years ago. I definitely spend a lot more time up there now. Free food, free bed, and free babysitter to go along with great fishing. That's tough to beat!

Santosh, I'm a big fan of Ludington too! I'm not sure I've ever been to Ludington without making a stop at House of Flavors. The Milky Way is my favorite! Jones' in Baldwin cures the fix if we don't make it to Ludington. One of these days I'll catch a nice sunset there. Seems I'm always fishing in the evening when I'm up there. Have you ever visited Todd and Brad Reed Photography about 2 blocks east of House of Flavors? They have some beautiful photos from the lakeshore.

Thanks, Andrew. I'll have to give my wife most of the credit on that one. This particular hognose does flatten it's neck in defense. They are not poisonous and will rarely strike. Even when they strike they don't appear to want to bite. Just trying to scare you. This was a young one, maybe 24" at the longest. We have found them up to 36".

Spent a couple days at my parents' place in Northern Michigan which gave me time to play with my DSLR a little more. There was a wild turkey nesting about 80 yards from the house but I was a few hours late and the nest was empty. 6 hatched and 3 unhatched eggs remained. Also stumbled upon a young Eastern Hognose on my walk back. We spent an afternoon in Ludington along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. The kids were happy to play in the sand and it was my son's first experience in it. Was glad to see he didn't try to eat it since everything else goes right in his mouth. The hummingbirds are starting to show up now that the temperatures are closer to normal for this time of year. Mostly females so far.

Beautiful fish and photo, Andrew.

Fantastic shots!

Beautiful photos! The second bee is really getting at it!

Thanks for the tips Will and John. The fish photos are always taken quickly and the fish is never out of water for more than 5 seconds at a time. We only have it out of water a couple times giving it adequate rest in between. The fish is held facing upstream when the photos aren't being taken. The whole thing is really over very quickly and fish swimming away unharmed is our number one concern. Our goal is for it to have a sore mouth and nothing more.

Thats a good point, Andrew. I really rushed the shots of the big buck my younger brother caught. It was raining very hard and I was concerned with the camera getting wet. I'm not sure how wet is too wet when it comes to my XTi. We tucked under a pine and that helped a little, but the camera was still getting wet. We also wanted to get the fish back quickly and that also caused me to rush. That didn't help when I need to be steady under those conditions. Thanks for the compliments, Ashby.

We were a little further downstream, below Mio. Thanks for the compliment about my daugher. I try not to think about the teenage years...its a little scary!

Finally had a good opportunity to play with the new DSLR on a fishing trip with my brothers. I refused to grab the point and shoot even though I might miss some shots. Figure I won't learn if I use it as a crutch. I think I did okay. Kept forgetting to adjust the white balance out of excitement when big fish were caught. I think I still got some good shots. I messed up some would be great shots but not keeping the lens clear of rain and fog as well as bad focusing. I always want to get the fish back quickly and I lose attention to detail. Once it becomes second nature of what settings I want to use for a certain shot I think it will get better. I'm posting some of the bad ones for two reasons. One, so you guys can offer some help. Two, they are nice fish! Any tips are welcome. Some pics of my daughter while on the trip. A long story of this trip can be found here... Matt

Very nice Andrew! I like the reflection in the raindrop.

Great job, Jay! I love the 3rd pic. I'm a sucker for faces.

Very well done, Wulff! Those are very tough shots to get. Steelhead change directions so quickly that they are in the frame one second, gone the next. The second hen is a beauty! Looks like the lampreys are eating well.

Well done, Wulff. I look forward to see more of this assignment.

Wonderful Jay. Can't wait to see more...

They certainly are fun to watch. I've sat on my parents deck for hours in the summer watching them buzz around. Its interesting to watch them interact with each other. I'm not sure what species we have here but the older/bigger females can be very intimidating toward younger females. The females always seem to out-number the males about 5-1. Not a bad ratio if you're a male.

Great shots Ashby! Their little feet feel funny don't they? We have some that will sit on your finger without hesitation while others are more shy. We had one female last summer (the hummingbirds aren't back yet around here) that wouldn't rest on your finger but she would drop her feet every couple seconds to touch you. She was very curious. She would hover within 12" of my face just checking me out. I kept waiting for her to stab me in the eye!

Great shots Andrew. Beautiful birds. You can see its tongue sticking out in both picks.

I stand corrected. The second stonefly photo is the best I've ever seen. Amazing.

Diamond here too! My Black Ice should be here soon. Its been a long, drawn out process but hopefully it was worth the wait. The guys I've dealt with at Bowtech are friendly but I'm not so sure they know whats going on over there.

Yeah there is never enough time. I'm hoping my new bow will get here soon so I can use it for turkey next month. Its suppose to be here in 2 weeks but we'll see. I can't wait to see some spring turkey pics from you. I'm hoping for a gobbler fanned out in an early morning fog. I hope thats not too much to ask.

Will, that stonely is best nymph photo I've ever seen. You are definitely on to something. There's something wrong if that isn't published somewhere.

I can see you've thought this through. Come on over! Had some great battles today but this gal put on quite a show.