Spider Crab

Hello,

I remember the day I took this picture very clearly.  My father and I had decided to go fishing on a boat that he went on all the time.  Very relaxing because it didn't leave the dock very early.  The weather that day was great for fishing, just a little bit of wind, lots of sunshine with no clouds at all but not that hot at all.  We had been fishing for a little while when the captain caught this spider crab.  When you are fishing you can always catch something interesting.

I didn't think it was anything to special because I have seen thousands of spider crabs before but I thought that I should take a photo none the less.  Something about how young it was but it still had a ton of stuff growing on it.  The yellow young sponges on it's head that almost blocks it's eyes.  Mud colored algae all over the whole body makes it look dirty when it is actually quite clean over all.  I have always loved their red claws though with the long skinny legs, the one thing I don't like about spider crabs is eating them.

Thank you very much. 

Brook Trout

Hello,

I have been wanting to put this picture up for a little while now.  This picture was from one of my fishing trips with my father near Bishop, California in Rock Creek Lake.  I have been fishing for all my life and now it has become a true joy to fish not just to catch fish.  This little brook trout is a native which I love to catch.  I saw him and about three other males trying to catch the attention of a female on her nest.  These little, very smart native fish are so hard to catch that I am lucky to get one a trip, which is mostly my fault for not trying though.

For about thirty minutes I tried everything to catch this little one when finally a worm finally got him just right.  It was rare for me to get a native that I wanted a photo of him on the gravel.  Right before I put him back I thought that with my black net it would come out better, boy am I glad I did that.  The photo without the net you couldn't see him very well because the gravel and his skin was almost the same color.  The color spots on his side and the white lines on his fins showing the beginning of spawning jump right out. 

Thank you very much.

California Kingfisher

Hello,

I feel I really have to start with this photo of a Kingfisher.  I took this photo about two hours before sunset as I was fishing with my father and wife.  The fishing was slow,so I got out the new camera I just purchased and started taking pictures of everything.  A week later, as I was sorting through all the photos, I saw this one I showed it to a few people and everyone liked it.  This with about ten others turned into a photo-book I got printed about the trip.  I hope you all enjoy it.