Photography

Live Trout Porn: Sugar Creek’s Underwater BIG BIG FISH Cam

August 29, 2006, by Tom Chandler 3 comments

Sugar Creek apparently wants to turn its pay-to-fish monster trout ponds into something far more lucrative – a reality TV show. Introducing the live, underwater “big fish” cam.

The ideal link for those who “just like to watch,” it’s essentially a peaceful desktop aquarium – until a big, big fish swims through, at which time it becomes a live fly fishing porn show. Be still my beating heart…

Click the picture below to see Sugar Creek’s Big Fish Cam.

[Editor's Update: Camera is only available from Noon to 7:30 (PST). Damnit - what are we going to do the rest of the day?]

Sugar Creek suggests watching only 20 minutes at a time to preserve their bandwidth (boy, have they got a lot to learn about the Internet). Sugar Creek is a pay-to-fish fishery about an hour north of the Underground in the Scott Valley. I’ve never fished there, but then, hundreds of big trout can’t be wrong.

[tags]sugar creek, big trout, underwater camera, trout porn[/tags]

Scale Samples: An Upper Sacramento closeup

August 28, 2006, by Tom Chandler 7 comments

During my Upper Sacramento Grand Slam of a couple weeks ago, the my little point-and-shoot digital camera batteries were wheezing like a heavy smoker on Everest. The result was a series of underexposed photos of trout with deeply saturated scales. And when you’re given underexposed lemons, you make richly color-saturated lemonade.

Enjoy this slightly different angle on the Upper Sacramento. It’s hard to believe these colors exist on anything alive, but fish are one of the prettiest aspects of fishing. Though this is hardly a challenge for most, fish identifications are listed at the bottom. Enjoy!

Upper Sacramento River brown trout
Born here, or washed over the dam?

Rainbow gill plate
One of my favorites.

Brook trout gill plate from the Upper Sacramento River
This one’s tough, so I left in a big clue…

Brown trout on the Upper Sacramento River
It’s positively galactic looking.

Upper Sacramento River rainbow trout
Partially submerged. But completely beautiful.

Did you pass? 1. Brown Trout, 2. Rainbow Trout, 3. Brookie, 4. Brown Trout, 5. Rainbow Trout

[tags]Upper Sacramento, Grand slam, Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, Brook trout [/tags]

A Half-Dozen Photographic Moments of Zen

August 21, 2006, by Tom Chandler 9 comments

The L&T Nancy and I headed for the high country again on Sunday – this time a short hike to tiny, jewel-like Heart Lake (above Castle Lake). Castle is a beautiful lake – and a fun float tube destination – that can be overrun by visitors on weekends. Still, a short hike leaves the crowds behind, and you find yourself on the tall cliffs overlooking a truly stunning mountain cirque, a sheer, 150-foot drop only inches from your toes.

I left my point and shoot digital camera at home in favor of my fancy new 8-megapixel Canon DSLR. Let’s say there are still a few bugs to work out, but for the bored Undergrounders out there, I present a few images from the trip…

The sky above Castle Lake
Clouds and cliffs – a pretentious writer’s view of the cliffs surrounding Hart Lake.

Castle Lake overview
The view from the sheer cliffs overlooking Castle Lake. Those dots are kayaks. And those rocks in the foreground are all that stand between you and a 150 foot dive…

Heart Lake – a tiny little body of water nestled atop the cliffs overlooking Castle Lake.

Castle Lake float tube
A long, long ways off – a fly fisher talks to a kayaker. Bet they’re talking about the Underground.

Rocks
The very zen waters of Heart Lake. Even the Wonderdog couldn’t be anxious up here.

Speaking of Wally the Wonderdog, he’s had enough hiking for one day.

[tags]Castle Lake, outdoor photography, alpine[/tags]

The Troutnut Site: Welcome to Bug Central

August 20, 2006, by Tom Chandler 1 comment

Every once in a while I stumble across a site that represents so many hours of work that I wonder at the sanity of the builder.

The Troutnut is just such a site – a compilation of a mind-boggling 2392 stunning photographs of trout food (bugs), and truckloads of information about those same critters. The builder’s also a pretty good landscape photographer, and his underwater pictures are equally interesting.

It’s everything you ever wanted to know about bugs. And way more. Visit it. Bookmark it. Visit it again…

[tags]troutnut, mayflies, caddis, fly fishing blog[/tags]

Thursday’s Underground Entertainment

August 10, 2006, by Tom Chandler 2 comments

With all the craziness lately, I’ve been forced to turn my back on those who live and breath for their Underground Entertainment. Today’s list is short. Enjoy!

First, I get a lot of compliments for my photography, but give Richard Bernabe’s Web site a visit to see what a top outdoor shooter can do with a camera. Worth a visit.

Trout Underground desktop available…

July 12, 2006, by Tom Chandler 8 comments

Just so the beauty of the Upper Sacramento doesn’t escape you while you’re staring at that glass box on your desk, I’ve thrown together a desktop-sized version of the Underground’s recent Mossbrae Falls picture. This is in 1024 x 768 format (1280 x 1024 available), and includes the logo.

Simply click the image below, and the full-sized version should appear.

Click here for the 1024 x 768 version.

Click here for the 1280 x 1024 version.

It’s a little hefty (650K), but for most, it will appear in seconds. If you pine for the river but can’t be there, then great – it’s yet another way the Trout Underground can make your life a little more painful… See you at your monitor, Tom Chandler.