jksnijders

Most shops are good about letting you try lenses instore, mess around a bit and get a feel for the range and see if its right for you. Most have pretty good return policies, (or so I've found) and have been able to return a lens after I tried it out a bit. Wasn't quite what I wanted, and exchanged no problem. (On 11 th Ave I think it was...)

4 piece is definitely the way to go, no matter what the make....

Making whoopee is about right... There's an old ranch house on the side of the road where the 36 crosses the Oldman. I stopped there to take pics of it, and as I walked up to it I almost tripped on a huge Bullsnake. Or so I thought, it was about 8 feet long, and in tall grass. I noticed it was 2 laying side by side. I watched a bit, (voyeuristic I know) and that is what happened. Got a few good closeups. As for rattlers, heres one from Bindloss.

Almost stepped on this on the Oldman, but nowhere near the usual fishing areas. Near the 36 where it crosses. Never thought I'd post this here but since the topic's started and I kinda liked the pic...

Awesome pics!

Doesn't look like much to do with fishing, but I was chuckin streamers for Pike and this fence was about 50 feet from the water's edge. I kinda liked how it looked.

Digital Rebel SLR with Tamron 18-250 Wide Angle Zoom. Can be a pain in the ass to pack around, and I've had some close calls when crossing streams etc. And depends on the circumstances if I even get it out. Especially solo, can be hard to position a fish for a pic. I usually don't mess around too much, so I've missed alot I would have liked to get, but not big on harming fish just for a pic. I like the versatility of it, and its great for scenery, etc. Not real handy with it but once in a while I screw up bad enough and get a pic worth keeping..

One more, solo day last week.

A close up.

Highight of the day, hooked a small rainbow in this pool, just ready to land it and this guy hammered him about 8 times right in front of me. Lots of commotion and a yell to Lorne who nailed him on a streamer.

While I'm at it, from the Oldman..

Off he goes..

On a dropper.

Another..

Nice one Lorney..

Swamp donkey.

Some scenery.

Lorney and I got out for a day down south, here's a few pics. I couldn't compress them anymore, (Pics taken in RAW) so I had to post multiples.

Good boots and waders for sure... There are also alot of good books available, especially those by Jim McLennan, that discuss techniques, and how to read the water. A book or 2 on basic entomology is also a good idea to get a bit of a handle on exactly what you're trying to imitate. I have a well used copy of one that fits nicely in a vest and is very detailed with pics of artificials to imitate the insects in different stages. Its called Hatch Guide for Western Streams (I think...)