This year, I have not taken a camera with me while fishing. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Good: I was fishing the Beaverkill ealier this year and fell backwards over a rock and found myself neck deep in water and soaked to the skin. Unless I had a camera in a sealed container, it would have been a gonner. I've already ruined a nice 35mm slr and a really nice zoom lens in a canoe dunking. Don't want to repeat that again.
Bad: I kept fishing after getting soaked and hooked what likely would have been my largest river trout. It shot across and downstream like a steelhead before popping the tippet. If I had landed it, I would have regretted not having a camera.
Good: Once less thing to clog my vest and wear on my aching shoulders. One less distraction from actually fishing. No feelings of guilt for leaving the stream w/o any pictures for a GFF article. ;-) This season has pretty much been an exercise in back-to-basics. Minimal gear - minimal fly selection - minimal distractions.
Bad: I enjoy taking photos. However, I find that taking pictures in the "photography" sense doesn't mix well with fishing. Only enough horsepower in my head to concentrate on one thing at a time. When I want to take pictures, I'll leave the rod at home (but then I rarely find myself in the places I really want to capture on film).
Good: No worry about harming fish while posing them for photos. I see lots of pictures of fish on rocks laying next to neatly organized tackle. How does that happen? Once saw a fellow dash to his car to retrieve his camera while a fish flopped in his net. This in a C&R area!!
Bad: Memories fade pretty quickly. Pics last forever (or so we'd think).
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