This weekend, Steve Smith and I executed a Steelhead fishing stock photo/video shoot in the beautiful Stanley Basin. With the upsurge of many magazines combining still photos with video, we’re trying to stay in the game. Our Canon 5D Mark II cameras have the capability of shooting both, and this was a perfect opportunity to work on our skills.
The weather defied the forecasts reported earlier in the week for two of the three days we had planned to shoot, and provided us with mild temperatures and partly sunny skies. Fabulous scenery, good weather, great talent, and some respectable catches made for one really productive and fun shoot!
DAY ONE
Ray Gadd, our Marketing Director and Associate Photographer, agreed to be one of our models for this shoot. Rain and fog shut us down Thursday, but Friday proved to be one of the most gorgeous mornings I’ve ever witnessed in my life.
As we headed north (from our lodging in Bellevue), we experienced unusual patches of fog dotting the valley with the sun streaming in-between. This created an ethereal texture and dimension to the landscape. For me, the visuals were almost a spiritual experience. SERIOUSLY. It was amazing. I thought to myself if I died tomorrow, I’d die happy.
A picture of the ethereal fog we encountered as we headed north.
Once we were north of Ketchum, the skies cleared and the terrain and sky came back into focus. It was beautiful.
The wind must have been fierce at the tops of the Boulder Mountains, as evidenced by the snow blowing off the peaks. It was quite a sight.
The trip to Stanley is always a nostalgic one for Steve and me. We have so many wonderful memories of stock shoots we’ve done along the way, over the years. Below are a few shots from some of our favorites.
A previous stock shoot with Betty Sawyer and John Blattman near the Russian John Ranger Station.
A previous stock shoot of me, son Ray, and daughter Brittney taken somewhere between the SNRA and Galena Lodge.
A Christmas Shoot at a log cabin located at Fisher Creek, taken in 1997.
A previous shoot with model Jacqui Terra taken in front of the Boulder Mountains.
Willie Breen taking a jump during a skiing stock shoot we did last winter.
Okay, enough with the reminiscing and on with the story.
Once into the Stanley Basin, we stopped at the bridge just downstream from the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery to check out the activity. There was a plethora of fisherman there, but the heavy rains had muddied the water and we couldn’t see any fish.
We opted for a more scenic environment to shoot and ventured on, past Lower Stanley.
We tried a number of different areas. Nice visuals, but no luck at any of them.
Sadly, we saw a lot of trash along the way, and tried to do our part to pick up what we could.
By 2:00 PM we were all more than ready for lunch and stopped at the Bridge Street Grill in Lower Stanley.
The Bridge Street Grill in Lower Stanley
We opted to dine out on their deck which literally sits over the Salmon River. The views of the river and the Sawtooth Mountains are breathtaking.
Our view from the balcony at the Bridge Street Grill.
We couldn’t understand why anyone would opt to dine inside the restaurant (on a nice day) as opposed to outside on the deck, but we were so grateful they did, because we had the deck all to ourselves. Steve ordered the burger with roasted green chiles and pepperjack cheese, Ray had the blue burger and I had the mussels. Yumm! Complimented with a nice bottle of Merlot (which Steve and I shared) and an IPA draft beer for Ray; we were three happy campers!
My bowl of mussels.
Ray's Blue Burger.
As we dined, we witnessed an Osprey dive and catch a fish.
The Osprey with it's catch.
Our waiter, Wesley, informed us that he had previous customers who had seen the same phenomena, and inquired as to how they had trained that big bird to catch a fish in front of the restaurant. Really?
After lunch,we decided we wanted to be able to capture some pics of Ray catching a fish, and at the recommendation of the fly fishing shop we’d visited, opted to forego the scenic locations in lieu of getting to an area where there was a much better opportunity of actually landing a steelhead. So we reluctantly headed to where the majority of fish are caught and the throngs of fisherman congregate; near the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery.
The crowds near the hatchery. There are no less than 12 people in this picture!
Fortunately the crowds waned as the afternoon progressed, giving us a little bit more “elbow room”. We saw fish move and then stall in the shallows, vying for position. Ray worked an area where we had spotted three decent size fish.
It didn’t take long for him to land one of them.
It was his first Steelhead catch, and he was as thrilled, as we were for him.
He unhooked the female fish, and released her back into the waters to lay her eggs.
As we made our way back to the car, we observed the spawning process; females dropping their eggs in the shallows, followed by the males moving in immediately to fertilize them. It is amazing. These fish travel over 900 miles upstream, battling rapids, dams and predators just to procreate.
Once back at the house, Ray packed up and headed back to Boise. Shortly thereafter our second round of talent; Karin Brown, (owner of The Horse Fly Home Decor) and Dan Gordon arrived. We enjoyed wine and appetizers (pita, hummus, feta, cucumber, & tapenade), followed by a savory dinner of rack of lamb, grilled vegetable kabobs and garlic mashed potatoes.
DAY TWO
Everyone was up and ready the following morning by 7:15 for breakfast. Lattes, orange juice, Bigwood Bakery wheat toast and two types of quiche (spinach, mushroom, onion, swiss & cheddar cheese -and- chorizo, green chile, & cheddar) were served.
The visuals on the ride up were not nearly as dramatic as the day before, but nevertheless beautiful, as this area always is. We drove until we reached just downstream of lower Stanley to a location that incorporated the Sawtooth Mountains into the background of the scene.
Dan has quite an extensive “hat wardrobe” and brought many options. This was one of our favorites.
We took a few shots of the “gearing up process.”
Dan Gordon helps Karin Brown with her fly pack.
The river was running really fast. With such a strong current, it would have been a little dangerous for one person to try to cross alone, so we took advantage of the situation and photographed/videoed our talent using “the buddy system”.
We visited a number of scenic spots and shot a variety of fishing scenes.
Steve Smith photographing Karin Brown and Dan Gordon.
Our terrific models/fishermen: Karin Brown and Dan Gordon
At one of our stops, we ran into Scott Schnebly, of Lost River Outfitters, and his partner, Susanne. They were guiding a client who was working a fish in a tributary just upstream from Sunbeam. This was their second day out with this client and they were determined to get him to actually land at least one fish. (He had hooked four the day before, but was unable to net any). We later learned they accomplished their task, and their satisfied customer landed two that day!
Guide and Owner of Lost River Outfitters, Scott Schnebly, with his client.
Steve had hired Scott years ago as a Steelhead guide and landed a whopper that trip. Lost River Outfitters has used a photo taken from that catch in a lot of their advertising ever since!
A page from Lost River Outfitters website. Steve's picture is the one in the middle.
In our conversation with Susanne, we learned that the hatchery is only able to handle 5,000 spawning fish. Once they’ve reached that limit, they close the gates. The remaining fish continue the futile attempt to try to revisit their birthplace. They are “stuck” in the water downstream of the hatchery, and it is only a matter of time before they are caught and killed.
Since we had been unsuccessful at landing a fish this day, I regret to say, that in spite of the information Susanne provided us, we returned to the Fish Hatchery in hopes for a better opportunity.
I drove. Enroute, having misread the speed limit sign, I got pulled over by Stanley Officer, Pete Isner, for going 11 miles over the posted limit.
Jeane gets pulled over for speeding.
Wouldn’t you know it, in the flurry of activity of packing up the car to leave, I remembered everything EXCEPT my purse – with my driver’s license in it. Oops.
"You're not going to give me a ticket, are you?"
Luckily, Office Isner was a really nice guy, and let me go with a warning.
Jeane gets away with a warning.
We arrived at the bridge by the hatchery to find it a proverbial zoo and for us, a very unpleasant experience. In most places there was literally less than 10 ft. between one fisherman and the next. Nevertheless we joined the throngs. It was a bad decision. It didn’t take long for us to feel the toxicity of the environment. It felt like a slaughterhouse and we soon realized we didn’t want to have any part of it.
In our opinion, fishing is mostly about experiencing the elements; enjoying the scenery, and the solitude, listening to of the rush of the water, the wind through the trees, and practicing the art of trying to mimic the species and patterns of the insect/s the fish are currently feeding on. The fish we catch are released back into the water.
We opted to regroup and have lunch. We headed back to the Bridge Street Grill. Karin and Dan had never been there before, and we wanted them to be able to enjoy that experience.
They weren’t disappointed. Again we were blessed with an empty deck and the opportunity to enjoy the views!
Karin Brown & Dan Gordon enjoy the views on the balcony at Bridge Street Grill.
The boys had burgers and Karin and I SPLIT the prime rib. Even so, we went home with a doggie bag!
This was 1/2 a portion of the prime rib served at the Bridge Street Grill!
While at the restaurant, we made some new friends: proprietor Brett Whoolley, his lovely daughter, Brittney and their really nice assistant chef/waiter, Wesley.
Brett Woolley, proprietor of the Bridge Street Grill with his friend, Sunny.
We were under the impression that the Steelhead run was almost over (with closing day 4/30/10), but Brittney advised us that the “B” Run was just starting. We now know that the “A” run consists of Steelhead that have usually spent only a year in the ocean. They average 4-6 lbs. and are generally 23-26 inches in length. The “B” run, spends about 2 years in the ocean. They most often return to the Clearwater, however some migrate to the Salmon River, and average 10-13 lbs. and are generally 31-34 lbs. That gave us renewed hope, and we headed downstream to areas that were more scenic, less populated, and provided a more purist environment. We’re so glad we did!
At our first stop we encountered three fisherman who had successfully braved a river crossing arm in arm, to get to an area protected from the strong current by a log jam on the far edge of the river. There they had discovered a plethora of Steelhead . They had each caught their fill, but like us, they practice the etiquette of catch and release. They encouraged us to fish there. unfortunately, crossing a raging river with expensive camera gear was not something we were willing to attempt, so we moved on.
Shortly downstream, close to Sunbeam Hot Springs, we spotted several large fish in the shallows close to the bank.
The fish we spotted near Sunbeam Hot Springs.
Karin and Dan grabbed their rods and stealthily approached the river. Knowing how much Dan wanted to catch a steelhead, Karin bowed out and let him work the fish. Within minutes he hooked a beauty.
Dan Gordon hooks his very first steelhead!
What a beauty!
It was his first Steelhead catch, and the largest fish he’d ever caught. It was the perfect ending to the day.
Dan Gordon with his very first steelhead catch.
We packed up our gear and headed back to Bellevue. Once home and showered, we all enjoyed wine and nachos, followed by blackened salmon with mango salsa, rice pilaf, and roasted asparagus with parmesan.
What a great day! What a great weekend! What a great life! We love what we do and we love doing it together.
We want to thank Ray, Karin and Dan for helping us out with this shoot. They were incredibly accommodating. Not only are they great models with great fishing skills, they are really, really nice people.
Posted by jeanegadd 
steve smith photography 