Critters

[John H]

Here are some critters I saw while I was unsuccessfully trying to catch the critter known as the bass this morning.

http://i.imgur.com/sJ4kAcW.jpg (https://imgur.com/sJ4kAcW)



http://i.imgur.com/syc2OXD.jpg (https://imgur.com/syc2OXD)



http://i.imgur.com/iCUhsq7.jpg (https://imgur.com/iCUhsq7)



http://i.imgur.com/G5xnf8U.jpg (https://imgur.com/G5xnf8U)



http://i.imgur.com/u9JGrtJ.jpg (https://imgur.com/u9JGrtJ)

[guido]

Great shots John!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

It is amazing how much wildlife is in the Delta.......great photos John.

[John H]

The amount of bird life and other wildlife you can see and creep up on in your kayak at Liberty Island is incredible. I got a new 70-300 lens to zoom in on some of it but so far I have found it does not have the reach I was hoping to get. The new lens is small and light, packs well and can be pulled out quickly and stored easily but to get the shots I think I want I may need to go to a bigger and heavier lens. Serious lenses result in more of a commitment to a photography day because of the gear you have to haul, the care it needs and the effort needed to use it properly but I feel like I need to do it. We’ll see.

[guido]

You might want to try a teleconverter. Given how clean today's cameras are at higher ISO settings they are far less of a handicap than they used to be. And a lot lighter than a 600mm lens...

[John H]

I have been checking out options and the teleconverter is one. My lens is not high end so I might lose too much image quality. Nikon has a 200-500 that would be ideal but it weighs five pounds. Nikon also has a 500 that weighs three pounds. One of those two is likely what I would get. Given my novice photography level I should get the 200-500 but I like the potential super high resolution of the 500. The 500 could definitely handle a teleconverter. I did some testing on my lens today and the polarizer killed the image quality. I had the polarizer on yesterday so I need to do some shooting without it and see what I get. 40 feet seemed to be as far away as I shoot my dog and still get the resolution I wanted.

Thanks for the advice.

A buddy of mine is in Maine/Cape Cop looking for stripers. He has not sent a picture of mega fish so I assume he has not caught it.

[guido]

My shoulder has been messed up so I haven't been fishing since January, but I have only heard friends report 'schoolies' up to the mid 20's. The freshwater bass bite is on and guys have been taking Northern Pike over 40". It's just killing me. Hopefully the PT will get things under control and let me back out there soon...

[John H]

Good luck on the shoulder. I have had my share of PT in the last year. Some successful but some did not seem to do much. Seems like I get injuries faster than I can heal them and they accumulate. Just have to keep working on it and try not to get hurt I guess.

[guido]

I have had good luck in the past with PT, but this shoulder gotcha is much more subtle and really screws up my fishing and lots of other things...