35mm full frame

My old Canon 350D is reaching its end.  It has served me well but it is time for me to replace it. So I got my new baby a week ago.

I have fallen in love with a bigger and brighter view finder on the new body. It feels like the world becomes bigger all of a sudden, and it has been a joy to take photos with it.  

Anyway, here are some shots I took on the weekend.

僕のキャノンのカメラは、 今年で８年目。スイッチが入らなくなったり、シャッターが切れなくる時があって、いよいよ買い替えの時期が来たようです。

キャノンから新しく出た最軽量一眼レフにしようと思っていたのですが、カメラ屋に行った際に、たまたも古いカメラに付けていた２４mmのレンズをフルサイズボディーで遊んだのがいけなかった。

ファインダーに広がるパースペクティブは新鮮で、世界が突然大きくなった様な感覚に一発でノックアウト。という事で、キャノンの３５mmフルサイズ ボディーが、今僕の机の上に座っています。

EOS6D  EF40mm f2.8, EF24mm f2.8, EF50mm f2.5

I love pancake

I had a chance to try EF40mm f2.8 STM lens on the weekend.

It is a Canon's pancake lens and I love its size.  Canon has just released EOS 100D, a super small / light DSLR, and this lens will be a great one to go with it, I think. 

Having said that, 40mm on the APS-C crop sensor is bit too narrow for everyday use for me, and I only wish if Canon or other lens makers introduce another pancake lens somewhere around 28mm to 30mm.

It  is well made for a lens only costs around $200.  Compared to a similarly priced EF 50mm f1.8 plastic lens (which surprisingly punches out fine images), 40mm STM feels more solid in my hand.

The focusing ring on the lens is smooth, but the only quirky thing is that you can't do a manual focusing unless the camera is turned on.  I had to press a shutter button first to wake up your camera for the focusing ring to engage.  This felt bit strange, but apparently it got to do with Canon's new stepping motor.

I only took a dozen test shots, but I could tell that the image quality that the lens produces will be as good as my other lenses that I use mostly (EF24 f2.8 and EF50mm f2.5 macro). I think for its price, it a good lens to buy.

キャノンの EF40mm f2.8 STM。週末にちょっと試し撮りをするチャンスがあったのですが、軽くて良いレンズだと思います。同じ価格帯のEF50mm f1.8に比べると、作りもフォーカスリングを回した感じも全然上。

EF50mm f1.8同様、値段の割には良く撮れるレンズな気がします。でも、やっぱり40mmだと、APCセンサーのボディーに付けたら60mmオーバー。普段使うにはちょっと狭すぎです。

小型軽量のX７が発売された今、それにマッチするような28mmくらいのパンケーキ・レンズをキャノンが出してくれたら明日にでもボディーと合わせて買うのになあ。

Vespa that I saw on the street

A dog looking at my lunch at cafe

My new rod making project

I have started my new rod making project.  

I am thinking to make another 4 weight rod with a very different taper from other 4 weights that I already have.  This will give me more info on how tapers work in terms of casting.

I can also go 180 degree to make a 6 weight switch rod to cast bigger flies from surf. There are many beautiful beaches along the southern coast of WA, and I love to chase Kahawai on those places.

 

Fishing on the Canal Rock

Mike and I went south along the coast to see if we can locate schools of big kahawai. According to Mike's source of the info, people have been catching them for the last couple of weeks.

Well, we checked a few spots, but we didn't find any kahawai yesterday. Anyway, after trying a half dozen spots, Mike eventually guided me to the place called the Canal Rock.  I have never been to this place before, so I was following Mike's read to find a good (I mean safe) spot to fish on these big chunks of rock.  

The place looked dicey to fish from (I was regretting not bringing my PFD with me and I will make sure to wear it next time.), but fishing was good.  The water was full of herrings, and they were racing each other to grab our flies.  I also got a small skippy too. 

Because we were looking for Kahawai, I was carrying 8 weight rod with me, and those herrings were too small for such a heavy outfit. On a couple of occasions, I didn't even know a fish was on until I lifted my rod to pick up the fly line. For just chasing those herrings, 5 to 6 weight would be more ideal.


友達のマイクと車で３時間程の場所にある岩場へ釣りに行って来ました。初めて行く場所だったので、「岩場」と聞いて断崖絶壁の様な場所かと心配しましたが、家族連れや子供が釣りをしているようなポイントでした。

とは言っても岩場は岩場。僕は、パックッラフト用に買ったPFDを忘れて来たのを後悔しましたが、小さい子供を含め、多くの釣り人、誰ひとりとライフジャケットを着ていませんでした。この場所は水深もあるし、潮が速いため落ちたら正直サヨナラだと思います。

このポイントは、地元でヘリングを呼ばれているニシンには似ても似つかない魚の人気ポイントらしくて、投げたフライに魚が群れで追って来ました。１時間程釣って結構な数が釣れたので、魚を持って帰るクーラーボックスを持って来れば良かったなあと思いました。

A beach at Geographe Bay

A giant mushroom that we found on the road

The Canal Rock

A view of the  estuary at Bunbury

Fishing on the Frankland River on my packraft

I went to the Frankland River down at Walpole during the last week of this school holiday.

This is the river that I was wanting to fish for a couple of years, but it had been out of my reach until I bought Explorer from Alpacka Raft a couple of months ago. The Frankland runs through a dense forest of tall Tingle and Karri trees, and because of that, it is not fishable from the river bank. The only way to fish this great looking river is from a canoe, kayak, and of course packraft.

この休みに南に４２０キロの国立公園の中を流れる、Frankland Riverという川へ行って来ました。以前から釣ってみたいと思っていた場所なのですが、この川はカヌーやボートからでないと釣りが出来ません。パックラフトのおかげで今回やっと釣る事ができました。

There is a boat ramp near the highway bridge which I used to launch my raft. The first 1 km or so from here goes along a tiny community of Nornalup. After that the river meanders through a national park which offers a great scenery and a little feeling of remoteness and adventure.

As I was setting up my packraft, I saw people on two canoes coming back from upstream. After that I didn't see anyone else on the river. It was nice to keep a such beautiful place only to myself, I thought.

Mind you though, I was there on cold autumn days with a grey sky during the week.  It could be a different story on the weekends. Having a convenient boat ramp near by, on the top of scenic wonder of the river, I expect there will be some noisy boat traffic specially during the summer months

下流の橋からパックラフトを降ろして、川を遡り、途中でUターン。釣りをしながら下って来る作戦です。パックラフトで流れに反して進めるのかが心配でしたが、川の流れが非常にゆっくりだったので、なんとか川を上って行く事ができました。ただ流れがもっと速かったらそのまま下流まで流されていったと思います。幅の広いパックラフトは、カヌーと違ってスイスイと川を進んで行く事は出来ません。

スタート地点から１キロ位は、小さい町の近くを進みますが、その後は高い木々が生い茂る森の中に入ります。途中で２艇のカヌーに乗っている人たちに会いましたがが、それ以外は川には誰もいませんでした。ホリデーシーズンも過ぎ、しかも秋の寒空の平日。こんな日に川に浮かんで釣りをしている暇人はそうそういません。

The Frankland River is a typical bream territory. There are lots of snags and deep pools for fish to hide, and it seems that the river has a large population of black bream. I was amazed by so many fish that I saw while I was getting ready to launch my packraft on the river bank.

However, being able to see them and being able to catch them are  totally different things. I quickly discovered that even on a river full of fish, catching bream is always challenging. 

Compared to the amount of fish that the river holds, I was getting far less bites. May be, the condition wasn't right, as there was a sudden temperature drop for example, but I must admit that fishing on the river wasn't as productive as fishing on the main estuary. This perhaps explains why most people go down to the estuary to fish rather than go up the river to get teased by those finicky breams.

Fish however did come eventually after trying a few different flies and tactics for a few hours.  They weren't big fish, but those Frankland breams were beautiful having a rich golden colour on their body, just like one shown on the photo.

このFrankland Riverにいるクロダイをフライフィッシングで狙うのが今回の目的。 深い淵やオーバーハングに倒木と、魚が潜んでいる場所が沢山あり川には多くのクロダイが棲んでいるという話しです。実際にパックラフトを膨らませながら川を覗くとクロダイが数匹泳いでいるのが見えました。

しかし、「 見える魚は、釣れない」とはよく言ったもので、毛針を色々と投げてみましたが、魚からは全く相手にされません。パドリングをしながら大きな魚がいそうなストラクチャー周りをあちらこちら攻めても同じ結果。アタリすらありませんでした。

そうこうしていると、川の真ん中程でベイトフィッシュが追われ始めました。近くまで漕いで行って毛針を投げ込むと、キャストしたストリーマーを引いてくる間も無く魚がフライにアタック。淵の底や倒木の影にジッと潜んでいる魚を狙うより、やはりエサを追っている魚の方が釣れます。釣れた魚は、小型から中型サイズの魚でしたが、今までに見た事の無い金色のボディーのきれいな魚でした。

A Frankland River bream

After the time I spend on the Frankland, I have become more confident with my packraft.  I am getting a better idea on how the raft handles wind and current, its limitations as well as advantages for the fishing application. 

Packraft is slow. It feels like I am moving at speed of a sloth getting chased by a hungry jaguar. It gets easily pushed by the wind and almost impossible to paddle against the river and tidal flow even at a modest speed.

Going slow is not a bad thing though.  I can see more stuff along the way.  Yes, the wind and tide can be against me, which means I will be paying more attention to the environment, and I will be better at reading wind patterns and tidal movements.

Packraft is about a zen approach to fishing and river going. It is a slower, simpler, quieter, and more peaceful on the water. It is a great way to "be one with flow", I think.


今回の釣りの釣果はそれほどではありませんでしたが（ちなみに川の外の湾の方が、クロダイはよっぽど釣れます）、森の中をパックラフトで進んで行くのは面白くて、新しい楽しみを見つけたと思います。西オーストラリアの州南部には、同じ様な場所がいくつもあり、どの川にもクロダイがいます。パックラフトがあれば行ける場所が沢山あります。

今回の旅行でパックラフトに関しては、良い所も弱点も発見出来ました。パックラフトは、速さや効率を求める人には全く向いていない乗り物です。パックラフトは、どんなに頑張って漕いでも歩くスピードしか出ませし、風にも川や潮の流れにも簡単に流されます

逆にパックラフトは、釣り場へ着くまでの行程を楽しむための道具だと思います。浜辺や山道や渓を歩く事は、釣りの一部だと考える人には、軽くてシンプルで自然にローインパクトなパックラフトは、川や湖や湾を探索するのに素晴らしい乗り物かと思います。

A small fish with a large fly in its mouth