Breeches River Brown Trout

    Last week I was confined to the house after an out-patient surgery that drastically hampered my mobility for a few days.  Nothing too major but I wasn't going to wade the river during the recovery.  Luckily during my time at home I was contacted by a New England fly angler that expressed some interest in having a painting done of his recent catch.  My reaction - YES, a welcome distraction.  A man can only take so much daytime tv.

   We quickly worked out the details and the very next day I got to work on his wall hanger.  Through the coarse of talking about the trout he wanted painted I learned that while on the way to a guided trip a few months ago he had stopped by a Pennsylvania river to test his luck.  The river that he wet his fly in was The Breeches - a stretch of water probably known to many PA anglers that follow my blog.

   He actually wasn't expecting to hook into anything bigger than his palm so when this beauty of a Brown Trout hit the fly his heart probably skipped a few beats.  At the time he was fishing a Black Elk Hair Beetle with an orange spot for viability so I can only imagine the take of the dry was a sight to see.
    For this painting we settled on a 11x14 in format.  I added quite a bit more detail in the background than I usually do mostly due to the fact that I felt good about this painting from the start.  I had a vision of what it should look like from start to finish and when I added the last stroke of the brush, I stepped back and looked at one of the better painting I have done in while.

  This was also one of the quickest turn around times in the history of this blog.  From the first email to shipping was less than five days.  The client should get it today - not a bad way to start off a new week.  Congrats Evan on the great catch.  Thanks again for giving this humble artist/angler a welcome distraction.


On another topic somewhat related, What is it about the brown trout that makes them a favorite for anglers.  I love them.  I love painting them, catching them, and researching flies that hook them.  Over the past few years I think I have painted about fifty Brown trout watercolors.  Below are just a few of the many paintings of the brown that I am most proud of.  Now I have another one to add to the list.  The Breeches River Brown as good company..... ENJOY.