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| Steve, the Smallmouth Bass. His image has appeared dozens of times over the years in many magazines. He's likely the single most famous fish in Wisconsin. |
Occasionally
I’m interviewed about my underwater photography and experiences I’ve had
photographing fish in freshwater environments. In today’s post, I’d like to share
a portion of a recent interview I did that I think you’ll enjoy.
Question: When did
you first start interacting with fresh water fishes and why? What drew you to
them?
Answer: I’ve
told this story many times. I’ve loved
fish for as long as I can remember.
Growing up, my father had many aquariums in the house. As a child, I remember staring into them for
hours watching the tropical fish and imagining what it would be like to be in
the tanks with them. Later, I became an avid fisherman-and what fisherman
doesn't wonder what it all "looks like down there". In 1990 I moved to a home on a small lake in
northern Wisconsin. Then, a few years
later came the day that changed my life.
One sunny August afternoon, I was just sitting on the deck looking at
the lake. For some reason, I noticed how
clear the water was. Whether it was an epiphany sparked by the natural
surroundings or a simple act of fate, I impulsively drove to a local chain
store and bought a cheap swim mask, snorkel and fins. The mask leaked and the
fins were too small. It was a disaster.
But once in the water I couldn’t believe the clarity and the beauty. The
underwater world was radiant. The play
of light on rocks, emerald plants, sunken trees, and glowing green algae. It
was an astounding realm of pure silence and unsurpassed visual delight. And then there were the fish. So many of them! I was finally inside that aquarium I had fantasized
about as a child. I saw more fish that
first day than I had seen all year as a fisherman. But for the first time I saw them
differently. I saw them in their realm,
relaxed and peaceful. At home.
The mask
and snorkel became my passport into a whole new world I never imagined. It wasn’t long before my fishing rods were
banished to a dusty corner in the garage and instead of looking at the new
lures at the sporting goods store, I was looking at the snorkels, the wetsuits
and the fins. These were the
accoutrements I was interested in now.
These were the tools that would best serve me in exploring this new
world. These were the instruments that
would enable me to commune with fish in a way that I previously could scarcely
imagine. I began visiting other lakes
and for me, every day became another “moon landing”-Another trip to the top of
Mount Everest. Every trip under the surface was filled with awe, wonder and
discovery. I wanted to share with others
the amazing things I was seeing. In the
following weeks a whole new purpose revealed itself to me and I started taking
pictures. I began to devote myself to
documenting fish in their natural environment.
I wanted to show others the inherent natural beauty of these fish and
the uniqueness of the freshwater environments they live in.
Question: Can
you recall or describe any very special encounters you've had?
Answer: Impossible
question for me to answer. There’s been
so many. They’ve become almost
routine. But here’s one that happened
last summer that comes to mind, because it was a new one for me. There’s a lake
I go to often where there’s a bass that I know and have been working with for
about five years. I call him Steve. Every time I go to this lake it doesn’t take
him long to find me. I think he must
hear my bubbles from the scuba gear. I
don’t know how far away he can hear me or how far he swims to reach me. Sometimes it only takes him 10 minutes….
Other times it’s an hour. Once Steve
finds me, he stays with me for however long I’m in the lake, follows me
everywhere, poses for pictures, and we’ve had lots of adventures together.
So anyway,
one day last summer, I went to Steve’s lake.
I looked for him as I always do, but he wasn’t around. I was carrying two cameras that day. My main camera for taking still photographs,
and a GoPro mounted on a rack with strobes.
While it’s no problem to swim around with two camera outfits, once you
start shooting, you need both your hands so you need to set one of the cameras
down. I left my main camera on the
bottom in a clear spot. You always try
to leave it where it’s completely obvious.
It’s easy to lose your bearings underwater and find the exact spot you
were at before, so you want to make it easily visible so you can find it again
when you return. So I leave my main
camera out in plain sight on the lake floor and move down the shoreline about
200 yards to another place where I’m filming video with my GoPro. I’m starting to get a little bummed out now
because it’s been more than an hour and I haven’t yet seen Steve. I always worry that a fisherman will catch
him one of these days and… well… You get the idea. (Sigh)
So after
more than an hour, I decide I’m done filming with the GoPro and now I want to
take stills with my other camera. I swim
back to the place I’ve left it. When I
arrive at the spot, I see my camera just as I left it and hovering quietly next
to it is Steve.
It was a
magical moment because while I know Steve recognizes me, it showed me that he
also knows my camera. After years of
posing in front of it, he came to know it, with its dome port and all its knobs
and buttons. He was probably swimming by
and saw it on the lake floor and recognized it.
While he didn’t know where I was, I think he knew that I set it down and
that if he waited with it I would return for it. After all, he’s witnessed me do that very
thing many times. This was an astonishing
event. I hope anyone who hears this
story is amazed. If they’re not, I need
to do a better job at explaining how utterly amazing a feat this was. It was absolutely one of the most incredible,
and revealing demonstrations of fish intelligence I’ve ever seen.
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