Jess McGlothlin Travels

Updates on travels, adventures and news from Jess McGlothlin Media.

Jess McGlothlin

Documentary Photography: 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party

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It was a great pleasure to fly into Boston this past weekend to photograph the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. As someone who’s always delved deeply into American history it was incredibly special to document the reenactment, starting in the Old South Meeting House, walking the streets of Boston, and then finally at the site of the original Tea Party in Boston Harbor. Thanks to the event organizers, the actors, and everyone involved in putting on this historic event.

Most of my images are going to a private party, but here are a few behind-the-scenes images I’m able to share.

New Workshop Announcement!

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Cutthroat trout caught while fly fishing small stream in western Montana. Jess McGlothlin Media image.

Come join me at the Denver, Colorado, Fly Fishing Show on Saturday, January 20, 2024 for a new, hands-on fishing photography workshop. Pre-registration is required; here are the details:

Capture Better Fishing Photos With Jess McGlothlin 

Join international fly-fishing photographer and writer Jess McGlothlin for a workshop designed to help you better your fishing and travel photography. Shooting with your phone? That’s okay! Bring your phone, point-and-shoot, DSLR… whatever camera you have. You’ll come away with increased knowledge, skills, and a few handy tips and tricks to help you take better photos on the water.

All levels are welcome. 

Click HERE for more details and to register.

Thoughts on Thanksgiving

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Jess McGlothlin Media. Maluti Mountains and Bokong River in Lesotho, overlooking from the Makhangoa Community Camp run by African Waters.

It’s Thanksgiving today here in the States, and I’m using the rare time at home base to give the year a little review. It’s been a whirlwind (and with more travel coming in up December, it’s not over yet!). The overwhelming theme as I dig through images, notes, and video clips from his year is overwhelming gratitude, which I suppose fits for a Thanksgiving note. Sure, I’m grateful for the images made, stories penned, and the fish caught along the way, but most of all I’m grateful for the people I’ve been able to meet and work alongside in these awesome places. The people who make it all happen.

There’s a certain breed of people out there who are happiest out in the far corners of the world, doing their thing. Vibrant souls who tend to be remarkably steady, balanced with a good dose of wild.

Perhaps it’s a result of being so close to the edge of the world, but the paradoxical sensation of so much peace—and feeling so alive—is impossible to ignore.

And it’s impossible to ignore the people who understand it.

So thanks to everyone who I’ve been able to work with this year. Thanks for the conversations around campfires, boat launches, dozens of airports, lodge lounges, and more than one gravel bank in the near middle of nowhere. Thanks for the nights we tried to solve the world’s problems over too much local booze and—just for a moment—it seems like we might know a thing or two. Keep on doing what you’re doing. Keep on living on the edges, and reveling those quiet moments.

So thanks to the crew in the trenches: the guides, cooks, lodge teams, airport desk staff, customs agents, and everyone else who makes it all work. There’s no way I can fit all your pictures in this post, though I sure wish I could. I’m grateful for you.

Stats Breakdown: The Past 11 Weeks on the Road

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The past months have been a sprint. Some of it you’ve seen here on social media, some of it you haven’t. It’s been a mix of jobs—some fishing, some not fishing—airports, camera gear, fly rods, medical kits, and endless words jotted out onto various documents. Emails and editors and clients and customs agents.

Here’s a brief look at a some of the good, the bad, and the ugly:
– 1x Someone breaking into my quarters while I was sleeping (Of note, this happened on a non-fishing job. Which I’m taking as a sign that I should do more fishing work, and less of the other.)
– 1x Me breaking into a rental house when we were locked out
– 9 Dives into the medical kit
– 6 Countries
– 7 Client shoots
– 5 Personal best fish
– 7 New species
– 42 Airplane flight legs
– 13 Helicopter flight legs
– 21 Boat transfer legs
– 2 Bags lost by airlines
– 200 Dollars won in a self-tourniquet contest in a hotel bar
– 2 Fast-tracks through customs
– 13 Published stories (more coming soon)

– Way too many bad coffees in airports

There’s more travel yet to come in 2023, and 2024 is shaping up to be a pretty good adventure as well. Thank you to all the clients, guides, editors, and everyone who makes this work possible—you make it all happen!

Image: Transfers, jungle style, with a pass through Oromomo Village. Last week in Bolivia with Tsimane Lodge.

When Good Things Go Wrong: Salt Water Sportsman Feature

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Two men on boat in storm while fishing in Belize.

This was one of the more fun writing assignments to come across my desk so far in 2023. When the editors of Salt Water Sportsman sent me an email saying, “We want you to write about when fishing trips go wrong,” a long list of former trips sprang to mind. It was an enlightening trip down memory lane to recount past trips-gone-wrong, and to really sit and put pen to paper about why we travel to chase fish around the world. (Which, when you think about it, is a fairly strange thing to do.)

The print issue just dropped yesterday, but if you’re not a subscriber, read the abridged digital version here.

Fly Fishing for Yellowfish in Lesotho With African Waters

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The end of January and early February was spent exploring the Johannesburg area with good friends, then I flew to Pietermaritzburg and met up with the African Waters team. From there, it was a 10-hour drive across the border into Lesotho, crossing over mountain passes and winding our way along dirt roads past the massive Katse Dam (Africa’s second largest double-curvature arch dam) and on to Makhangoa Community Camp. The small camp rests in the Maluti Mountains, not far from the local village of Makhangoa.

Maluti Mountains and Bokong River in Lesotho, overlooking from the Makhangoa Community Camp run by African Waters.

Guide Greg and I arrived as dusk was falling, on a cool, foggy, rainy night that challenged my perceptions of African weather. We met up with the rest of the guide team—Kyle, Riley, and Chris were awesome—and settled in for a “get to know you” before the work started.

It’s still one of my favorite parts of this job; arriving into a new camp or lodge and getting the lay of the land and the crew at hand. It’s never boring.

You’ll read more about the week in upcoming magazine articles, but suffice to say, yellowfish are unlike any species I’d fished for anywhere else around the world. South Africans call them “African bonefish,” and the same fits. Constantly on the move, picky dry fly eaters, and almost comical in appearance, yellowfish have quickly pressed near the top of my “fish I like fishing for” list, and I’m already very keen to get back to Africa for more chances to chase the fish.

Yellowfish caught while fly fishing the Bokong River in Lesotho, Africa.

My time in Lesotho was epic, and I can’t wait to share the stories. From long walks along the nightly Bokong River, to galloping young two-year old horses along dirt paths, to sitting outside in the dark at night with beer and cigarettes solving life’s problems, it felt so strangely like home.

Thanks to the African Waters team for having me; I’m looking forward to he next adventures! In the meantime, stay tuned here and on Instagram for updates as these Lesotho stories and images hit the streets.

David ties on new flies while fly fishing for Yellowfish on the Bokong in Lesotho, Africa, with African Waters at Makhangoa Community Camp.

A Note to Aspiring Writers

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I feel absolutely unqualified to tell anyone how to write, as good writing is a deeply personal thing. But several of you have sent in messages and emails asking about writing, so here we are. While my standard pitch will always be “Pick up a pen and put words on paper… work through it” (just as “Pick up a camera and go” is my advice for photographers), here are three things I always try to keep in mind when writing:

Write like you talk. Stop worrying the words on the page. If you’re looking through the Thesaurus for a fancy-sounding word to dress up your writing, stop. If you wouldn’t use it in spoken English, don’t write it. Think about the cadence of the spoken word. How do you form your sentences? See if you can capture that tempo on the page.

Be honest. Writing—good writing—isn’t for the faint-hearted. You’re putting a private part of yourself out there into the world. It encourages you to do things worth writing about… to get out into the world, meet people, get a little banged up, and tell a story in the process.

Embrace the chaos. Don’t wait for a quiet coffeehouse playing the right kind of music, or for the morning sun to hit your breakfast table just right. Don’t be fussy with your location. Carry a notebook and pen wherever you go, and just pick up the pen. Open the notebook. Poke at the paper a bit. Write. Write a grocery list. Something. Just put stripes of ink on paper. Words will come, and those word will become paragraphs.

 

Find Space Film with Peak Refuel

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When the guys at Peak Refuel and Muddy Shutter Media reached out last autumn and asked how I felt about being featured in a short film, I had mixed emotions. For someone who makes a point to not be an “influencer” — I’d much rather tell other peoples’ stories — being on the far side of the lens was a new experience. But I respected and like the team, so said, “Why the hell not?”.

This past weekend, this short film premiered up at Sundance Mountain Resort, and I got to spent time with some of my favorite industry folks while talking photography, fishing, hunting, and all the good things in life. It was yet another reminder that good things tend to happen when we step outside our comfort zones.

Big thanks to Peak and MSM for inviting me to be part of this… looking forward to the next adventure!