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Waders Over Work Clothes - The fishing Photography of Eddy Stahowiak

Fish When You Can - That’s the mantra of professional photographer, fisherman, and On The Water senior graphic designer, Eddy Stahowiak.

By OTW Staff
Waders Over Work Clothes – The fishing Photography of Eddy Stahowiak

“Fish when you can.”

That’s the mantra of professional photographer, fisherman, and On The Water senior graphic designer, Eddy Stahowiak. While many fishermen wait for the perfect combination of tides, conditions, and favorable fishing reports, Eddy needs just one thing—enough time to make a few casts. Finding that time can be a tall order, but Eddy still manages to fish nearly every day. Pulling waders over his work clothes, Eddy recruits his coworkers and hits the water just before the office opens, just after it closes, and sometimes during his lunch breaks. In addition to his fishing gear, he’s always packing a camera, gathering proof that the very best time to go fishing is whenever you can. – Jimmy Fee

the bite was on fire
The temperature at sunrise was 17 degrees, but neither Jimmy Fee nor I had thought to check the weather before agreeing to meet before work. We bundled up and launched the kayaks, not expecting to catch much, but surprisingly enough, the bite was on fire. Bass, pickerel, and perch were feeding heavily, and as the sun crested the trees, the temperature climbed into the 30s.

 

one of nearly a dozen similar-sized largemouth
As soon as daylight savings time allows me to fish after work again in March, I begin going through shiners like crazy. This largemouth was one of nearly a dozen similar-sized fish that Andy Nabreski and I caught and released in the hour after work.

 

a spunky little brown trout
When most of the small bass ponds freeze over, only the big, deep trout ponds have open water. I had only one bite this morning, but it came from a spunky little brown trout with silvery sides and big black spots.

 

Big bluegill
The midsummer heat makes fishing in the middle of the day difficult, except for sunnies. Big bluegills love the heat, and I love catching them during my lunch breaks.

 

hickory shad
I’d been using my lunch breaks to scout for schoolie stripers in mid-May when I found a school of hickory shad that hung out in a nearby inlet for almost a week. I brought some light trout gear and had a blast catching these hard-fighting fish on shad darts and small metals.

 

Cape Cod Canal
I love late-summer nights on the Cape Cod Canal. It’s warm enough to be comfortable, but just cool enough for a sweatshirt. I captured this long exposure while waiting for Jimmy Fee to show up with the eels. I told him he was late, but when he caught a 41-pounder on his first cast, he told me he was right on time.

 

couple of hours to hunt stripers before work
Early sunrises give me a couple of hours to hunt stripers before work in summer. Most often, those hunts take place on the Cape Cod Canal. On this morning, thick fog obscured the other fishermen along the banks, making it seem less crowded than it was. You could hear the stripers feeding out in the fog, and occasionally one would mistake a pencil popper for a mackerel.

 

Lunchbreak Albie
With the albie bite on fire and Anthony DeiCicchi’s boat finally in the water, we went for a spin at lunch. We had just enough time to break the inlet, catch an albie apiece, and get back to the dock without going over our hour lunch break.

 

Winter trout fishing in the snow
As a late-December snowfall covered the Cape Cod, Jimmy thought the storm would get the trout feeding and I thought the falling snow would make for awesome pictures. We suited up and hit Mare’s Pond at lunch, where Jimmy was wrong, but I was right.

11 responses to “Waders Over Work Clothes – The fishing Photography of Eddy Stahowiak”

  1. Ed O'Hara

    I’m so proud of this guy. I love his work ethic and all of the wonderful pictures he posts almost every day. He certainly loves his work! I was Eddy’s Art teacher in high school and I am so proud of him!

  2. Cathy OD

    A great combo – awesome pictures and great fishing tales! OTW is amazing!

  3. Gordon Perkins

    Beautiful photos!

  4. Jay

    Just got a Sony a6000 to capture some fishing moments his year

  5. Roman

    Awesome photos. It definitely is a talent and he has it. Keep it up.

  6. Rick

    It’s a good reminder to fish when you can, I often get caught up in looking at the right tide, moon phase, wind etc… I have to drive usually over an hour to fish the salt to I try to maximize. On the flip side I live across the street from the Farmington River in Ct and I barely fish that anymore because I take it for granted. Stupid me!!

  7. Dave

    These photos get me pumped up for this Spring!!!! I too love catching first cast stripers!! Always right on time 🙂 🙂 lol

  8. Tim Harrington

    Great photos – this is why I subscribe.

    1. Kevin Blinkoff

      Thanks Tim!

  9. "Bonnie"

    Eddy is living his dream!! Love him!!

  10. susan

    Fishing, swimming & birding, all my favorite adventures, and while your out doing those things, you don’t have to clean house!

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