Alhtough it certainly wouldn’t have made the finals, here’s my best photo from 2017, featuring a mountain brookie.
Photo by Phil Monahan
Last week, we decided to soften the blow of of the end of Vermont’s trout season by getting everyone to post their favorite photos from the past year on Instagram. Almost 2,000 photos were entered–you can check them all out here–and there were hundreds of great images. From those we’ve chosen our ten finalists, and now you get to help pick the winner.
Take a gander at the top 10 photos in the widget below (click on each image for a larger version), and then choose your three favorites. The photographer whose image receives the most total votes will win a new 6-weight Helios 3 fly rod.
The 9-foot 6-weight is the latest addition to the lineup, and it’s available in both D (distance) and F (feel) models.
We’ll also give away one Battenkill Disc reel to a randomly selected voter at the end of the contest.To be eligible to win the reel, you MUST leave a comment about the photos in the comments section below. (That’s the only way we’ll know who you are, since the poll widget doesn’t collect data on voters.)
We will announce the winners on Monday, November 20th. So choose our three winners, and then leave a comment!
Don’t forget to leave your comment!
Just voted
Those are some rad photos! Can’t wait for Spring.
Lots of good shots, but Ryan Rodgers gets my
Vote!
Liked the action shots, I can’t wait to get back out there!
Dope
Action shots rock!
Just voted
Great photos. Thanks for the chance to win a reel. John fitch
Magnificent Color shots solitude and public waters
Yeah Esopus!
Great photos
Great B&W pic
Looks like everyone had a great season.
Great shots!
voted too
Voted, Awesome photos!
All the photos where great,. I especially like the photos showing someone fishing. Makes me wish I was there.
Great captures, hard to choose!
Awesome photos!
My favorites are the ones showing anglers casting in beautiful rivers!
Some great trout fishing photos
Good looking photos
Awesome photos!
Great photos
All great photos!
All were beautiful but one must choose.
Thx for the opportunity to share these wonderful experiences through the photographic records. Tight Lines.
The picture of the fish breaking the water was so unique, challenging, technically superior so it is my favorite. The underwater release was also technically challenging. The fall colors and serenity was also very nice. Several nice river and landscape scenes.
Voted
These pics are all amazing!
These are all great photos! Looks like it’s been a great year fishing for others too!
Fly fishing is simply beautiful
when you have a person – in the river – and with sense of action – and potential
there is your winner.
Just voted!
Nice
Love the wide-angle shots to show the landscape and scale of the beautiful places fly fishing takes us. All 10 are worthy!
Great pictures
A lot of good pictures
Love those scenic photos!
Love seeing these photo contests. If I’m not already fishing, it makes me want to get out on the water even more.
What a great 2017 season!
Get some Ryan
Sweet pics, Runners up??
Lovely photos!
Always a hard choice. Thanks Orvis and everyone for participating, but more importantly fishing!
Tough to choose only 3! They’re all wonderful photos!
Great photos, love the rising trout.
Hard to choose so many good photos!!
Gorgeous pics!
Love the catch and release pics! Orvis rules keep up the great work. Tight lines folks
These pics are sweet!
I Voted!
All great photos, makes me want to be in a river
Kevin
Really great shots!
Great photos!
Great photos
Good luck! Looks like I’ll have to get out and fish more with the camera for next years contest.
I think I’ll go fishing tomorrow
Love the pictures! I miss being out on the river.
The ones I like are the ones that are hard to get, like the one with the fly in the mouth of the fish.
Great photos!
Great photos…
Awesome to see the final 10! Good luck to all.
I’d go with redfish #1, just because it’s currently #1 on my bucket list.
Awesome photos
These picture contests are always a reminder that I need to get out fishing more…
Oi!
Disc reel, here I come!
Great shots!!
All great shots. None should be ashamed.
Awesome photos! Good luck to all the finalists!
My pictures never look like these, they are beautiful works of art
Couldn’t help but vote for myself. Thanks for the opportunity, Orvis and Phil!
Cool photos, it’s tough when the season ends…
Solid pics!
Good Luck!
Love these finalist! Good luck!
Awesome photos good luck to all the photographers. Voted
Sweet shots
All are worthy. Choices were difficult. Congratulations to all entered.
Tough to choose, all great photos!
Great photos! Toby Nolan love your pic.
Voted! Great pictures!
Voted! Such a great shot and a great fish!
I really like the cast by the bridge photo! Also like the opportunity Orvis gives for winners to come from commenting, fingers crossed!
Fantastic photos!!
Great photos!
Loved the picture of the brown rising out of the water
I liked the action shots, minus fish. Fishing, for me, is about relaxing.
Wow
Awesome shots!
Kickass pictures!
Nice
Great pictures!
Voted. Beautiful pics
They are all beautiful photos!
Voted. Thanks.
All are great!
Such great photos!!!!
Great pics
All of these photos were terrific!
All great photos. They all capture different elements of the serene experience that is fly fishing.
Nice pics!
Great pictures!
Great pics!
Just voted, was a tough decision.
Great photos!!! They all appear to be artistically well thought out and really makes the viewers want to be there taking part!!!
Great pics. Really want to make you get out on the river.
Some real ingenuity in these photos, thank you!
Great photos!
Good times!
Awesome… I’m going fishing again now!
Voted, all great pics!
Toby is the man
Sweet pictures
Awesome photos
Just voted!
Great pics
Just voted. Nice redfish
Amazing photos! It was hard to pick three.
You know you are where you need to be when the scenery makes catching fish just a bonus! Beautiful pictures!
Great shots!
Insane pics!
I Love these photos and they are great encouragement to improve my own photography!
Awesome photos!!
Some sweet pictures. Would be cool to somehow see all the submissions.
It was hard to choose even the top 3, They were all great pictures.
Another round of great photos
All winners!
Voteddddd! Loved them all though!!
Awesome photos!
Loved them!
Tough as a fall lake run trout to pick a winner because they were all great shots. #voted
Amazing photos. Hard to choose just three.
Great shots here’s to a 2018 season of even better ones
Very nice photos.
Voted. Great river scenes. Keep um public!
Looking good. Cant wait to get out with my new helios 3! I love my girlfriend!
Interior crocodile alligator
Makes me want to go fly fishing!
Great photos!
Great shots!
Love the photos
Awesome shots. Wish I was there for all of them.
This is so awesome!!! Great shots everyone.
Nice photos
Another season come and gone, already dreaming up plans for next year. Voted.
Great contest idea, nice batch of photos!
Nice! Great pics.
While I really liked the dual environment (above and below the waters surface) I had to go with the photos that show anglers in the grandeur of the rivers. We may not always come away with a fish to write home about, but we can always say the river/lake/ocean was amazing.
What a great contest! I loved all the photos that were shared- I hope to see more contests like this, Orvis! Thanks for a good time.
Nice pictures, tough to just pick 3.
Owen ward. Looks like a water color.
Awesome pictures ❤️❤️
Beautiful photos!
All are wonderful! Hard to pick just three!
Great shots in here!
Awesome pictures!! Love the atmosphere and feeling you get, makes you feel like your there with them. Fish on tight lines!!! #CatchAndRelease
Some great looking fish in those shots!
So many great photos to choose from!
Great photos! Enjoy your time on the water everyone!
Love the up close and personal looks. Great catures
As much as I love pictures of fish, I’m a sucker for landscape shots, but it was kind of hard not voting for some of them
Awesome pictures. Awesome company
Voted!
These are all fantastic! Great shots!
I love all the photos, gorgeous!
Great shots folks but Ryan, Steve and (something) Creek got my vote.
Some beautiful photos. There can be only ONE!
Owen ward gets my vote. All these pictures make me wanna grab my fly rob an hit the water. Gotta love fishing these beautiful fish.
All great shots, love my husband Toby’s the most though haha!
Love seeing Ryan Forbus getting attention for his work. He does a great job
Awesome photos! Hard to pick the best 3!
I loved the action shots! Great photos!
All 10 are pretty awesome! Voted for my favorites but congrats to everyone!
Stunning!
great photos!
Impressive!
inspiring stuff!
Beautiful display of diverse fishing settings
Great photos !!!
Great photos
Truly awesome potos
Rad
Just voted- some awesome shots!
Can’t wait to get onto the river, all the best from the pnw
Love Andy Bennett’s work!
Inspiring moments captured!
I voted too. There were some really cool pictures.
2017 was a good year out on the water!
Tough choices with such phenomenal shots. Been a great year
Just had to vote for a personal friend, but all of these pictures are outstanding. Makes it easy to explain why I love the sport.
Those action shots are sweet can’t wait till spring!
I particularly liked Arian Stevens’ black & white river photo. The only thing that could have improved it would be for the angler to be in motion, either fighting a fish or in the act of casting.
very nice pictures and scenery makes me wanna cast my fly rod
Fantastic photos – I like the ones with a beautiful background best. They are there to remind us to enjoy being outside, even on the days we (whisper it) blank!
All the pictures are great! I can’t wait to have a chance to check out the new helios 3!
All of them are great photos.
Nice
These pics look a lil fishy to me.
Incredible shots that make you want to get outside and in the water!
I love the tailing redfish because that’s the moment my heart starts racing and I begin to cast my Helios, praying I have a chance!
Great shot
Fantastic photos
They all look good!
My favorites were the scenic shots of the rivers. Those always show the pinnacle of nature.
Thank you for bringing these wonderful images to the masses!
Geoffrey Hill
Every single photo was quite astonishing in its very own way!
Geoff Hill
Beautiful Colorado Sockeye !!!
Well done
Would be awesome to actually see the photos and bote
Wonderful photos, wonderful sport!
Great shots. Have the itch to get out!
Great pictures!
As I vote from my office desk, I’d rather be fishing…
Just voted, both of the Ryan’s had great shots. Loved the vibrant colors.
Done, but it was not easy.
Love these photo contests.
Just voted. I could use a new reel 🙂
Awesome photos!
Salt/Fresh for the win!
Just voted!
All photos are amazing!!
Wow! Amazing picture!
Great photos, makes me want to get on the river as I stare out my office window.
All the photos are beautiful.. it was extremely hard to only choose 3. What a great company to do things like this! Im a 3rd generation orvis fly guy. I’m currently teaching my wife, she wants a battenkill so bad!
Just voted. They’re all great but I’m a sucker for the redfish photos!
Some nice photos!
All photos look awesome, has me eating to get out there
Tough call; nice shots everyone!
Great photos! Too hard to choose only three.
Awesome Photos!!!
Great pictures and love the solitude shots
Great shots!
I like it
All great. Had to pick the ones that I was most jealous to not be in.
That Geoff Hill picture is truly stunning
Just voted
Get it Mr Hill!!
Geoffrey Hill is the best fisherman I️ know!
G Hill that thing looks gnarly!!
Black and white films always get me.
Some neat effects with the sky in several of those shots.
Beautiful work, Geoff Hill!
Voted! Tough choice, they are all good pictures!
Great photos! Must have been difficult to pick the ten finalists.
Nice salmon!
Gotta love the action shots.
Good job
Yeah
Wahoo
Yipee
Owen Wards photo looks like painting of what fly fishing should be!
Voted! All nice pics..
tough choice but I LOVE Arian Stevens black & white
Creel for the win!
Awesome shots
Wow, I have never seen ANYTHING quite like that Salt // Fresh photo! Amazing!! These are all so great!!
Great shots. Jealous of all the action!
Enjoyed these! Awesome!
Voted
All very nice photos, hard to pick.
awesome shots
really like the last one. mean teeth.
Voted
Aweosme shots!
What a brown!
Great photos. What talent.
Awesome pictures – vote goes to Geoff and the close up shot!
Sick Pics
Good luck to the finalists.
Geoff Hill is the best Fisher i know. Reels in all the guppies
Beautiful shots! They provide a nice mental escape from the confines of my windowless office… 🙂
It’s all about the half n half shots
My favorite photograph submission is of Tyler Coleman and her little boy crossing the river with gear. ❤️ Good Mother…..teaching the future! It captures the joy of flyfishing so beautifully!
I enjoyed all the beautiful scenery, while sitting in the office.
Those teeth on the last photo though! Wouldn’t want to catch one of those without some huge hemostats.
Voted for 3
Seeing these photos just makes me wish I was out somewhere fishing right now. All these photos are awesome but you gotta love redfish!
All nice pics
Great photos just voted!
Great photos…..lots of talent out there!
Awesome shots – tough to choose!
I loved all the scenery shots!
Great pics
Doen
Nice pics
Great photos!
Awesome shots!
Glad to see some Saltwater photos made it. How are you able to sort out “ineligible” is amazing.
Cheers, thanks for the contest!
Love all of them!
Voted. Great shots.
Beautiful stuff. Makes me want to get out!
Voted
Nice photos! Hope you win Toby!
Cracking photos, good luck everyone
Great photos
all great, hard to choose
Great photos, thanks for posting!
Wish I had found out about this sooner…Amazing shots! Just drove passed an Orvis this morning before I found out about this contest. I just started fly fishing within the last 6 months…my newest obsession!
Congrats finalists – awesome pics!
Just voted! Esopus Creel was the one for me!
I like the photos showing a fly fisherman fishing with a beautiful background in it.
Cant go wrong with some killer flys on the water!
Always love the water!
Awesome pictures!
Love the picture of the salmon, narley looking teeth!
These pictures make me want to go fishing.
Nice Pics
All good!
God’s grace.
Amazing photos! Makes me want to get out and fish right now!
The guy fly fishing is an awesome shot!!!
Voted for the top 3 for sure, excited to see a winner!
Love those pictures and how they embody the beauty of the sport!!
@esopuscreel hands down
Great photos, just voted.
Nothing better than to be on a Stream
Great pictures. As pretty as a new reel.
Some great photos! I’ll try to take better shots next year
I definitely love that black and white closeup.
Cool stuff! I’m digging the B&W shots. And – the Brookie photo would have made my top 3. ; )
Terrific group of photos, difficult to pick my favorite 3 but managed to cast my vote; amplifies my already strong desires to be on a stream right now!
Fantastic pictures!
Didn’t care much for any of them, but voted anyway.
The Esopus Creel pic! We’ve all been there…reminds me of morning skunk and a hope for redemption. Just north of a perfect lie in fast water, you work to get in position through hot currents, get on boulder for height and distance and load that rod for all it’s wt.
@McFly714
Geoffrey Hill’s is the best photo
All great, but Geoff Hill’s is by far the best
Great pics.
Nice pics!!!!
I like Phil’s mountain brookie photo the best.
Sweet shots, have me thinking about next season already 😉
Great shots!
Voted
Love the snow and the beautiful field
The fall colors are dynamite, GO RF,,,,,
Voted for keeping the brown wet and the big western rivers!
So many great photos. They are all winners in my book!
nice pics!
Voted
Thanks for including black and whites. Awesome shots!
Nice shots!
Lovely photos all
Cool shots.
Lot of Glgreat photos, but Ryan Rogers’… epic
All great pictures.
Nice Pics to choose from.
Great photos – thanks!
These are some great photos and it was tough to make choices.
Tough call. They’re all great.
The three photos I have voted for look like some of the places I regularly fish. Like the photos of fishermen/women out fishing in rivers or streams.
Great shots, congrats to each of the top ten.
Congrats to the finalists. Great photos!
Great pics, Congrats to all the finalists.
Cool pictures
All great pictures. Really like the Esopus (the river and the photo)!
Some of these folks know how to frame a picture
Great pictures!
Fantastic photos!
In Remembrances of Rivers Past, the late Ernest Schwiebert, wrote about hooking big wild Esopus Creek rainbows in the shadows near that bridge in his Song of the Catskills chapter. Great stuff, great photo.
Voted for Esopus Creel. Nice shot Todd!
Fantastic!
Fishing is religion and stream is temple.
Tough choice. Congrats to all the finalists!
Great images, hard choices. Love the tail in the reeds.
Some truly fine pictures here, Phil. Thanks for arranging the contest and gathering these cool shots.
Some great pictures here
All inspiring photos
Some sweet photos!
Man & flyrod on the stream. Like watching my father’s love of it.
Fantastic photos wish mine turned out that good
Great photos from all. Hard to pick just 3.
one reel please
Love the colors in Owen Ward’s
Love it.