FLY FISHING IN THE FOG

Eat Your Breakfast In The Dark:
Get There For The Spinner Float.

* Use good hackle for the tail,
* Tie it Fat & Fuzzy,
* Rough up the wings,
* Rough up the hackle,
* Float it low in the film,
* Catch Fish.
"The Yellowstone Morning Glory"



Much has been made of the "spinner fall" over the years, but not much has been said about the 'spinner float.' It's that magic hour or, usually two, at the crack of dawn when the cripples, early hatchers, and late hatchers are all on the water at the same time.

Most hatches are multi day events. Some, given appropriate weather, can last a week or two. Sometimes it seems that caddis hatch perpetually. What ever the case, early spring in Yellowstone Park, and earlier in the lowlands surrounding the park, provide an opportunity for early fishing at its finest & most productive.

The trout is usually a gentleman in it's activity periods. But when there are groceries to be had he is an opportunist of the first water. The fish sees many different things, and in the early morning it is dimples and refractions that trigger strikes. This fly creates them both in abundance on foggy mornings early in the season in and around Yellowstone Park.

This fly is easily 10 years old, but is found only in a few fly fishing boxes. People in West Yellowstone, Gardiner, Livingston, Gallatin Gateway, and Ennis usually have many for the early season. These are folks that are willing to get up and share the early morning with large fish gently sipping protein from the film.

The recipe for the:
Yellowstone Morning Glory:
_ Tail: stiff bright white hackle fibers, a few more than normal - spread slightly, Egg Cluster: orange wool - tightly dubbed, Body: lavender & gray wool, loosely dubbed and picked out, Wings: speckled mallard or, wood duck - sparse but not thin, Hackle: soft but not floppy generic, (no not genetic,) grizzly - one size larger, Head: black or light yellow. Hook sizes: 8 - 18 standard dry fly.
_ Don't use too much flotant, spread the wings around - or even tie it spinner style. Watch carefully because the take is gentle but positive. Long casts are not necessary in the early fog of the morning.