Of Time & Change

FASHION OR FUNCTION ?

Rip Snortin' Change

is 'pretty' truly any better ?

ORIGINAL MUDDLER TIED BY DON GAPEN: Courtesy Martin Joergensen

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.. We just wonder how big of a sales attraction a bin full of Don Gapen Muddler flies would be, (minus his name and the name of the pattern.)
.. Just suppose the fly in the keystone image above was called the "Gold Body Squirrel And Turkey." Fancy floss is missing. exotic synthetic fibers are missing. twinkle and flash are missing, hair and feather lengths are not precisely similar, gold tinsel is wadded up not laid down smoothly, etc.
.. Even at discount prices in a feather merchant bin this fly would not sell. No catalog would dare to suggest that the fly would catch fish. It's just too scruffy for contemporary sensibilities.
.. The Muddler of today is beautifully stylized, magnificently rendered, and exquisitely presented in catalogs and merchant's bins. (Check the Gapen Company version HERE.)
.. The original became famous because of it's success in stabbing large Brook Trout in the jaw with astounding regularity. Today we seldom hear of a Muddler that has become trapped by an angry and hungry trout.
.. Just sayin'.

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Contemporary Muddler -- Real Catalog And Bin Stuff