Look Out Fishes !

INVADING FLIES
FROM NORTH AND SOUTH

Abundant Creativity Is Rampant

Fish Don't Have A Chance
get 'em while they're hot

real time weather-------

.. We have a fossilized brain to go with our fossilized joints. Our habits are set. Our attitudes archaic and approaching senile. Our manner is gruff and dismissive.
And further, we have an extremely hard time adapting to the newness and modernity of the last few decades. Our fly selection is pretty much set in stone, (or amber?) The neighbors point and twitter, (the olde kind,) when we climb into our trusty steed for a bit of fishing.
.. We are trapped somewhere between bamboo and fiberglass, (why do we never talk about Tru-Temper?)
.. Wet flies are something with wings. Flymphs are soft hackles with style. Leaders don't need to be 12' long, and flies smaller than 16 are art objects to us.
.. It's with fear and trembling that we tie on a fly with no known personal history. It's just plain shorts-soiling scary! We do it only when goaded into it by folks catching more fish than us. And, catching them where we fish with our fossilized flies, (some still tied today with materials from Herter's. - Hell, in our youth we believed everything ol' Jacques said.)
.. We take this opportunity to mention a couple of places where the creative spirit is flourishing and succeeding. These centers of innovation have us surrounded.
.. There are some innovators hereabouts too - they flourished a decade, and more, ago and have produced what we know as 'standards.'

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.. Deep to the south, mired in the world's largest outdoor mall is a group of kids that are changing the style of flies for Yellowstone National Park. The materials are common, the silhouettes traditional, and yet, the flies are revolutionary. There is nothing fancy about them but their design and ability to catch fish.
.. At first glance they look like normal flies. Same for the second glance. But tie one on and enjoy the catching that our rivers are famous for.
.. Of course we speak of HIGH COUNTRY FLIES. This is an interesting bunch of folks that still know how to tie their own leaders, (how 'bout that Tom.) They understand tackle and technique. They are catchers of the first order and use words like "twitch," "skate," and "strip." Furthermore, they are involved in the life of their community, (rare these days for feather merchants.)
.. Their flies are displayed HERE. Click on each image: the recipe and tying instructions appear. No secrets, no hype, no guile: refreshing!
.. As modern as these flies are, they have an oldtymie feel to our eyes, (some even have red thread heads.) Bless their hearts, and good on 'em.

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.. We've mentioned the denizens of the northeast corner before. Folks that fish. Folks that share. Folks that are on the lookout for folks like us. They speak in simple declarative sentences. Why? Because they know!
.. We read their fishing and catching reports. They are straightforward. Sumgum!
.. Nice for a change, in this do it all for money and fame world. Who would these fine folks be? PARKS' FLY SHOP - that's who.
.. For a long time we could count on them to have the old flies. They were a refuge in the storm of foam and rubber. We liked it.
.. Then, HORROR OF HORRORS, the foam crept in and the soft hackles vanished. We had a cataleptic fit. We thrashed on the floor and then dusted off the vise. We squinted and cursed and tied our own.
.. Now, thank Neptune, the wet hackles, traditionals, and others are returning to the bins in Gardiner.
.. And the foam is still there. And it should be. These are flies tied from experience. These are flies matched to the rivers and the bugs that inhabit them, (willingly or otherwise.)
.. Our resistance to foam is strong, (fossilized thinking,) but weakening. The damn things are ugly to our eye. But they must seem to be beautiful to the trout.
.. My how the paradigm has changed, (a pox on the glass bottoms in S&R's aquariums.) It seems that we're appealing to the trout instead of us - oh well.
.. Now, PARKS' FLY SHOP has a developing web page for these ugly, gaudy, ridiculous, successful flies. You can find it HERE.
.. Their custom X Caddis is pudgy, sinks or floats, (depending on how you treat it,) and catches fish.
.. Don't tell Walter, but we crinkle and squash and separate the wing, pluck the body some more and drown the little feller. Learned it from a fish.

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.. We've added a real-time weather page for those that care. The link is in the masthead so you can avoid the diatribe and tripe and scoot on over to the current weather. There are other tools; forecasts, live radar, and such. It's not a finished page but it's functional. It's as much for the neighbors as the fishers.