Countdown To Saturday

THE EINSTEIN FLY BOX

It's Fully Inexplicable

some are even used by experts

WALLPAPER: A RED DRY ?

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.. Come Saturday the faithful and the less so will descend upon the rivers of Yellowstone National Park for a ritual deflowering of the year's fishing season: some fish will be caught. Most of the fish will remain unmolested for the moment.
.. Albert Einstein said that "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." By that definition many of the fisher folks on Saturday will be experiencing that condition. They will go to the same places, with the same flies, using the same techniques, and following the same sage advice as failed them last year.
.. This year's runoff event has not been exceptionally notable. This year's runoff  has, on the other hand, changed some portions of the west side rivers in significant ways. Do it the same as granny did if you choose. Read those old books if you like. Go find the illustrated sacred rocks and boulders if you must.
.. The Spring Fly Box this year is heavily dependent on nymphs and, of course, the kind generosity of a few of the neighbor kids that have taken pity on our ineptitude and poor vision.
.. These flies are not for framing - they are for fishing. Some of the flies are recognizable as old favorites. Others are unique creations or modifications of recognizable patterns. All have and will catch fish.  Many will catch fish on Saturday. Some won't catch any fish at all - such is fly fishing.
.. We have been accused of being touched with the insanity germ and will start our riverside stroll on Saturday with a Feather Duster. It usually takes a fish or two so we're not expecting different results.

FEATHER DUSTER - ORIGINAL

FEATHER DUSTER - WHITE THORAX

FEATHER DUSTER - YELLOW THORAX

.. Our fall back nymphs are some old standbys that are seldom seen these days. The Casual Dress is an oldie that has fallen out of favor in these days of beads and synthetics. The Naked Prince has no bead head and no ribbing and works great in the film.

CASUAL DRESS

NAKED PRINCE

.. Albert also said that "If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." We're very amenable to that.
.. On Saturday we will also be packing some of the neighborhood deviants, (not the folks but traditional, standard patterns, nymphs in various sizes and colors and materials.) This should change the facts of the matter pretty significantly.

BLACK WOOL NYMPH

CREAM WOOL NYMPH

ORANGE WOOL NYMPH

.. Should a change of facts not accomplish the compliance with our theory that the fish are eager, starved for attention and food, and in need of traditional nymphs - there are other choices..
.. We, again, turn to Albert for some sage insight: "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." Since our consciousness is stuck in the traditional rut and, we almost always first use antique flies,  perhaps a bit of synthetic consciousness is in order. These are the flies that the neighbor kids use to begin their day.

NEON WHAMME

ROCK WORM

PENGUIN

.. Again, we find our self agreeing with one of Einstein's most famous maxims: "The only real valuable thing is intuition." The intuition of some famous fisher folks is legend among fly fishers. Some say it's just a long history of experience.
.. On the other hand there are very young and inexperienced fishers that seem to have all the "luck." Go figure! The collective intuition of the neighborhood youngsters currently holds that the chamois leech-worm should be the go-to fly on opening day.

CHAMOIS WORM

.. The bugs that live in our waters are more or less active and available as fish food year 'round. Anticipation in this part of the universe is firstly aimed at big bugs and then floating bugs. Right now there are a few floating bugs on the Firehole River. That same river is usually the first in the neighborhood to produce big bugs.
.. Of course Albert had something apropos to say about this kind of situation: "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning." Perhaps the big bugs are moving.

BLACK STONEFLY NYMPH

.. Gifts from the gods arrive in various forms. On opening day there will probably be some surface scraps for both the fish and fishers to examine. These gifts and maybe some early caddis could be present if the sun is out.
.. Maybe even glorious flights of dinky fluff will arrive if the dreary days of Spring return. A few floaters in the Einstein box should do for openers. We can't afford all the fancy new stuff dreamed up by the feather merchants over the Winter so we stick with things like the "Mashed Caddis," or a Royal Coachman. Some of the limited production flies from around the neighborhood are in the box as well.
.. What would Albert say? "Imagination is more important than knowledge."

ROYAL COACHMAN

MASHED CADDIS

RUBBER BAND CADDIS

FURNACE AND GREEN CUL de CANARD

MINI MUDDLER - (sort of)

.. You can be sure that only a few folks will be fishing any of these flies come Saturday. The feather merchant catalogs are full of the latest and greatest - far different than the latest super stuff of a half decade ago, (it also caught a lot of fish.)
.. The good Doctor Einstein had something to say about this as well: "A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be."
.. Come Saturday a lot of visitors will be insanely thrashing familiar haunts with spiffy electric fly patterns seeking to prick a fish with what they think the fish is supposed to be gobbling up. We are going to have a go at it too.

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PRAY FOR GRAY