The Game Is Afoot

RITUAL IN FULL SWING

Fish Density Near Optimum

social fishing is extreme

WALLPAPER: JOIN THE FAITHFUL

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..As the years slide along the population of the "Fall Faithful" increases. Word spreads and worship at the alter of Salmo trutta becomes ritualized. Even some of the neighbors become entangled in the goings-on.

FEATHERED FETISHES

.. Throats become tight, whispers become hoarse, gesticulations become wild, anxiety peaks, and elbows bump in favorite places on the river and in the pubs.
.. A whole new lexicon has developed around the spawning runs of Brown Trout as they leave Hebgen Reservoir and ascend the tributaries of the upper Madison River Drainage.
.. The lore is sprinkled with so many mystical secrets and so much misinformation that it rivals the great religions of the world.

MATUKA FETISH

.. There is a calendrical date for the beginning and end of the event, (despite the weather and what the fish do.)
.. There are myths and legends surrounding the icons and fetishes. There are sanctified behaviors for holy places like named waters or dark sanctuaries where tokens for worship may be procured.
.. Special meals and libations are prepared and dispatched with solemnity that approaches the absurd.

RUBBER LEGS FETISH

.. Orthodoxy is maintained by the junior and senior priesthood as they stand behind their various alters, in various temples and, (for a price,) dispense the holy icons to entice the deity to make an appearance at the end of the gossamer thread that links this world with the other.
.. Non conformists are those that do not worship at the approved temples. Various sects and cults have grown up during the inflorescence of Trutta Worship. Each cult has it's own adherents and believers.
.. There are those that adhere to swinging fluffy bits of feathers in the sacred pools. As if erectile hairs and feathers have mystical powers of attraction.

SOFT FETISH

.. Some penitents clutch their magic staffs with two hands and flail the waters to a boiling froth in the hopes of attracting the deity to hand.
.. A sizable congregation has gathered assortments of effigies that poorly represent small life forms and present these as offerings to the scaly gods.
.. We could go on but there's no need. Beliefs and rituals defy rational exploration. Mumbo jumbo is important in the fall ritual.

STREAMER FETISH

.. Observation, however, has documented that not just the Brown but, the Rainbow run up the tributaries.
.. They spawn in more streams than just the upper reaches of the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park.
.. The fish seem to be less selective than publicized and take whatever flies that hit them in the nose.
.. They rest in many locations that are never fished but always in protected places. Often places that are outside of the liturgy of the faithful.

NEIGHBORHOOD SHRINE DESTINATION

.. Like all religious dogma; that of the "Fall Faithful" only addresses the popular and traditional wisdom. Certainly the dogma would avoid the unknown and unexplored.
.. Prophets crying in the wilderness are often ignored while priests in solemnized spaces pontificate the orthodoxy that brings the congregations back time and again.
.. Some of our neighbors ignore the wailing and moaning of the choir. Their lack of orthodoxy has cast them out of the congregations. They scramble through thick willows. They tumble down steep banks. They wade where none has waded before. They catch many fish and don't bother to praise themselves or their totems or fetishes. Bless them all.
.. There are many spawning, pre-spawning, and precocious fish throughout the Madison River Drainage. Some are even in Yellowstone National Park.
.. It getting late and we've got to get to church. Perhaps the elbows will be padded even if the pews are not.

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WALLPAPER:  THE BURNING BUSH