Game On ???

SOME SUCCESS

Some Failure

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A CHANCE ENCOUNTER

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.. One interesting aspect of our tourist town is the diversity of visitors encountered and, the trinkets on display in the shops.
.. Rubber tomahawks and other such have mostly vanished through the years. There are still, however, a few "Davy Crockett" hats for sale and a few stores still stock feathered headdresses.
.. In a sunny break from fly flinging, with a couple of neighbors, we took a stroll 'downtown.' There, in a small jewelry store, we encountered a three-legged male wolf pelt. Pelts for sale in our village are rather rare. This one was from Canada. It had it's own license plate.

WOLF:  COARSE BACK FUR

.. We marveled at it's density of fur and the quality of the tanning. We also recoiled at the price = $1,100 dollars, (US cash money.) Long, long story short: bits were acquired by the richest of our neighbors.
.. There is, an old, traditional fly pattern that specifies bits of fur only obtainable from a pelt of this sort. One of the neighbors has a scrap of paper torn from an ancient sporting magazine with a genuine 'killer recipe' for Steelhead and spawn-run trout.

WOLF:  URINE STAINED FUR

.. The fly is often tied with substitute materials and does, in fact, take fish with excellent regularity.
.. The neighbor in question immediately abandoned our stroll to retreat to the tying bench in the alcove of his cave.
.. We present here the fly and its recipe. It is a simple pattern and, of the three flies tied, two have taken respectable fish from the Madison River in the environs near the Barns Holes.

THE ROZEE WOLFEE FLY

..Tied on a standard heavy salmon hook, (any appropriate hook will do nicely,) the fly reveals its heritage from the turn of the last century.
.. The tail is grouse tail feather tip that is doubled. The tag is orange floss. The body is royal purple floss. The first rib is embossed gold tinsel. The second rib is medium silver twist. The hackle is yellow hen. The under wing is urine stained wolf. The over wing is wolf back hair. The name is also indicative of the time in which it was originated: ROZEE WOLFEE.

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.. The annual surge of fish, (from Hebgen Reservoir,) and fishers, (from all corners of the world,) is in full swing - with mixed results being reported in the pubs and dusty aisles of the feather merchants.

DARK SPRUCE VARIANT

.. Most of the traditional river runs for the Fall-run spawning trout are seemingly less productive than collective memory recalls. Places that are otherwise less storied are producing surprising amounts of fish.
.. A couple of these places are easily accessible with a gentle walk from the parking area at Barns #1. Upstream hides are near and, in the big bend of the Madison River. There are also mid stream holes near the gauging station just a bit further upstream, The trail is easily visible.

OLIVE OR GREEN WOOLLY BUGGER

.. There are new, recently and deeply, undercut banks with rapid currents. These require some bit of soft walking and short casting. The fish are parked there but not sleeping.
.. These hides are good places to use a long two handed rod for dapping an appropriate streamer, (LINK TO SECRET PLACES.) Just a short cast and a short downstream drift with a gentle tug or two at the end will gather the fish.
.. In addition to the Rozee Wolfee fly the neighbors have used Modified Dark Spruce flies and light green Woolly Buggers. Daylight and shadows play a role in fly selection - duh!

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.. The sun is out. Snow and sun is predicted for the next few days. Temperatures should fluctuate widely over the next week. The fish know the weather. Fishers need to move around and explore the dark water where rods are few and fish are plentiful.
.. It may be time for a scintillating lunch and a brief nap before the clouds arrive and the evening sun is in the right spot.

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WALLPAPER: 'LITTLE MEATS,' CARNITAS & BEANS & RICE