Are You Mature Enough ?

GOT NOSTALGIA ?

get it !

GO WITH IT !

.. Do you remember Killroy? Were you there? Have you ever seen a Jeep pulling a plow? Just what is the Hiller-Haller-hallelujah twist?

.. Ever listen to Spike Jones? Just how big was that trout you landed before they dammed the Truckee River? -- OH, you ran down from the bleachers and caught its flopping and dying body from the empty river!

.. Are your memories trapped in a dusty corner of the garage? The basement? The attic? Worse, a storage facility? Get them out and enjoy them.

.. With the need to remember comes a glorious joy in being alive. Fly fishing, indeed, all fishing helps us remember. It provides a respite from the grind of day to day living. Fishing gathers together a bit of the past every time it is indulged -- enjoy it. Do you know what a 'hand line' is? Ever use one? On a big fish?

.. Have you ever fished the 'hot corner' during a big bite between Catalina and Pier Point Landing? With an un-split-cane-pole? Yes, pole!

.. Do your remember the stir that the Feralite Ferrule caused? Do you still have a square x-section Ames steel fly rod? Why did you ever give up on bamboo for that new fangled glass stuff?

.. Where were you when Mad Man Muntz said:

"I'd give 'em away - but my wife won't let me
. . . she's crazy"?

.. Have you kept dozens of flies that time and abuse have reduced to nearly bare hooks? Good for you!

.. Just where is that old B&W of you and dad and your first fish? Or the second fish? Or the first bait bucket, or that card of flies; the scarlet ibis rules!

.. Did you ever have a 'fish car' or 'fish truck?' Was it a corn binder, Volkswagen, Studebaker, Diamond Reo?

..Did you let your girlfriend in it or did you subscribe to the "true-fact" that wimmen spoil fishin'?

.. Well, 'Bunky,' there are some interesting places on the web for feeding your nostalgia. Besides our own individual memories there are a raft of cultural memories to be had, and they're just a click or two away.
.. Although the Rams and Packers and Saints are fun today, what about "Tank Younger," "Bart Starr," "Deacon Dan" Towler, and the other old or dead farts of the past? What about Wulff, or Kelson? Who was Corey Ford?
.. Many of our cultural memories trigger personal reminiscences and they can be found on the web. Try a few of the links below for your own personal, (public and private,) journey into memory lane.

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.. The Saturday Evening Post (nearly 2,000,000 images in a Google search; including covers,) is an obvious place to start: but, have you tried the Curtis Publishing web site? It's fully indexed and has the post covers, some Country Gentleman images, and even has some fine nostalgic videos. If you aren't fishing get off the couch and click a few (HERE.)

.. Should you have a hankering for the deep blue, there's a couple of places to grab your attention. Try the "old photos page" at Antique & Classic Fishing Reels. Of for you left coast fans travel, (by click,) to the photos on the Balboa Pavilion web site.

.. For the curious and exploratory there's Bibi's box. This is a blog from 'a curious girl blogging to share and enjoy.' Everything from "HOT PANTS HOMO," through Garbo, to fishing art is displayed and indexed. The posts ended in January, (a video blog and carnival is the excuse,) we hope that they resume soon. Bibi's vintage category is HERE.

.. Should you feel the need to be trapped by strictly fishing nostalgia, try Google for about 150,000 images or nearly 300,000 entries of various kinds of prose.

.. There's even nouveau nostalgia by Alan Metz if you want to encapsulate some contemporary memories.

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.. Want some Andrew Sisters? CLICK HERE. Want some more? Click HERE, & HERE.

.. Maybe some Annette Henshaw?

	Annette Hanshaw - Happy Days Are Here Again 11-2-1930
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

.. Straight from BeeMP3
.. How about some 1940's music? Click HERE.
.. Too old for you? How about some 50's gems? Click HERE.
.. The Time Machine will provide you with custom recording restoration and compilation. They will convert your old movies and restore your old wax cylinders, (they came just before wire recorders, flat platter records, 78's, 45's, 33 1/3 LP's, and tape recorders: not to mention 8-track, beta, cassettes, Cd's, DVD's, and the stick!) They do this by precobobulating the turbulators. Visit the site for some free MP3's -- whatever that is.

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.. Well, it's about to cloud up after a fairly bright day. We can hear the fish crunching crustaceans from our couch. Sound like scuds or sow bugs, (oops -- shouldn't have said that,) and we know that there will be a few caddis fluttering about the slow spots down-canyon just a bit.
.. Our chair is too hard and the sun just got warm behind the clouds. Reminds us of . . .

. . . on the edge of -- OUT

THE WARMTH
HAS BECOME PERSISTENT

Don't Get Used To It

flows are up

color is present

". . . did you ever stand and shiver
just because you were looking at a river?"
-Ramblin' Jack Elliott
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.. Persistent temperate days in the high country have started to accelerate the snow melt. Rivers are slowly filling their banks, and a bit of sand and silt is moving into the water. The suspended load is increasing slowly, but promises to accelerate over the next week or so. Fish now, or be prepared to gripe about the color, speed, depth, and caprice of the rivers around Yellowstone.
.. After peaking on the 30th of April, the Gallatin River has returned to near seasonal flows with the Taylor Fork adding some color just north of the Park boundary. Fishing in the canyon sections has been exceptional and the usual spring mix of midges, nymphs, and small dry flies will get you bit.
.. Some success is being had with Yellow Sally and Yellowstone Winter Grub flies. These are fished slow and deep on the swing. The river segment between the park line and the Taylor Fork is cold, clear and surprisingly productive; especially the pools at, and below Snowflake Springs.
.. The Madison River at West Yellowstone has shown a nearly identical peak flow pattern to the Gibbon River; and has slowed to slightly below seasonal averages. It is still clear and not quite bank-full. Flows from Hebgen Reservoir, are running at about 700 CFS and the reservoir needs eight feet to become full. The neighbors have abandoned the tailwater fishery in deference to the amorous flutterings of the fish. There have been several good midge hatches and the last report hinted at a pickup in the streamer fishing success rate.
.. Brave, adventurous, silly, giddy, hearty, and mostly young anglers of both the worm and fly persuasions have been scoring heavily along the banks of Hebgen Lake where the ice continues to recede. Post-holing is not our favorite pastime, yet eager fish can be persuasive. A long leader with a roughed up finish combined with a short sink tip and a pair of small nymphs will generate enough action for the strong of leg.
.. The suspicious looking "GOB-O-WORMS" is used by by some neighbors as is a dark purple or brown San Juan Worm. These are fished on a long sink tip or even a full sinking line. Cast to edge of the ice, or as far out as you can. Let it sink to the bottom. Chug a little, puff some, then slowly retrieve the line. Pause every so often, but keep the line taught. Takes range from brutal to violent. Short stout leaders are O.K.
.. We promised, back in October, not to publish a picture of the fly -- and we won't. You'll have to do your own research if this sort of fly fishing appeals to you. A good place to start is JUST GOOD FLIES.
.. Down in the Madison Valley fishing on the Madison River is picking up. Subsurface action is approaching furious. Sculpin imitations, large buggy things like stone flies and of course any other wiggly creation with internal motion will probably get you some action. The stretch of river between McAtee Bridge and Ennis is drawing both row and wade fishers. A small but persistent hatch of caddis is available and there are rumors of March Browns in the air at the big sweep just north of Ennis. River temperatures have been fluctuating in a standard nocturnal/diurnal pattern and the sub-seasonal flows tend to accentuate this. Pick you spot and your bugs. The temperature will bring conditions to you.
.. The Yellowstone River is fluctuating between fishable and "not so fishable" as the runoff begins in earnest in the northern part of Yellowstone National Park.
.. The fine folks at Parks' Fly Shop are experiencing the same conditions as the rest of the region -- fishing is good now, but the river is close to being out of shape. They're hoping that the cool weather hangs on a bit for the Mother's Day Caddis. We wish them the best - it's good for us too.

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out . . . & BACK

AN EXPERIMENT IN PRESENTATION

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ROAD TRIP - Big Mo

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A Break From Fish - Sort'a

LOOK CLOSELY AT PHOTOS

Photoshop Disasters
need longer arms ?
need bigger fish?

.. Is your belly button ugly? Are your arms too short? Is your fish too small? How about a triple-jointed wrist? All things are possible!
.. Forget about accurate portrayal of the scene before you and have it "PHOTOSHOPPED." After all, fly fishing is just the fantasy of rich snobs with too many Jeep's in the garage. Live large: make it real.
.. With technological improvement comes advanced photo enhancement. The real and the imaginary come together in visual fantasy that is nearly believable.
.. Fishing guides have long known that if a client thrusts his fish toward the camera the foreshortening effect creates bigger fish and better memories -- and of course larger tips, and return business. Fish always grow after they've been caught.
.. There is a place on the web to see some interesting byproducts of the digital age -- gone wrong. It's called Photoshop Disasters. A brief perusal will give you some food for thought about what you're seeing in magazines, books, blogs and other photo sources. The comments about each disaster are just as good as the errors that are recorded.
..This world is really a spiffy place.

The money quote says it all:

Clumsy manipulation, senseless comping, lazy cloning and thoughtless retouching are our bread and butter.

.. Below are a few images to give you pause.

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.. With all apologies to Mark Glassmaker at ALASKA TROPHY FISHING; Why stop with a big fish? You can have a giant fish!

Video To Go

..

Know Your Fish

NPS UPDATES
YELLOWSTONE WEB SITE

MSU Charges To Glacier
In Defense Of Bull Trout

Firehole Ranch Catches New Manager

Visit Montana & Learn 33 Rules - Is That All?

Yellowstone Atlas Coming
(brief local report)

nps photo

.. As lowland folks trek into the uplands to 'officially' start their trout fishing season, (see the underbelly report,) we're busy stuffing flies into the Spring Fly Box, which is a bit different from years past.
.. Fishing in Yellowstone will get underway the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and extend through and including the first Sunday in November. We've been scouting since the park opened and things are wet. If the cool weather holds we'll have some excellent opportunities come Memorial Day.

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.. In a most timely move, the NPS has updated many sections of the official Yellowstone National Park Website.
.. Among the features that have been recently added is an illustrated section of fish identification tools, and distribution maps.
.. The web page is fragmented into several topics and sub-pages; so if you're right-click challenged, here's your road map:
- Fish Distribution Maps,
- Artic Grayling: photo album, slide show,
- Westslope Cutthroat: photo album, slide show,
- Yellowstone Cutthroat: photo album, slide show,
- Brook Trout: photo album, slide show,
- Brown Trout: photo album. slide show,
- Lake Trout: photo album, slide show,
- Rainbow Trout: photo album, slide show,
- Cuttbow Hybrid: This link on the NPS site is broken!
- Here's the real links: Hybrids: photo album, slide show.

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.. The Montana Cooperative Fishery Research Unit at MSU has released some findings of an ongoing four year study of invasive threats to native fish in Glacier National Park. The money quote says it all:

"What's going on in those lakes is a train wreck," Guy said. "A non-native species is replacing a native species."

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.. The historic Firehole Ranch, (previously the Watkins Creek Ranch,) has landed a new ranch manager. He is Chris McCoy, former Executive Director of Food and Beverage for Glacier Park, Inc. He is well known for inventing the "Red Jammer Soda" in honor of the bright red White Touring Limousines in Glacier Park, when they returned to service in 2002.
.. The announcement was made in a news release by Lynda Caine. Besides the legendary atmosphere and attention to detail, the Firehole Ranch is also hosting a "Women's Week," August 2-6, 2008, for discriminating fly-fishing enthusiasts of all abilities.

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.. Field & Stream is running an article by Joe Cermele about a road trip to Montana.
.. He discovered 33 rules, some great fishing, and took some fine pictures. We're aghast that it only takes 33 rules to survive a road trip to Montana. Maybe that's all the pictures that he took. Hope not!
.. We like the photo of West Yellowstone's night life. Read all about it HERE.

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.. After considerable effort and planning, Yellowstone area universities, National Park Service experts, and other federal and private agencies have joined forces with the University of Oregon to develop the Atlas of Yellowstone, the first atlas dedicated to a national park and its surrounding region, (via The AnyGeo Blog.) You can check out the official web site HERE.

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.. Not to put too fine of a point on it -- BUT -- the cool weather and daily snow showers suggest that when the warm weather arrives, and when the melt is in full flower, opening day will be in close proximity on the calendar. There will be places to fish if the rivers are roaring, but they won't be the traditional ones. Stay tuned and we'll give a complete update in the near future. The long range NOAA forecast suggest that persistent warmer weather will arrive about the second week in May. You know what that does to the Memorial Day Opening.

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