showing at the far edge of the meadow
was a thread-thin scratch of light:
the river over there.
jet-black on light green, loomed
in an inset on one Orvis page of nymphs.
A hand suspended the trout just above
a blur of rapid water. One clear drop
of that water was hanging midway
along the jutting jaw of the trout,
another from one knuckle of the hand.
The fl y that the big trout had taken
had been removed. The hand was about
to release the trout.
the rows of trout fl ies. On impulse
he made a rough count: three hundred
or so fl ies across eight pages
in the Orvis. Dan Bailey showed,
across thirteen pages, around four
hundred fi fty. The little order form
in the corner of one page was for a book
of patterns and materials for more
than a thousand classic and contemporary
fl ies.
tied together and trimmed -- feathers
(Guinea, Peacock, Silver Pheasant, Jungle
Cock, etc.), hair (Northern Whitetail,
Coastal Deer, Yearling Elk, Antelope,