Art Winnie and his brother Bert ran a barber shop on Front Street in Traverse City, Michigan back in the early 1900's.  They were both avid sportsmen so it's only logical that the barber shop bustled with hunters and fishermen. Both Art and Bert not only cut hair in the shop but also used it as an outlet to ply their trade as fly tiers and lure makers.

This is a story of adaptability, observation and a willingness to keep an open mind. There is no doubt that fly anglers are creatures of habit. I have client whom I have fished for years and each year when they roll over their bookings it is so they can return to a certain area at a specific period of time where they have become familiar with the hatches and conditions that they hope to encounter

Yes, I can see a connection! The connection is not in the equipment being used, but, in the personalities that I have observed in both sports.

Many years ago, over 30 years in fact, I used to be employed at a large resort on a lake in the state of Ohio. The resort had 104 rooms with a view of the lake from all rooms, an indoor 55,000 gallon pool, an outdoor 50,000 gallon pool, a sauna, a whirlpool, a ski lodge with snow making equipment, a lighted 9-hole golf course which allowed you to golf until 11pm, a professional 18-hole golf course and 13 fully furnished cottages that would sleep 10. Needless to say, I worked in maintenance and was kept pretty busy keeping all the equipment up and running.

It was another chance to be out on the water. I had an early work day so I loaded the canoe the night before with all of the other stuff. I got up early in the morning and headed for the water since I wanted to hit the pond before first light to look for crappie. I had tied up some purple mohair furl tailed leeches, and I wanted to try them on the crappie.

Pulling in to the gravel parking lot, I looked down the row of trucks and SUV's lined up alongside me. Daybreak was just now approaching, but already I was behind the power-curve with the local fishermen. I took a quick count of the fishermen I could see at the dam, and compared that to the vehicles parked. Surely there would be at least a handful of folks homesteading at the Blue Creek hole already, which was my intended destination.

Ah, to be fly fishing in the Rocky Mountain West. Montana, Wyoming, Idaho; the words literally tickle the tongue, and if you add Yellowstone National Park the imagination takes wings and soars. Breathes there a trout angler with soul so dead who never to himself has said – "I want to go fishing out West."

This fly was designed by Bob Krause. He fishes it down and across and then strips it back. Bob has most of his success with the olive colored variety. An advantage of the White River Special over the standard wooly bugger is that it does not twist your tippet. Recently (Jan '09) Bob Jensen and Bob Krause were fishing the Norfork. They were trying everything, and being skunked. They switched to White River Specials and finished up with a great day!