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Post 24 Dec 2020, 11:32 • #1 
Master Guide
Joined: 02/23/08
Posts: 944
Location: US-MT
Fly Box Archeology

I've been going through some photos I got to make earlier this year when I borrowed Tom Morgan's fly boxes for a few weeks. How and why I got to do this is a long story. It sure was a fun project.

Tom had a zillion flies. People sent flies to Tom a lot. Tom never threw anything out but in the trout fishing in Montana context he seldom fished anything that wasn't tied by Al Troth.

One of his favorite "Not in the middle of a hatch" ways to fly fish was drifting from a relatively small square-ended aluminum skiff he had built by Midwest Welding in Bozeman, Montana. From that little skiff he liked to fish what he referred to as the Morgan Twitch--casting small black or brown Girdle Bugs or relatively small and unweighted Thundercreek Minnows.

Here's a small #12 Girdle Bug that came out of his working fly boxes. This fly had been fished. I had to carefully brush off a bit of rust on the hook before photographing it.
Image

Below is a link to a little story Tom wrote about the Morgan Twitch.
https://montana-riverboats.com/?robopage=Flies/Tom-Morgan/morgantwitch.htm


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Post 24 Dec 2020, 12:18 • #2 
Master Guide
Joined: 08/23/19
Posts: 371
Location: North Central Oregon
Good story, thanks Pitt.


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Post 24 Dec 2020, 12:46 • #3 
Guide
Joined: 12/29/10
Posts: 131
Location: US-CA
Good read. As a streamer junkie, I am always looking for something else to consider for better success. Can’t wait to try it.


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Post 24 Dec 2020, 13:36 • #4 
Master Guide
Joined: 09/29/09
Posts: 906
Location: US-MI
Enjoyed seeing this Morgan history. It would be fun to see images of others flies he favored.


Last edited by Grouse on 24 Dec 2020, 15:49, edited 1 time in total.

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Post 24 Dec 2020, 14:00 • #5 
Master Guide
Joined: 02/23/08
Posts: 944
Location: US-MT
I'll post some more images eventually. Tom had the odd habit of clipping flies off the leader while--for what ever reason--leaving the improved clinch knot at the eye of the hook.

I'm not sure why Tom did that so often but it sure is a boon to fly box archeology, because a glance at any given fly box is all it takes to determine which flies Tom fished most often.

Tom's favorite way to fish was stalking spooky fish on glassy clear spring creeks. He used mostly traditional flies like Parachute Adams, Zug Bugs (zuggies), hare's ears, pheasant tails etc.

Boat fishing with the Morgan Twitch held a happy second place for him. I maintained Tom's website for almost a decade before he left us. So I know a lot of these things from hours and hours of stories we exchanged.


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Post 24 Dec 2020, 16:11 • #6 
Sport
Joined: 10/14/19
Posts: 74
Location: US-MT
thanks for the link Pitt,very interesting !


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Post 24 Dec 2020, 16:52 • #7 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/12/16
Posts: 4093
Location: USA-CO
Great information, thanks! The link leads to quite a bit more interesting Morgan items; will be fun to explore.


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Post 29 Dec 2020, 10:22 • #8 
Sport
Joined: 08/31/19
Posts: 29
Location: Bozeman, MT
Thanks for the share! Looking forward to trying that out. Girdle bugs/pat's rubber legs are my go-to nymphs like 90% of the time.


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