2000 Jackson Hole One Fly Event
The Fish Will Probably Spit It Back Out
John Gendall caught 47 Snake River cutthroats
Saturday, including three prized, 17-inch trout. The 28-year-old guide
from Maruia, New Zealand, enjoyed a similarly enchanting day Sunday on
his way to first place and the Vern Bressler Award as the top fly
fishing professional.
Gendall had asked friend and Tarantula creator
Guy Turck to tie him a One Fly worthy (i.e. very durable) Tarantula
for the event. When Guy tried to explain that Tarantulas had not, as
of late, been very effective on the stretches John would be fishing,
John insisted anyways. So Turck tied Gendall a still secret
variation of the Tarantula that drove the formerly
Tarantula-indifferent cutthroats into a feeding frenzy. Hint: Color
matters!
Yet it was the fish that Gendall didn’t catch — one he helped a
competitor with — that had the good-natured Kiwi laughing with amazement
at Sunday night’s awards banquet. Earlier that day Gendall had taken
part in a whopper of a fish tale, even for a sport known for outrageous
stories.
At about 2:30 p.m. guide Gary Beebe of Clacka Craft stopped the boat to do
some wading and cast into an appetizing stretch of water in front of a
logjam. Boom. Belles drew a strike. The fish appeared to be a big one,
about 16 or 17 inches long.
Snap! The fish had gobbled Belles’ fly and tugged so hard it broke the
2X tippet — a heavy-duty line described by Beebe as “big rope.” Belles
had lost the fly, earning him instant disqualification from the One Fly.
Broken-hearted, he broke down his rod and sulked back to the boat.
The cheery Gendall immediately told Belles not to fret. “It’s a barbless
hook and a foam fly,” he said with his ‘down under’ accent. “The fish
will probably spit it back out.” Almost on cue, the fly rose to the
surface and bobbed in the current. Incredulous, Beebe rushed to the
water, but before they could retrieve the lost fly, another fish rose
and swallowed it. His faint glimmer of hope extinguished, Belles was
devastated. “Tears were coming down my eyes,” he said. The beacon of
optimism, Gendall again offered encouragement. “Relax,” he said. “This
fish will spit it out, too.”
The three men waited on the banks for two or three minutes before —
presto! — “Up comes the fly and we jumped in the river screaming,”
Belles said. Belles retrieved and retied the fly, and returned to the
boat to resume casting. At the next spot they stopped to wade, Belles
landed a 16-inch cutthroat on his first cast. He managed to keep the fly
and finished with a respectable 98 points instead of an
embarrassing goose egg.
2000 One Fly Event Winning Fly
John's Skwala Stone
Yet another variation of the old standby Chernobyl, the John's Skwala Stone
is a creation of Montana fly tier John Foust who first tied the Madam X
fly. One Fly winner Tom Tucker added a red stripe with a magic marker to
enhance its appearance!
Tom owes a great deal to his One Fly guide, Brandon Murphy. While using
the Skwala and scoring big during the morning, Tom hit a fish just a bit
too hard snapping it off. Eagle eyed guide Murphy figured the trout
would spit the fly and it did.
Soon the Skwala floated back to the surface where Murphy spotted it
floating on the water, before Tom could get it another trout scarped it
up. Again the trout rejected the fly and it floated back again. This time,
Tom scooped it up, reattached the fly to his leader and proceeded to win
the event.
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