Rivers are classified by fly anglers as either a tailwater river or a freestone river. For years I never really knew, much less cared, about the type of river I was fishing. It was just a river and I was too busy fishing to care. But the more l fished the more I learned about the many differences that tailwater rivers have and the complexities they unveil to the average fly angler. At first it seems simple; tailwater rivers are rivers behind dams and freestone rivers are rivers with no dams. It's the fish in the waters that make the real difference.

The water coming out of a dam and forming a river below it is coming from the bottom of the reservoir and usually stays at or near the same temperature all year. This new water creates a tailwater river and a bio system that just can't be duplicated by a freestone river. This biomass enriches the river with enormous plant life that helps breed healthy populations of aquatic insects that are so important to the health, size and population of the trout that reside in them. The consistent low water temperatures helps to keep the river healthy even during the heat of the summer whereas freestone rivers will normally suffer high water temperatures and low oxygen levels that further stress the trout that live in its waters.

There is a certain fatal attraction that pulls fly anglers from all over the world to fish tailwater rivers. Some of the most famous rivers in North America are tailwater rivers. Madison, Yellowstone, Bighorn, Henrys Fork and the South Fork Snake are just a few. Anglers are drawn to these rivers because of the size of the trout that live in them and the size of the insect hatches that drive these trout to their flies. It's amazing the power that these famous tailwater rivers have on the average fly angler. We spend millions of dollars each year just to fish for the first time or to come back again to these great waters that fuel our dreams during the winter.

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I sometimes wonder why I have this insatiable appetite to visit fly shops when I really have no need to visit. I usually don't need any new equipment and I have too much fly tying stuff now as it is. I'm like a child who has tons of toys but still loves to go to the toy store to look at all the toys he wishes he had. I can deduce that my passion for fly fishing might have something to do with it. What can I say; I'm like a gear head for fly fishing stuff. It may be hereditary, my mother used to shop at the knitting store and go down every isle looking at everything on the shelf. Hmm, that's where I get it from.

I know I must an easy mark because when I walk in it's "Hey have you seen our new wading boots over in the corner?" or "Where you going this weekend?" No matter how many times I go into a fly shop there are always something for a gear head like me to drool over. And just when you think it's time to go, you can't help but stop and look what the fish are biting on up on the white board. It doesn't matter that I may need absolutely nothing in the way of fly fishing gear or supplies, I always seen to buy something.

I live in Boise, Idaho and as long as I've lived here there has always been a fly shop or two around. Even before that anglers can always remember there being a fly shop in town. Aside from selling fly fishing goodies, fly shops are a wealth of information. Stay in one long enough and you are bound to pick up some tip or a secret hole some other angler gives you with the threat of death if you reveal his secret to anyone. I also find that I'm not the only fly fishing freak in town; there are others like me living amongst the normal citizens of my community.

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Over the years I've often overheard in fly fishing conversations the use of the term Fly Fishing Master. I never really put too much thought into it other than the guy must be a pretty good angler. But recently I've notice the term being bantered about loosely in several books and magazine articles. Whether the term is "The greatest fly fisherman of my generation" or "So and so has mastered his craft" or simply "Became a master" it all boils down to an angler reaching the plateau of being Master of the sport.

The subject of mastery is not a new revelation in fly fishing. It's more like the idea of mastery has quietly grown over the years and embedded itself in the world of fly fishing. It's like suddenly waking up one day and while combing your hair you see your first gray hair. I never saw it there before, it just somehow showed up. With the increasing popularity of fly fishing in the last thirty or so years there has also been an explosion of fly fishing media which has opened the door to the sport to almost everyone. The quantity of books, magazines, television shows, and the web has brought to the angler unimaginable amounts of information and entertainment. New flies, techniques, and destinations are easily assimilated by the angler. The byproduct of this assimilation leads to a better understanding of the sport and the people who make up the voice of the sport. Because of the easy access to information on fly fishing the term "Master" has slowly started to float to the surface.

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When I first started fly fishing I had a hard enough time just learning what a dry fly was let alone what an emerger is. Back in the day it was all about floating an Adams or bouncing a Hare's Ear along the bottom. There wasn't a lot written about a streams ecosystem or entomology in the sixties. What most fly anglers learned, including myself was from time spent on the water and our own little network of fly anglers. I have always been an avid reader of all fly fishing literature and it wasn't too long before I stumbled upon the phenomenon of emerging insects in some book or magazine. I didn't understand at the time how important emergers are to a fly fisherman but I at least became exposed to the occurrence.

It really wasn't until I started becoming interested in stream born entomology that the emerger phenomenon really started to make sence. That there was a whole stage in the life cycle of a Mayfly that keyed a trout's feeding behavior into a feeding frenzy was exciting and I needed to study it more. The problem was as a young fly angler raised in a town of bait fishermen I had little or no input on the subject from other fly anglers. To read about something as important and interesting as emerging stream born insects and not be able to talk about it with other fly anglers was frustrating to say the least. About the only picture I could get in my mind was a fantasy of what effect an emerger must have on a hungry trout.

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