Hi All:
This is one of my favourite fishing stories. Years ago I was camping on the banks of the Yellowstone River and I had this brilliant idea. Why not make a fly out of Velcro and catch fish with it? The trout species had smallish teeth and if they take the Velcro flies their teeth would get tangled up with the Velcro and I can then catch the fish. I tied several flies imitating the cased caddis and painted them with a permanent marking pen. They turned out pretty nice, I thought.

I clipped the hook off the fly just to test the new theory.
Then I showed this new fly to my good friend and famous Yellowstone River fishing guide, Ray Hurley. Ray always had a great sense of humor and you can count on him for some funny and well considered remarks. He looked at the fly, went silent for a moment and then broke out in a loud laughter, Then he looked at me right in the eyes and said in all seriousness, "Stan, if the fish would hold his mouth shut after he takes your fly you can surely land him. But then you can do that also with a rock fly!" Hahahahaha! We were laughing so hard that we were almost rolling on the floor.
Just to prove him wrong I took my new Velcro flies and went fishing the next day. I got many interested bumps and even some hard strikes but I failed to land a fish. The longest I had the "fish on" was about two or three seconds. So much for another brilliant idea!
I got my reprieve the following year when I visited the AFTMA show. The Annual Products Show for fishing gear manufacturers. I saw many large salt water lures and plugs with Velcro tape on them and they claim that the addition of the Velcro increased the window for a fisherman to hook his fish before the lure is rejected. I said " Ah So", and left the stands smiling to myself. My dear friend Ray is now fishing in the streams of the Heavens but I am sure he is still keeping everybody laughing there.
Regards,
Stanley