(A writing to Dewey Gillespie from a very respected friend AJH)

 All winter the river has been clear and low, running part of the way under a sheath of ice that breaks and piles in some places but generally covers only the fringe, the sloughs, and the slow moving side channels.  In some places where the water is friction slowed over a shallow bottom, there will be stream lined cakes of anchor ice.  Most of the local summer fishermen have been hunting or fly tying.  Sometime in the Spring the weather will be warm enough to clear ice from the lower river, although higher elevations may still be locked tight.  Then comes a period of clear water which is interrupted by the arrival of muddy torrents, as mountain snow pack will melt, finally allowing the water to run clear.  Once more the anglers return to the river to enjoy their favorite sport, and to be continually pestered by several small dark colored insects, a two-winged biting fly (Simulium or Related General), commonly called the Black Fly.