AI and the Muddler Minnow
I asked an Artificial Intelligence-system to talk about a GFF article about the Muddler Minnow, and the result is truly mind-blowing!
I love muddlers and have written so much about them on this site that it’s becoming somewhat of a trope. Whenever I plan a new article, muddlers are oftentimes one of the first things I start thinking about.
And it happened again.
A friend pointed my attention in the direction of Google’s new AI-based system NotebookLM. This is an experimental system, based on Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models, which can work on a text or manuscript and do different things with it.
One of the really amazing things it can do, is make a small “podcast” – a conversation – about the text. And not just in writing, but with spoken voices! In other words an artificially generated sound file, where two “virtual” people discuss the text. They don’t just read it out loud. They don’t interpret it or explain it as such, but they talk about it, discuss it and analyze express their opinion on its content and its impact on the subject covered.
Muddlers on my mind
So muddlers was on my mind, and I fed it a link to my article on Don Gapen’s Muddler Minnow. It chewed on the text for a few minutes, and then served me a small sound-file with 8½ minutes of conversation between a male and a female where they talk about muddlers with the outset in my article.
And it’s just amazing!
No, not my article (okay, that’s also a little amazing), but the chat between these two artificial characters, who seem to know quite a bit about fly tying and fly fishing, and most definitely have read my article and understood it.
Listen
You can listen to it yourself in the player below. Or you can click on this link directly to the sound file in mp3-format.
Overly happy
They engage in the most natural conversation – actually almost over-natural with hm’s, uh’s and wow’s all the right places and a very chatty and almost overly happy tone – which seems to reflect a deep fascination of muddlers and fly tying.
It is sometimes a little high flying, but in general, just comes over as very enthusiastic.
Just the first sentence spoken shows what’s coming:
Or this exchange:
- Yeah.
- It's about reigniting that passion for exploration, for pushing the boundaries of our understanding.
- Yeah. And just our appreciation for this sport that we love.
Small flaws
They do go wrong a few places, like referring to an article by the Catskill museum, which is actually another GFF article referenced. That can be forgiven in this context. It would of course be a problem if I was using this conversation as a reference to the sources of information, but as it is here, it’s a fairly small flaw.
The AI-persons also talk about tying the fly and “trying to perfect those deer hair wings”, which is also nonsense in this context, but absolutely perfect fly tying lingo, so only people with knowledge of tying Muddler Minnows will notice.
Other ways
The system also offers other ways of working on the text, like generating a timeline and a gallery of persons. That comes out like this:
Timeline of Events
1937: Don Gapen, from Anoka, Minnesota, creates the original Muddler Minnow fly specifically for catching brook trout in Ontario, Canada. This fly is characterized by its messy, untrimmed deer hair head and roughly applied materials.
Late 1960s: J.M. Turvilles, a fishing tackle store in Melbourne, Australia, imports a batch of original Muddler Minnows directly from Don Gapen. These flies, while still featuring a bulkier profile than modern Muddlers, are slightly more refined with a more defined collar and trimmed deer hair.
1950s: Dan Bailey starts tying his version of the Muddler Minnow, using a technique of tightly packing and trimming the deer hair to create a denser head and a more defined profile, ideal for imitating grasshoppers. This technique becomes the standard for most Muddler Minnows tied today.
Present Day: The Muddler Minnow, in its various forms, remains a popular and effective fly pattern for a wide range of species, inspiring countless variations and imitations. The Gapen Company, now run by Don Gapen's son Dan D. Gapen, still produces and sells the original Muddler Minnow.
Cast of Characters
Don Gapen: The originator of the Muddler Minnow fly. He created the fly in 1937 as a brook trout fly. Gapen was from Anoka, Minnesota, and designed the fly for use in Ontario, Canada.
Dan D. Gapen: Son of Don Gapen and current CEO of The Gapen Company, a fishing tackle company founded by his father. Dan D. Gapen is an author and continues to manufacture and sell fishing lures, including the original Muddler Minnow.
Dan Bailey: A fly tyer credited with refining the Muddler Minnow in the 1950s by developing a technique of tightly packing and trimming the deer hair head. This technique resulted in a denser head with a more defined profile and increased buoyancy, making it well-suited for imitating grasshoppers.
Ted Patlen: A contemporary fly tyer who ties Muddler Minnows in a style very close to Don Gapen's original, preserving the messy, untrimmed aesthetic.
Mick Hall: An individual from Melbourne, Australia who owns an original Don Gapen Muddler Minnow purchased from J.M. Turvilles in the late 1960s.
Transcript
Of course you can also get a transcript of the conversation, so you can read it rather than listen to it, and that comes out as the text below. This wasn’t done by Google, but by a service called transcribe.mov.
Again there are flaws, and even though I have corrected it a few places, there are still errors in the “flow” of the conversation, which the back-and-forth changing a few places where it shouldn’t and sometimes not changing where it should. But still:
- Right. You know, it's got to be something special.
- Yeah. That's the Muddler Minnow, and that's what we're diving deep on today.
- It's a good one.
- I've been looking through all these amazing articles you sent over, even pictures of your own muddlers.
- Oh, yeah.
- Getting ready for this deep dive, it's got me itching to tie some flies.
- Absolutely, me too. But, you know, what's really fascinating about the Muddler Minnow is it's more than just a fly, right?
- Oh, absolutely. It's like this turning point in fly fishing. It really embodies that connection between human ingenuity and nature's design.
- It really does.
- And its impact is still felt.
- Yeah. Like generations later.
- Yeah. I was looking through the Global FlyFisher article you sent over, and there's a picture of an original muddler.
- Right. Tied by Don Gapin himself.
- Wow. And honestly, it looks kind of rough.
- Yeah, yeah. Almost like something, you know, I would tie after a long day on the water.
- Right. Definitely not those polished versions you see today.
- No kidding. It makes you wonder, how could something that simple be so effective?
- That's the beauty of it. That's the real genius behind it.
- Yeah. It's that rough-around-the-edges look. That's actually the key. You know, the Muddler Minnow, it's designed to imitate a sculpin.
- Right. That small, bottom-dwelling fish.
- Yeah. Trout just can't resist them. And those seemingly random clumps of deer hair, they're strategically placed to mimic the sculpin's movements.
- Huh. So Gapin, he wasn't just tying a fly. He was essentially, like, translating the essence of a sculpin into feathers and fur. He was replicating those darting movements, the way they hug the bottom, you know?
- Yeah. All those little details that trigger a trout's predatory instincts.
- It's like he cracked the code.
- He really did. He cracked the code.
- And what's really cool is that, you know, that wasn't the end of the story.
- No. That original muddler, it was just the beginning, right?
- Absolutely. Anglers, like, you know… You know, Dan Bailey.
- Yeah. They took that basic design, and they started experimenting. They made it float better, even tweaked it to imitate grasshoppers.
- That's right. The article from the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum does a great job of showing how Ted Patlen - I think I'm saying his name right?
- Yeah.
- Meticulously recreated some of those early variations.
- Amazing.
- And it really highlights how much thought went into each iteration.
- Absolutely.
- Yeah. It makes you appreciate that this one fly, designed what, almost a century ago now?
- Crazy, right?
- It spawned countless variations and adaptations.
- It did. Each one like a testament to the creativity and the ingenuity of anglers.
- Absolutely. And what's really remarkable is that, like, each variation tells a story.
- It does.
- Not just about the fly itself. It's about the evolution of fly fishing.
- Yeah. Like, as a whole.
- Yeah. It makes you wonder, what other flies in your box have these, like, hidden stories? These journeys of innovation and adaptation.
- Right.
- Right. And we'll dive a little more into that later. Speaking of hidden stories, you know that Global Fly Fisher article?
- Mm-hmm.
- It mentioned that Don Gapen's family...
- Yeah.
- They actually still run a tackle company.
- No kidding.
- To this day.
- Wow. Can you imagine that?
- That's amazing. Buying a Muddler Minnow tied by someone...
- Yeah.
- ...directly descended from the man who created it. It's incredible. It just brings it all to life, you know?
- It really does. This history behind this, like, seemingly simple, simple lure.
- Yeah. But as you were alluding to earlier, the Muddler Minnow's impact, it goes way beyond family businesses.
- Absolutely. Personal legacies.
- It really does.
- It's not just about one family or one company.
- Right. The muddler minnow's reach, it extends so far beyond that.
- It does. It's become this iconic symbol in the fly fishing community.
- Yeah. Like, a testament to the power of innovation and collaboration.
- Oh, absolutely. Think about it.
- This one fly...
- Yeah.
- It's inspired countless anglers to experiment, to push the boundaries of fly tying.
- Right. And to share that knowledge with others.
- It's true. And that's, I think that's really at the heart of what makes this fly so special.
- Yeah. It's not just a tool for catching fish.
- No. It's a catalyst for creativity and connection.
- Yeah, that's true. You know, like a shared language.
- It is.
- That unites anglers across, like, generations.
- Absolutely. Continents, even.
- Yeah. You know, I remember when I first started tying my own flies, I was immediately drawn to the muddler minnow.
- Right. Just because of its reputation.
- Sure. For effectiveness.
- Yeah. But what I discovered, it went way beyond, you know, just catching fish.
- Right. I found myself getting lost in the process, experimenting with different materials, trying to perfect those deer hair wings.
- Oh, yeah.
- And ultimately, like, putting my own spin on this classic design.
- Absolutely. And in doing so, I felt this, like, incredible connection to all the generations of anglers who came before me, who had also, like, poured their creativity, their passion into this one iconic fly.
- That's it, yeah. And it's that shared experience, I don't know, that sense of lineage that elevates the muddler minnow from, you know, a simple lure to something truly special.
- Yeah. It represents, you know, the spirit… The spirit of exploration.
- Yeah. Adaptation.
- Absolutely. And, like, this never-ending pursuit of fly fishing mastery.
- I love that. It really makes you think, you know.
- It does. How something as, like, seemingly simple as a fishing fly can hold so much, like, history. So much shared experience.
- Yeah. It's kind of wild when you think about it.
- It is. We approach these classic flies with a certain reverence, right?
- Yeah. But the muddler minnow, it reminds us...
- It does.
- ...that even the most celebrated patterns...
- Absolutely.
- ...they have a story.
- Yeah. A journey of evolution and refinement.
- That's right. And I think that's something we, as anglers, we often kind of overlook.
- Yeah, we do.
- You mentioned the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum earlier. That article really got me thinking about all the other flies, like, in my box, each one, with its own origin story, its own kind of lineage of innovation.
- That's it. What we see as a modern fly today might be rooted in techniques and traditions from, you know, decades past.
- Absolutely. It's an invitation, isn't it?
- It is. To dig a little deeper.
- Yeah. To go beyond just, you know, tying and fishing a fly, to really understand its context, its place in this, like, grand tapestry.
- It is.
- It's a tapestry.
- Of fly fishing history.
- It really is. And I think that exploration, that pursuit of knowledge, it can only deepen our appreciation.
- It does.
- For the art and the craft of fly tying.
- I completely agree. Absolutely.
- It's like we're uncovering these, like, hidden connections, tracing the threads of inspiration.
- Yeah.
- That run through generations of anglers.
- Exactly. And who knows?
- Yeah.
- We might even find that our own fly boxes hold hidden gems.
- Absolutely.
- With, you know, surprising stories to tell.
- Absolutely. It never ends.
- You know, it's funny. Every time I think I've got a handle on this whole fly fishing thing...
- Right.
- I stumble upon something new.
- Always something.
- Some, like, fascinating detail.
- Yeah.
- Yeah. That just rekindles that sense of wonder.
- Mm-hmm. And that's the magic of a deep dive like this.
- It is. It really is.
- It's not just about learning about a specific fly.
- Yeah.
- It's about reigniting that passion for exploration, for pushing the boundaries of our understanding.
- Yeah. And just our appreciation for this sport that we love.
- Right. And ultimately, that's the enduring legacy of the muddler minnow.
- Absolutely. It's a fly that not only catches fish...
- Yeah.
- It sparks curiosity.
- Mm-hmm.
- It encourages experimentation.
- Mm-hmm.
- And it reminds us that even in a pursuit as timeless as angling, there's always room for discovery.
- Always.
- For innovation.
- Yeah.
- And for connecting with this incredible community...
- Mm-hmm.
- ...that shares our passion.
- It's a good community.
- It is. It is. It is.
Read more about why you should register.
More content from the front page
Since you got this far …
The GFF money box
… I have a small favor to ask.
Long story short
Support the Global FlyFisher through several different channels, including PayPal.
Long story longer
The Global FlyFisher has been online since the mid-90's and has been free to access for everybody since day one – and will stay free for as long as I run it.
But that doesn't mean that it's free to run.
It costs money to drive a large site like this.
See more details about what you can do to help in this blog post.
