Dan Bailey
Encyclopedia
Dan Bailey was a fly-shop
owner, innovative fly
developer and staunch Western conservationist. Born on a farm near Russellville, Kentucky
, Bailey is best known for the fly shop he established in Livingston, Montana
in 1938. Dan Bailey's Fly Shop is still in business today, operated by his son John at 209 West Park Street.
in 1926 and earned a masters degree in physics from the University of Kentucky
. He was a teacher in Missouri
when he became interested in fly fishing. His next job brought him to Lehigh University
where he was able to pursue trout fishing in the central Pennsylvania chalkstreams. In 1929 while teaching at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute he pursued a Ph.D. in Physics from New York University
.
While Bailey was in New York, he met and befriended Lee Wulff, another notable fly fisherman. They fished the waters of the Catskills and Adirondacks together and Bailey eventually named a popular series of flies designed by Lee Wulff after him. Bailey learned fly tying
while in New York and started teaching classes and selling flies to supplement his income. John McDonald, a noted fly fishing scholar was an early student of Bailey's and became a lifetime friend.
In 1936, Dan Bailey married Helen Hesslein, a nurse and acquaintance of one of his fly tying pupils. They honeymooned on an extended camping and fishing trip in Montana and Wyoming accompanied by his friend and fellow fly fisherman, Preston Jennings, noted author of A Book of Trout Flies. It was during this trip that Dan and Helen began making plans to permanently settle in Montana.
In the summer of 1938, Dan Bailey abandoned his physics education to move West to settle in Montana. The original plan was to settle in Bozeman, Montana
but a minor accident with their car going up the east side of Bozeman Pass
just west of Livingston forced them back to that town instead. They decided to stay in Livingston and open their fly tying business there instead.
The original fly shop was established in the old Albermarle Hotel at 103 W Park Street along with a small shooting gallery
. The Baileys lived in a back room and the rent was $25 a month. Because there was limited opportunity for local fly business, Dan Bailey's became primarily a mail order fly shop and outfitter for visiting anglers. Dan Bailey produced his first mail order catalog in 1941—standard dry flies were $2.50 per dozen. In 1981, the year before Dan's passing, Dan Bailey's Fly Shop was the largest manufacturer of artificial flies in the United States producing over 750,000 flies annually for wholesale and retail customers. The mail order business had over 50,000 subscribers.
A unique aspect of Dan Bailey's Fly Shop was the Wall Fish where anyone who caught a trout of four pounds or more could have the fish outlined on paper with the angler's name, date and place caught. The paper outline would then be hung on the fly shop wall. The first Wall Fish was caught by Gilbert Meloche, a young fly tyer in Dan's shop. The fish was a large Brown trout from Armstrong Spring Creek. By the early 1980s, the wall had over 300 silhouettes of four-pound-plus fish on it. Although the Wall fish practice was stopped when Catch and release
fishing came into vogue, the original Wall fish are still present in the shop today.
with fellow fly shop owner, Bud Lilly of West Yellowstone. Dan Bailey ultimately served more than 10 years on the Trout Unlimited board of directors.
Dan Bailey is best known for his successful two decades of grassroots opposition to the proposed Allen Spur dam project that would have dammed a major portion of the Paradise Valley
and Yellowstone River
south of Livingston.
In a 1959 issue of the Park Country News, Bailey wrote:
Dan Bailey was also a prominent member of the Izaak Walton League
, Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club
, Wilderness Society, and Federation of Fly Fishers
.
After Dan Bailey's passing in 1982, then Governor of Montana, Ted Schwinden
proclaimed August 14, 1982 Dan Bailey Fishing Day to honor his legacy.
Fly fishing
Fly fishing is an angling method in which an artificial 'fly' is used to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. Casting a nearly weightless fly or 'lure' requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting...
owner, innovative fly
Artificial fly
An artificial fly or fly lure is a type of fishing lure, usually used in the sport of fly fishing . In general, artificial flies are the bait which fly fishers present to their target species of fish while fly fishing...
developer and staunch Western conservationist. Born on a farm near Russellville, Kentucky
Russellville, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,149 people, 3,064 households, and 1,973 families residing in the city. The population density was 672.1 people per square mile . There were 3,458 housing units at an average density of 325.1 per square mile...
, Bailey is best known for the fly shop he established in Livingston, Montana
Livingston, Montana
-Geography:Livingston is located at , at an altitude of 4.501 feet .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and 0.38% is waters.-Climate:-Demographics:...
in 1938. Dan Bailey's Fly Shop is still in business today, operated by his son John at 209 West Park Street.
Early life
Dan Bailey graduated from the CitadelCitadel
A citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes incorporating a castle. The term derives from the same Latin root as the word "city", civis, meaning citizen....
in 1926 and earned a masters degree in physics from the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
. He was a teacher in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
when he became interested in fly fishing. His next job brought him to Lehigh University
Lehigh University
Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...
where he was able to pursue trout fishing in the central Pennsylvania chalkstreams. In 1929 while teaching at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute he pursued a Ph.D. in Physics from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
.
While Bailey was in New York, he met and befriended Lee Wulff, another notable fly fisherman. They fished the waters of the Catskills and Adirondacks together and Bailey eventually named a popular series of flies designed by Lee Wulff after him. Bailey learned fly tying
Fly tying
Fly tying is the process of producing an artificial fly to be used by anglers to catch fish via means of fly fishing. Probably the most concise description of fly tying is the one by Helen Shaw, a preeminent American professional fly tyer in Fly-Tying....
while in New York and started teaching classes and selling flies to supplement his income. John McDonald, a noted fly fishing scholar was an early student of Bailey's and became a lifetime friend.
In 1936, Dan Bailey married Helen Hesslein, a nurse and acquaintance of one of his fly tying pupils. They honeymooned on an extended camping and fishing trip in Montana and Wyoming accompanied by his friend and fellow fly fisherman, Preston Jennings, noted author of A Book of Trout Flies. It was during this trip that Dan and Helen began making plans to permanently settle in Montana.
In the summer of 1938, Dan Bailey abandoned his physics education to move West to settle in Montana. The original plan was to settle in Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The 2010 census put Bozeman's population at 37,280 making it the fourth largest city in the state. It is the principal city of the Bozeman micropolitan area, which consists...
but a minor accident with their car going up the east side of Bozeman Pass
Bozeman Pass
Bozeman Pass is a mountain pass situated approximately 13 miles east of the town of Bozeman, Montana and approximately 15 miles west of the town of Livingston, Montana, and between the Bridger and Gallatin mountain ranges....
just west of Livingston forced them back to that town instead. They decided to stay in Livingston and open their fly tying business there instead.
Dan Bailey's Fly Shop
Shooting gallery
A Shooting gallery or Shooting Gallery is a carnival game typically featuring a pellet gun and numerous moving mechanical tracks with small targets worth various minor prizes or points towards a major prize...
. The Baileys lived in a back room and the rent was $25 a month. Because there was limited opportunity for local fly business, Dan Bailey's became primarily a mail order fly shop and outfitter for visiting anglers. Dan Bailey produced his first mail order catalog in 1941—standard dry flies were $2.50 per dozen. In 1981, the year before Dan's passing, Dan Bailey's Fly Shop was the largest manufacturer of artificial flies in the United States producing over 750,000 flies annually for wholesale and retail customers. The mail order business had over 50,000 subscribers.
The Wall Fish
Catch and release
Catch and release is a practice within recreational fishing intended as a technique of conservation. After capture, the fish are unhooked and returned to the water before experiencing serious exhaustion or injury...
fishing came into vogue, the original Wall fish are still present in the shop today.
Innovative Western Fly Tyer
Through his fly shop, mail order business and extensive correspondence and fishing experiences with other famous fly fisherman—Joe Brooks, Lee Wulff, Ray Bergman and Preston Jennings, to name a few, Dan Bailey became known as one of the most innovative fly tiers in the West. Using his knowledge of Eastern fly patterns, Bailey adapted these patterns to his experiences on Montana streams into a wide range of new and innovative fly patterns. A few famous fly patterns credited to Dan Bailey are:- Marabou Muddler -- an evolution of the Muddler MinnowMuddler MinnowThe Muddler Minnow is a popular and versatile artificial fly of the streamer type used in fly fishing and fly tying.-History:The Muddler Minnow was spawned, so to speak, by Don Gapen of Anoka, Minnesota in 1937, to imitate the slimy sculpin. Gapen developed this fly to catch Nipigon strain brook...
introduced in the 1940s and still one of the most popular trout flies on the market today. - Mossback Nymph -- A extremely popular woven stonefly nymph pattern that Bailey introduced in the 1940s.
- Bailey Wulffs-Black, Grizzly, Blond and Brown hair wing dry flies named after Lee Wulff.
- Red Variant -- A 1940s quill bodied may fly imitation adapted from eastern quill bodied flies.
- Green Drake -- A 1950s may fly imitation originally tied for West Yellowstone anglers fishing Henry's Fork in Idaho.
Conservation efforts
Apart from his famous fly shop, Dan Bailey earned respect and reputation for his efforts to protect and preserve Montana's trout streams. In the 1960s he helped establish the first Montana chapter of Trout UnlimitedTrout Unlimited
Trout Unlimited is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of freshwater streams, rivers, and associated upland habitats for trout, salmon, other aquatic species, and people. Often contracted as "TU," the organization began in 1959 in Michigan...
with fellow fly shop owner, Bud Lilly of West Yellowstone. Dan Bailey ultimately served more than 10 years on the Trout Unlimited board of directors.
Dan Bailey is best known for his successful two decades of grassroots opposition to the proposed Allen Spur dam project that would have dammed a major portion of the Paradise Valley
Paradise Valley (Montana)
Paradise Valley is a major river valley of the Yellowstone River in southwestern Montana just north of Yellowstone National Park in Park County, Montana. The valley is flanked by the Absaroka Range on the east and the Gallatin Range on the west....
and Yellowstone River
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, the river and its tributaries drain a wide area stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Yellowstone National...
south of Livingston.
In a 1959 issue of the Park Country News, Bailey wrote:
Recreation is one of the largest industries in Park County. Its value is less tangible than that of other industries which are easily measurable in terms of payroll or gross return. Several years ago the Fish and Wildlife Service estimated the value of the upper Yellowstone watershed at twenty-thousand dollars per mile per year for sport fishing. As the length of the Yellowstone as it twists and turns through Park County is about a hundred miles, the annual value of its fishing would be a hundred times twenty-thousand or two million dollars. The two greatest threats to the fishing resource of the Yellowstone at present are: 1) The possibility of large water developments which could mean much more of a detriment than a benefit to recreation. 2) The possibility of losing access to much of our best fishing water as fishing pressure increases…
Dan Bailey was also a prominent member of the Izaak Walton League
Izaak Walton League
The Izaak Walton League is an American environmental organization founded in 1922 that promotes natural resource protection and outdoor recreation. The organization was founded in Chicago, Illinois by a group of sportsmen who wished to protect fishing opportunities for future generations...
, Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
, Wilderness Society, and Federation of Fly Fishers
Federation of Fly Fishers
The Federation of Fly Fishers is an international 501 non-profit organization headquartered in Livingston, Montana dedicated to the betterment of the sport of fly fishing through Conservation, Restoration and Education...
.
After Dan Bailey's passing in 1982, then Governor of Montana, Ted Schwinden
Ted Schwinden
Theodore "Ted" Schwinden served as the 19th Governor of Montana from 1981 until 1989.Schwinden was Lieutenant Governor under Thomas Judge and defeated his predecessor in the Democratic primary in 1980...
proclaimed August 14, 1982 Dan Bailey Fishing Day to honor his legacy.
WHEREAS, the Montana Fish and Game Commission with sorrow and regret, observes the death of Dan Bailey of Livingston, Montana; and
WHEREAS, Dan's remarkable life includes many significant contributions to the preservation of trout waters, the conservation of trout and the art of angling; and
WHEREAS, the accomplishments of Dan Bailey were of such magnitude that the people of Montana can be assured for generations to come that Montana anglers will have a riffle for their flies, a trout for their efforts and flowing rivers for their souls; and
WHEREAS, the special relationship between Dan Bailey and the Yellowstone River ordains that his spirit will forever dwell in its waters, and that the river will run free as long as anglers share his love and respect for the river.
Now, Therefore I, Ted Schwinden Governor of the State of Montana, do hereby proclaim August 14, 1982 as Dan Bailey Fishing Day in the State of Montana and urge all Montanans on that day to observe the contributions of Dan Bailey that are now recorded and remembered through sparkling riffles, still pools and wild trout.
Ted Schwinden, Governor of Montana
Attest: Jim Waltermire, Secretary of State