My own recreated version of this vintage fly pattern ...... Info of this pattern : The Ripogenus Smelt was originated by Eddie Rief, of Bangor, Maine. He tied this fly to represent the smelt that were often flushed into the West Branch of the Penobscot through the McKay Power Station turbines. The smelt came out of Ripogenus Lake and frequently were stunned or dead after going through the power station. I remember camping on the shores of the Big Eddy and seeing thousands of dead smelt washed up on the shore in the morning. Eddie tied this fly with two blue and two grizzly saddle hackles for the wings to give it the bluish tint that was common to the natural smelt in the area. During times when the smelt were floating in the river, stunned, the most effective way of fishing the fly was to cast upstream, like a dry fly, and dead drift it, twitching it from time to time. This frequently generated some very hard strikes. The fly is very effective fished in the traditional manner and I have used it with great success through the Northeast.