The last dose of rain and cool temps has cooled off the rivers and rid us of hoot owl restrictions. With cooler temps the Clark Fork and Blackfoot Have come back to life and are fishing well. Early morning is still the program but the cooler weather is keeping afternoon water temps in check. We should have smooth sailing for the remainder of the season.

The kiddos are all heading back to school and hunting seasons will start opening up Sept 1 – a little down turn in the traffic on the rivers is in the near future. We are are all-ready noticing and it’s nice! We are finally coasting on the down slope of summer as we head into fall and looking forward to it!

With cooler temps in the coming weeks keep an eye out for the arrival of the hecuba(fall drake). It will start showing in late August and is a great bug to throw at weary trout that have seen every style and color of foam hopper for the last month. There doesn’t need to be many and there usually isn’t.

Hoppers, ants, & beetles are still the main stay for late summer dry fly fishing but don’t forget to mix in some big parachutes, cripples, or sparkle duns as we inch towards September. Fall caddis and mahogany duns are also around the corner.

The smoke has thinned out and air quality has been good. Hopefully the rain in the forecast will continue this tend.

Jason Lanier
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