August Half Over?

This summer has been flying by for me faster than any other that I can remember! It might have something to do with the fact that we had rain and snow well into June; being busy guiding with two young kids at home is probably adding fuel to this fire. Just this past week, we had two days that struggled to get out of the high 60's. With some breeze on the river, it really felt like fall had already arrived. I sure hope we have a long, dry fall season. Fortunately, it's warmed up a little this weekend. Temps are in the high 70's and skies are very bright. The Snake River continues to drop, with levels just above 1,700 cfs at Moose. Some of my favorite side channels are now almost too low to float. Fish are really concentrating in their holes and looking up, as the main channel continues to fish well. This is also a great time to be fishing the local tributaries. Don't miss the Gros Ventre, Hoback or the Grey's right now...they are prime. The girls and I hit the Gros Ventre and Granite Creek this weekend and it was great. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has been making a great effort this summer with their Aquatic Nuisance Species checkpoint station just north of the Airport in Teton Park. All watercraft are required to stop here on their way to any of the rivers or lakes in the parks. Their goal is not to ticket people as much as it is for education. Cleaning boats and intakes on motorized boats can help reduce the chance of bringing invasive species into our local waters; pulling in to get checked only takes a few minutes. I chatted with one of the officials there the other morning and they have already found some potential aquatic "hitchhikers" being transported from our neighbors to the south into our local waters in the past few weeks. Good work! If you are hitting local waters and have not registered your boat yet with an ANS sticker, visit the Fish and Game office on the way out of town and pick one up. Here are a few fresh pictures of summer in Jackson Hole. Me and Charlotte on Granite Creek; Sam Lightner with a great fish last Friday on the Snake; Stan Czarniak displaying a very tight line on a Yellowstone backcountry stream. More soon...