The Perfect Storm

As many of you may know, the Snake River does not typically produce very prolific insect hatches in August. The weather is usually hot, clear and dry which is not very favorable to thick bug activity. A running joke between my guiding buddy Chris Stump and I goes something like this: "Hey Mark", says Chris at the takeout, "did you see that PMD near the Miracle Bank today at about 1:30?". Such is the case most days during late July and August. Once in awhile, we get lucky. The perfect storm of conditions takes place to change all of this. When the correct combination of temperature, light and moisture come together at the end of August or early September, the Snake can produce a blanket hatch. It happened today. I had my best day of the summer guiding on the Snake today under these conditions. We awoke today to thick cloud cover and light rain. The temps never got out of the low 50's on the water. No one was on the river...it was deserted.
My good friend and client Denny Cobb, of Virginia Beach, VA, and I put on today at Moose with high expectations, and they were all met. Fish were all over attractors right from the beginning, and by late morning, a thick hatch of Mahoganies and Drakes were pouring off everywhere. The hatch lasted all the way to the Wilson Bridge this evening. The river literally came uncorked; fish were feeding everywhere. Days like this on the Snake can be rare; it fished more like the South Fork, with eager Cutthroat rising to the occasion. The rest of the week looks like it will be warming with plentiful sun...oh well. Keep an eye on the Weather Channel; the next cold front could be your day. Here's a shot of Denny with a nice fish from today. The weather around here started changing on Saturday. I spent most of the day with the kids watching the rain fall, while Rachael spent the day floating the canyon section of the Snake on a ladies outing. Here's a nice shot of her with a great fish. More soon!