Awesome August

Emily with a nice one from the Clark Fork.

Gary with a slob of an August Bitterroot brown taken on a hopper.

August is not usually one of my favorite months, regardless of the fact that it's my birthday month. You've got to be born some month of the year, and that has no bearing on whether that month sucks or not. True, some people probably love August. Sunshine, heat, summer vacation, yadda yadda. But for a western-Montana-landlocked fly fishing guide, August is traditionally a bummer. It's hot. It's windy. It's smoky. The rivers are low and the fish are wary. Hunting seasons aren't open yet, fall hatches haven't begun yet, and most of my days are spent babysitting tourists who should've picked a better time of year to come fishing in Montana. August can be pretty lame.

But, as with most things in life, there are no hard and fast rules to August's suckiness (not a word, I'm aware), and this August was exceptional. Unseasonably cool, wet weather made for excellent fishing conditions, kept the wildfire season at bay (my firefighting friends are gritting their teeth on that one), and for all practical purposes set us up for a productive and enjoyable late-summer/fall season. Continued good hatches of PMDs and caddis have kept the fish looking up, and we've had some explosive hopper fishing in the past few weeks. My clients by-and-large have been tremendous folks to spend time on the water with, and I'm feeling very blessed by August this year. Now let's get on with September!!