Shades of '07 ...

[JohnScott]

... in the Intermountain West and Northern Rockies ??

'07 was a brutal year for fishes and fisheries in this neck of the woods. It got hot in the early Spring and just got hotter and hotter throughout the summer. And it was dry from March on.

By early July '07 streamflows were typically 60% or less of the long term averages / norms / means / medians whichever term you want to use. And the water temps were way up.

The best example I know of personally of just how brutal '07 was is a small river in the Lemhi Mountains of Idaho. It was one of the finest small stream wild trout fisheries in the eastern part of the state. It offered a great variety of water and conditions from its alpine headwaters at about 7700' elevation to sage brush and cottonwood lined high desert riparian habitat at about 6000' over about 35 miles of freestone creek.

Rainbows, brook trout, bull trout, and a few cuttbows although there didn't seem to be any cutthroats at all in the crick - all wild, ranging in size from 5-6" brookies to 16-17" rainbows depending which section of the river you were on. In a long day, you could fish the Alpine stretch, the Meadow stretch, and the Desert stretch and hook up thirty, forty, fifty fat, healthy, feisty fishies.

This little river hadn't been stocked by Idaho Fish and Game for 24 years.

The summer of '07 decimated it. In '08 the one time I fished it all the smaller bull trout were gone, all the brookies were gone, and the rainbows were typically bland 10-12" rainbows rather than beautiful wild bows ranging from 6" to 17". Idaho Fish and Game did their thing to maintain something of a fishery planting triploid rainbows while the wild fishery recovered. I never went back.

I was looking at streamflows for much of Idaho and Western Montana this morning. Lots of cricks are running at less than 60% of the long term averages. And with virtually no snow left to run off, the streams and rivers are now being fed only by groundwater. Throw in the current heat wave and the longer term forecast for higher than average temps and lower than average precipitation over the next three months, and it is downright scary.

In '07, I stopped fishing from mid July through mid September. I don't know that I will do that this year, but it is weighing on my mind.

If I do continue to fish over this summer, it will be "playing tag". It is an approach that I encourage others to seriously consider over the next couple months. For more about it, follow the link.

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/s...95-Playing-Tag-...

John

[John Rhoades]

We are at just about 50% of the normal waterflow for the upper Yellowstone River for this time of year. And, the water temperature has been in the mid to upper 60s for the past couple of days. With even warmer days ahead, and with the water levels now decreasing daily, this certainly does not bode well for near term here as well.

[sagefisher]

I just spent 3 days on the Missouri River near Cascade and the water is very low, less than half what it should be. The river is controlled by a series of dams but there is a reason they are not releasing more water. The weed beds are growing thick and there were many places we scrapped the barnacles off the bottom of the drift boat. By the way, I did catch some nice fish but not as many as usual.

The Clark Fork River is running at 65% of normal. I will be fishing it in a couple of weeks. The water looks good and there is still enough to handle the heat.

Larry ---sagefisher---

[turvy]

I wish I could send you our rain and excess water your way!!The Upper Iowa River that borders Iowa and Minnesota has been in a flood stage for the past two plus months. If the water isn't out of its banks it is still running very hard and very dirty. The ground is saturated so now even something just over an inch of rain means another 7-10 days of no fishing. I haven't had a serious day of fishing on the river yet this year.

[CaseyP]

JohnScott, you're on! When we go west in Sept, if we are allowed on the rivers at all (remember in '07, Yellowstone closed all streams after 1:00 PM and some completely?) it will be hookless flies for me. No photos, no dirty hands, no smushy flies, just the purest of "Ha, ha! Fooled you!"

Can't wait!

Turvey, we've had almost 4 inches of rain in a week...would someone please call UPS and arrange shipment to the West?

[Uncle Jesse]

I heard in a weather report last week we have received more rain the first 6 month of 2013 than in all of 2012. I full expect rain again today, it's been raining all around me all afternoon. It's like you hear all about the declining glacier in the Artic but not much about the increasing glacier in Antarctica, weather is definitely cyclical.

[Poke 'Em]

Fortunately I largely fish places where even with the lowest of water and the hottest of days, the water temperature barely gets into the 50's. The water's low, sure, but it's still cold and there's still enough of it for the fish to be alright.