Greetings from the Canyon! What a month August has been. We’ve seen a full lodge for most of it, with very little time in between groups to take a breather. It has been a whirlwind, but man has it been a blast. We’ve been able to catch up with old friends this month, and made plenty of new ones as well. Becky debuted a new dessert this month and brought back bison burger night, which is definitely a lodge favorite. We have made some changes around the lodge as of late. The fly shop has been improved with some new furniture, new gear for sale, and a new fly tying area. It’s become the main hangout spot in the mornings. We also installed a kegerator in the lodge, which has been getting some reps in the last couple of weeks. It has a local golden ale brewed in Helena on tap. We did a blind tasting with a group staying with us a month ago, and it was the winner. Oh, we also have done some fishing lately. And it has been pretty damn good.

This August was definitely headlined by the Trico hatch. As consistent as ever, and long lasting, there have been Trico dry fly opportunities virtually every morning this month. While fish eating Tricos are tough to crack, we’ve seen lots of fish hit the net throwing the little bugs on top.

Troy with a great rainbow caught on a size 20 Trico pattern.

The best days for this type of action have been the hottest temperature days, especially if it heats up early in the morning. Grasshopper patterns in the afternoons have led to some really nice fish being caught.

While I wouldn't describe this particular month as a banner hopper month, there have been some days it has been lights out. Even if you don’t get a bunch of eats on hoppers, it just takes one huge Brown to take a look to make it worth it.

Nymphing has been pretty great lately. We don’t nymph much this time of year because the dry fly fishing is in full swing, but the days we’ve thrown the bobbers have been pretty action packed. Streamer fishing. Man, I love streamer fishing. If you get cloudy or rainy days this time of year, the streamer action can get crazy. And we’ve had a couple days like that as of late. I go crazy for the streamer action this time of year because you’re stripping bright patterns quickly, so you see lots of fish follow your fly, and you see most of the eats you get. It’s so much fun to watch a Brown follow your bug 30 feet before it decides to inhale it.

Some miscellaneous thoughts I’ve had as of late:

Hatches: The Trico hatch started about a week early this year, which we figured would make it end earlier. This has not been the case. We are still seeing some really good hatches of Tricos in the morning as we approach September. It’s been cool to see the hatch stick around this long, as last year wasn’t a super prolific year for Tricos. On the flip side, we didn’t see the caddis numbers in June and July like we did last year. Last year was one of the best caddis years I’ve seen, and this year was fairly lackluster. More Tricos = Less Caddis, More Caddis = Less Tricos. However, we’re starting to see the fall caddis pop up lately, which is a good sign.

Hoppers: Hoppers were fishing great later in July, and not as great in August. Theories have been arising as to why. Rain is a big factor. We’ve had consistent shots of rain about every week, which has been awesome. Everything has been really green and lush which makes for a gorgeous setting on the river. This greenery probably hinders hopper fishing. The best hopper seasons have been the seasons when it's really dry in the late summer. These dry spells dry out most of the grass, which leaves the grass on the river bank being some of the only healthy green grass left, which bottlenecks most of the grasshoppers to the riverbank. I still think hoppers have been worth throwing, and that style of fishing will just improve as we head into September and the natural grasshoppers grow and become larger meals for the trout.

Fish Size: Fish are big this year. The average fish seems bigger, and the big fish are definitely bigger. Over the last month, we’ve seen a crop of Brown Trout that are just gnarly. Lots of fish over 20. A handful in the 2 foot range. Some have been a little bigger. I have not seen this many fish this big over my whole guiding career. I am so grateful to be able to experience this fishery in the capacity that I do. Every day I walk away in awe of what this resource is.

I love this time of year. Everything is so visual. The Trico sips, the Hopper explosions, the streamer follows; the images you see on the water stick with you. A good friend of ours that was here this month, Rhea, said it best after dinner one night. “When I close my eyes, I see rising fish.” August is a month for the visuals. One more quick sidebar. I had a married couple last week that had never fished before. We had a great day nymphing at the dam, with lots of bent rods, a couple bent hooks, and a few break offs. Towards the end of the day, the wife hooked a 15 inch rainbow on a nymph rig. I was coaching her on how to fight it, and she said “Oh don’t worry, it’s just a little guy.” She called a 15 inch rainbow a “little guy.” I was a little taken aback at first but then I thought about it. This river ruins you. How spoiled are we when that is what a new angler calls a “little guy”? Anyways. We’re coming into the early fall soon, which makes us look forward to the next season. We are booking for the 2026 season, and we already have a decent amount of returners on the calendar from this year. If you’re looking at specific dates or times of year, now's the time to reach out. If you have any questions, or just want to talk fishing, give us a shout. We’ll see ya when you get here!

End of August River Update

Dry or Die: Late July River Update