See Ya Next Year Hoppers

Happy Hoppers

What a great hopper season! All over the west reports of the jumping insects made trout go bonkers for a twitching meal on the surface. I feel like the last few years hopper fishing and reports were so-so, but this year was an exception. I'm no entomologist, but I'm guessing with the amount of precipitation we had earlier this year created a lot of vegetation around the region which fueled the growth of grasshopper populations.

I know over in the Bozeman area my uncle reported crazy amounts of hoppers and by the number of large hopper eating fish that showed up on my Instagram feed I'd suspect those reports were pretty accurate. Our trip on the Beaverhead had some great moments of hopper dry fly fishing as well, the brown trout photo below was from the Beaverhead.

At any rate, the cold front coming in will more than likely put an end to the great season. Most folks have already been making the transition to smaller mayflies like mahoganies and bwo's, but for many like myself who enjoy throwing foam rubber legged patterns we will have to wait until next season. Let's hope 2020 is a repeat!