Cloudy, cold, with a chance of BWO

This isn't June or July. It's not 90 degrees. This is the fall and the mayfllies are small.

We had about 24 hours of snowfall and most of it has melted. We have a good chance of SNOW again in a couple days, bringing a probability of BWO. (Blue Wing Olive for the non-fly fisherpeople.) I won't bore you with details of bug hatches, but just know that temperature and weather conditions affect the life cycle of the bugs that trout eat.

During the snowfall, another camper here saw me out on a walk (yes, in the snow) and asked me to come see the river boiling with fish. He didn't understand what was happening below the water's surface and I tried to explain that the sudden change in weather had prompted the BWO's to hatch and the fish were going a little crazy. When the fish are on a specific bug the fishing can be terribly challenging. The fish key in on a certain insect and you better have what they want, be it larvae, pupae, emerger, or adult.

In the morning there is a lot of white foam on the water, like an unmixed cafe latte with lots of whipped cream. It's been tricos and midges on the menu for the past couple weeks, with a few sulphur mayflies sprinkled on top like cinnamon. The white foam makes it almost impossible to see your fly floating on the surface. But somehow the trout can absolutely, positively make out the REAL flies from the REEL flies.

These photos were taken prior to the snow storm.