Good post Deeter. That is funny you bring this up bc I was actually out training my dog on Saturday out in Parker, Co on some ranch land. There were hoppers everywhere...thousands of them...way more than usual and earlier than usual too. Cant wait til that hits the rivers!!

Kirk, I'm excited for this as well, but not for the trout. The carp are not going to know what hit them this year. I'll be boasting some outstanding numbers this year.

That is one thing we do not have in Ohio. Good hopper fishing. I love the way trout explode out of the water for a hopper. All of that extra protein in the water is going to make for some heavy fish.

Confucius say: "One man's misery is another man's fortune." young Grasshopper. Yeah I know… a really lame "Kung Fu" reference. It is unfortunate for the farmers, but that is the natural ebb and flow of this Earth.

We witnessed our first "Sagebrush Squadron" of hoppers over the weekend. It seems they are here (upper desert, Reno) earlier than most other spots across the country. Dirt Brown thorax/wings with red under the wings, 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 inches of fish food! The current 83 degree days bring them to the river (The Truckee).

Now the ethical dilemma: do I send my kid upstream to run around near the stream bank and chum the water with fat, struggling hoppers?

Send the kiddos playing near the bank upstream to kick some hoppers in the river, while he takes advantage of the results of his kids playing and fishes the "hatch" downstream.

OK, I confess: as a guide, I've done it.

Picture a doddering old client, a nice guy whose physical disabilities prevent him from catching many fish. He's at the point in his life where he doesn't see too well anymore; can't cast too well either, and he's slow to set the hook.

But today, the fish are really ON, and looking up for hoppers. So I excuse myself: "I'll be right back - gotta take a piss." I climb up the cut bank, and casually amble upstream, through the knee high grass, while the client continues to fish. The wind is perfect, blowing cross-current to the river. The hoppers start to fly: splat, splat - they begin to fall in the water...Then from downstream I hear, "Whoa! I GOT ONE! Hey, it's a nice one, too!"

Sometimes, you do what you gotta do...

Big Mike we will have enough water in July.

To further my thinking, and it is my opinion of course, fish take the hopper, not caring if it is a hopper, it is just a big, lots of calories meal, at a time when there are few other available insects. Most of the hatches have concluded, but for a few, come late July and Aug., and it is opportunity as a big morsel comes floating down a grassy bank. I do well at that time on big Stimulators. Do fish think it is a grasshopper? i don't think the fish care.