Wyo-Braska Waterfowl: Caelifera in the order Orthoptera...The Hoppers are coming!

The hoppers are two to three weeks away. The cool wet weather this spring and early summer has slowed their development. Around my house (half mile from the river) the hoppers are flying . Nearer the river most hoppers are still less than an inch in length. As the vegetation away from the river dries, they will move to the green vegetation on the river banks. And then the dinner bell will be ringing.

Last Thursday evening, Seth Kapust (lead guide at North Platte Lodge), my Dad (Michael), and I did a dry fly recon on the upper section of the Reef. We had ten takes, two get-aways and four fish to the net. My Dad got his nymph rod out and in 15 minutes he had 5 hookups with 3 fish to the net. Not bad for one arm. The fish are stacked on the banks right now. The rumor from the river keeper is they will drop the river to around 4800 cfs the first of August. That will be perfect as that should coincide with hoppers on the wing. This will be more fun than Harry Reid and Nancy Chemical Peel at a Snoop Dog concert!

Molly Update

Molly continues to make amazing progress. We are doing long (300 + yard) marked triple retrieves. She is learning hand signals now. I started her on hand signal backs last week. We trained last night at Pathfinder Ranch. I set up a 300 yard marked single retrieve with a 50 yard blind off the line of the marked. I sent Molly on the marked retrieve line. When she was 150 yards out, I hit her with the whistle. She stopped immediately and turned to face me. I gave her a left-over toward the blind. She took the cast perfectly and winded the blind. She delivered it to hand. I then sent her on the long mark. Proud Daddy. Still long way to go but she will definitely get some playing time in the upcoming season.