SWALLOWS OUT IN FORCE
Rivers Low & Clearing
rain and snow in the forecast
Rivers Low & Clearing
rain and snow in the forecast

.. Trout were rising in mid-stream and smolts were leaping with loud splashing re-entries.
.. Only a deluge of Biblical proportions will put this out of shape in the next week. The elk and bison are already scarce, probably moving to higher ground.
--------------
.. The Gibbon River in National Park Meadows is not anywhere near bank-full and is flowing at about 150 fps, nearly 200 fps below the mean seasonal statistic. It looks sad and lonely with neither swallows nor large game in the meadows.--------------
..The grass in the meadows along the Firehole River is very short and already turning brown as shown in the masthead photo. There are simply hoards of midges, and even some caddis.
.. There were some Baetis in the foam around the Freight Road Bridge where the swallows were working. There were no bison on Fountain Flat between Nez Perce Creek and Fountain Ridge.
--------------
.. The areas, both up- & down-stream from the bridge, are also closed due to bear activity.
.. Hotel Run has fish rising to something small - maybe this is the famous Pygmy-Midge hatch. We saw neither swallows nor bugs of any sort - left our glasses at the pub.
.. There was a brief shower in West Yellowstone on Sunday evening. It made the dusty cars muddy, it concentrated the early pine pollen in the curbside ditches, and did very little to cool off the too warm evening. The weather pattern and the showers look a lot like Summer. This coming week will determine just how the opener goes.