Grasshopper Plague Could Mean Spectacular Fishing in Western States This Summer

It seems like ranchers and farmers in the West can't get a break. From drought, to hail, to floods, and fires, they're always dealing with some natural disaster. In 2010, the impending plague involves grasshoppers. Leave it to fly fishers, however, to find a silver lining in all of this. I'm not a grasshopper entomologist, but I think I can safely assume that the swarming insects will flutter en masse into rivers like the Bighorn, the Yellowstone, and The Snake. In other words, the trout don't know it yet, but a veritable smorgasbord of protein is about to rain from the sky. In fact, we're already seeing hoppers popping along some Colorado rivers right now, months earlier than normal. There is nothing I like better than watching the slow, deliberate rise of a trout eating a grasshopper fly...more