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As we wind down the summer and plummet headlong into harvest season I reflect that this has been another strange season in Southern Colorado, but then when do we ever have a "normal" season anymore? The Rio Grande and Conejos rivers peaked almost a month early on the 8th of May, and then settled in to a long runoff, with good flows, sometimes augmented with reservoir releases continuing until around the first of August. We had some unusual rains in May and June, but when it turned off dry, it got real dry. The early runoff may have been caused by high levels of dust on the snowpack. A fellow by the name of Chris Landry has been studying that effect over in Silverton for the past few years. If he is correct in his hypotheses we will be seeing earlier runoff become the norm. I also wonder what effect the pine beetle is having on the amount and timing of river flows. Some areas in the headwaters have been hard hit and the trees will not only not be using water, they won't hold the snow up off the ground. It is highly likely that this will change how the rivers come out. Down here in the Valley we have already had four light frosts in the month of August, so much for global warming! It has burnt the tops of sensitive plants and my potato crop but not gotten cold enough to kill anything. In 35 years of farming I have never seen an August with so much freezing weather. Don't know if it has to do with humidity, or the lack thereof, or just abnormally cold. The flows on the Rio right now are at levels that are expected in September and October, some were worried that the combination of heat and low flows might impact the fish. It has cooled off now and we are getting some rain, so I expect the fish to be ok. We didn't have any grasshoppers to speak of along the river this year, don't know what's up with that, maybe some entymologist can explain what affects their propagation. Anyway, it sure eliminated the August hatch not to have hoppers,the fish seem to be generally lacking enthusiasm in eating. Good fishing to all during the Brown spawn , enjoy the changing of the colors, and get out and enjoy it, winter is just around the corner., Ray