Summer Heat
9/13/2022
It was the first Summer in Wyoming... At least, the first Summer I've spent the majority of my time there. There have been many things I have learned: The snow melt does not end until the snow is gone from Cody Bowl. The Snake River looks like a chocolate milkshake during the snow melt. The tributaries are not much better. The weather is much cooler than Oklahoma. The highs in the mid-seventies in June are drastically different.
Then July arrived, and it got “hot”. In Wyoming “hot” is 86 degrees. Still much better that the 103 that greeted me at the Oklahoma City airport when I returned home. After suffering with the rest of Oklahoma for a couple of weeks I returned for another short stay in Wyoming.
This time the Snake River had cleared up, and the fishing was on.
My fishing partner, David, is the best angler I know. He has just moved to Jackson to teach middle school and is super excited to be live here full time. He is a better angler than I am hands down. I look forward to tagging along and learn a great deal from him. That happened again this Summer.
I learned quickly the trout do not like the heat Wyoming experienced in July/August. The heat is dangerous for the trout when the water temperatures get over 65 degrees. Since water temperatures were close to that on many days, and the fishing was subpar.
However there were also great days. One of those days was on the drift boat with our favorite guide Walt. I fell in the river trying to retrieve a fly that I landed on a log. It was an early morning splash, that along with the caffeine, that woke me up! We must have caught more than 60 fish that day. There were lots of “measurable” fish over 16 inches. A great day!
Most of the days were slow. Often catching only a few fish, well below the normal daily catches of the last decade. It was just the way it was this Summer.
There will be another Summer, a cooler summer. There will be more fish to catch. Despite the setbacks, I never once thought of quitting fishing. And that is where I see connection to the market.
It has been a challenging year for the financial markets. It happens from time to time. As we look forward, better times will return. The Federal Reserve will eventually get the inflation under control. I believe it is happening at a very rapid pace as I write this. We are getting closer to the end of the rate hikes. The market will begin to look through the slowdown, to see the recovery. Next year looks good in my opinion, for fishing and the market.
Temperatures return to normal. Fishing is going to be great again. The interest rates level off, and inflation fades. The economy returns to a more normal cycle.
Enjoy the day…r2