I've gotten several questions whether the huge steelhead counts at Bonneville are for real. Short answer, Yes!

They are mind boggling. Between Aug. 11 and Aug. 16 there were 145,785 steelhead that crossed Bonneville, including 34,000 fish in a single day on Aug. 12. To put that in perspective, last year's run over Bonnevilee was 358,000 steelhead, and this year's run is about 125,000 fish over the 10-year average for Aug. 16.

I've been trying to get a photo of two young foxes in the neighborhood all summer. Finally, last night one of them stood still enough for a cool photo.

When it comes to wildlife photography, it seems like you have to live with your camera 24/7.

We just posted a video on the Selway River at low water.

It's a beautiful river no matter what the season. Check it out here

Salmon/steelhead guru Sharon Kiefer at Fish and Game shot me an e-mail to confirm that on Tuesday 18,671 steelhead crossed Bonneville Dam, and 8,229 crossed on Monday. That's a two-day total of 26,900 fish. No numbers were available for Wednesday. Maybe the counters' fingers were too sore after Tuesday's flood of steelhead.

That brings this year's total to 191,212, which is more than 23,000 above the 10-year average of 167,718 for this date.

About 300 per day are crossing Lower Granite, but that number should start creeping up if the weather stays reasonably cool.

Last year when I did the low and rocky Selway in August in a pair of flimsy river shoes, I vowed I’d get something tougher for river footwear for this summer's trip.

I picked the NRS Workboot.

This August on the Selway, scrambling on boulders and wading and walking on the rocky river bottom, proved a lot easier with the sturdy synthetic leather and 5-mm neoprene boots.

I was excited to see several days of 8,000-plus steelhead going over Bonneville Dam, and then I checked this morning and saw more than 18,000 crossed on Tuesday. That's about three times the number that normally crosses daily during peak of the run.

I admit that "Holy smoke" were not my exact words, but it's a PG-rated blog so I better not use my actual quote. I am getting fired up about the steelhead season, and that just kicked in the afterburners.

It could be a case of twitchy thumbs by the dam counters or a typo entering the info, but I am still hopeful.

If you're a new whitewater boater or a veteran, there's a safety clinic planned Aug. 15 on the Main Payette River by the Idaho Whitewater Association.

In light of the recent deaths on the North and the South forks of the Payette River this summer, the safety clinic is a good way to brush up on river-rescue techniques and general river safety. New whitewater boaters should definitely check out the clinic and participate in the activities.

I think this pretty much speaks for itself. This is from Fish and Game: A Boise man has been convicted of illegally guiding anglers on one of Idaho’s premier trout fishing rivers, the South Fork of the Boise River.

Christopher R. Bentley, 26, was cited for guiding without a valid license and for fishing with a barbed fly. Advertising his illegal guiding services on Craig’s List proved to be Bentley’s undoing.

Idaho Rivers United is sponsoring a Boise River cleanup and Wild Rivers Party Aug. 13.

The cleanup is from 3 to 6 p.m. with the party going from 6 to 8 p.m.

The cleanup will be from Lucky Peak to Barber Park. That's a good idea. This section of the river doesn't get that much attention. Most cleanups are from Barber Park downstream.

The Selway River was pretty low the first weekend of August when the permit season ended and anyone could jump on the river.

We launched Aug. 3 when it was between .8 and .9 feet, which was lower than last year when we launched in August. It was about one foot.

The number of people launching Aug. 1 was also down because of the low water.