Page 119 - North 40 Outfitters

In episode 19 of #AskNorth40, Zach playfully makes a joke about the sizes of firearms. The joke plays out like that line from the 1986 Crocodile Dundee movie. A man pulls out a small knife, or in this case Zach pulls out a small firearm and is asked, "Is this a gun?" Zach then sets the small firearm on the counter and pulls out a much, much larger firearm from behind his back. He shakes his head and responds, "no, no buddy this is a gun." Read more about guns and ammunition here. Joking aside, when we spoke with Zach regarding this, he suggested that there are three things women need to consider when looking to buy a firearm. The first of which is size, (insert Crocodile Dundee joke here). Concealed Handguns for Women: Size Matters Number One. Zach states that smaller firearms are actually more difficult to operate. Smaller firearms ...

I spent some time on the Missouri last week. Nice would be an understatement. I watched this brown trout swim around what I assume is his home pool while I drank coffee. When I returned from fetching my camera, he was still there and didn’t care I was either. Especially because I wasn't bothering him with string and fake food. He cruised circles through his pool, seeing what there was to see. I did my best to not disturb him. I launched my boat and found some eagles. Lots of eagles on the Mo right now. Goldens and Balds both. One fancied a whitefish. I drifted into a cloud of 600 million tricos and found a pod. They liked a #20 trico spinner I found in the bottom of my boat bag. They did not like clunking around in the boat, standing over the top of them, and especially leaders dragging over their heads. If you don't want to rely on "...

Current flows on the Missouri River are 4200cfs. Water temps below Holter have been running from 62 upwards toward 65 degrees. We are in the middle of summer and it’s hot out there. It can be somewhat difficult to nail down the best flies or approach for successful angling. My best tip is to go early, go late or fish on both sides of the day and seek shade in the middle. Another key is an icy cooler full of hydration and an open mind. Want to know how the river is doing? Check out most current river flows and temperatures here One of the most common questions I get in the fly shop is: "What fly is working on the Missouri River right now?" As I am writing this, a guy came in and asked me precisely that question. I started laughing and then apologized and explained. "I can give you a simple one fly answer." "They are eating Pheasant Tai...

Every once in a while, I just want to put on a giant streamer and try to hook into a fat hog. Today was one of those days for me. I set my alarm for 5 and was on the water by 6 with hopes of hooking into a big bass or pike. I headed to the shallow and weedy corners of the lake in with not a ton of luck. I had several follows of smaller bass that were interested in my bigger fly, but if my fly were real, it could have eaten the curious bass. I did manage to hook one Smallie I guessed at just under 3 lbs underneath a dock. This tells me that the bass are moving into shallow water to feed early, then retreating to deeper water when temperatures rise. I did stumble across one Largemouth that looked like a solid 4-5 lbs, but he had already seen me and wasn't interested in what I was throwing. I was disappointed I didn't stir up a single pike...

Fishing on the Coeur d'Alene River has been fairly good with fish starting to eat hoppers well. The river flow is low with c.f.s at only 365 as of this morning. Want the most current river flows? Check them out here Hopper- dropper set-ups seem to be working the best. Our best luck for dries came on Morrish pink belly hoppers and pink panty dropper hoppers. As for droppers, it was mostly the small stuff that seemed to be working the best. Morrish super pupa and the hotwire may tricked a few nice cutthroat that didn’t want to come to the surface. Morning and evenings are fishing the best. Large vinyl hatches (tubers) have been consistent mid-day, creating some frustration for fisherman. My best advice for this is "if you can’t beat them join them," until the evening bite that is. Gearing up for your next fishing trip? Check out our fly...

Are you tired of matching the hatch?  What if you don’t have the correct flies?  Do you prefer not to fish tiny dry flies anyway? What if you don’t want to pay close attention every split second of every drift? I’ll say it. Dead drifting gets tiresome sometimes. It does not matter if you are fishing a dry fly or an indicator, it takes major focus.  What if you want to relax? Plan B: Think Deeper than the Current Hatch I was out several days recently, armed with PMD’s and Caddis, ready to get my dry fly action on.  I got out super early two mornings. I was hoping for some sippers before the sun got up. What's up with PMDs? I saw a few dinky fish rising and I educated them, but there were no big fish feeding in my zone, so I plan B’d it.  I deployed a streamer and found that the larger fish were there. They just weren’t ri...

This week on the Missouri River, there were Caddis, PMD’s, Caddis, PED’s, Caddis, Trico’s and Caddis. One of the things I love about being in the fly shop is hearing about peoples successes on the river. Unless, of course, one of my friends is telling me I should have been there. The other day was one of those days. I heard reports of big trico spinner falls in the morning. There must have been a major emergence of multiple caddis throughout the day. A guy just came in and grabbed a handful of olive sparkle pupas. He said fish were crushing it on the lift the other day. I love that. My friend Kevin reported that the evening was magic. There were fish up everywhere he said. In the eddies, on the seams, throughout the mid river hydraulics, and along the banks. Tricos were emerging around six. *PED’s came off heavy about seven. We w...

  When I see a glass rod it takes me back to my younger years when I first started fly fishing. Back then I started with the ole yellow Wright & Mcgill fiberglass rod, and from there graduated to Fenwick fiberglass rods. Needless to say, I’ve always had a soft spot for glass, and when we got the new Echo Big Water Class of Glass rods into the shop I had to get out again and cast glass.  New glass fly rod tech is sleeker and lighter, check out this video we did comparing the 70’s sticks to the new "faster action" glass here. Performance with OPST Commando Skagit Head I wanted to see how the glass rod would perform with different line set ups, so first up I matched it with an OPST 225 gr. Commando head (get yours here)- fifteen minutes later found me on a run that’s never done me wrong. Note on switching over to glass rods:...

Honey bees communicate using vector calculus and directional- mamba!! A forager uses dance to communicate the position of nectar sources she discovered. If the dance is in straight lines towards the upper part of the hive, that means the flowers or source of food can be found by following the sun's position. If the dance is downwards, towards the bottom of the hive, that means the flowers will be found by traveling away from the sun. Need to feed your bees? Check out our selection of bee feed here If the bees dance left or right, that will indicate the direction of the blooming nectar source- in relation to the sun. For instance, a 45° angle to the left of the hive's top will indicate a corresponding direction to take towards the sun and find flowers. The duration of the bee's dance and the amount of vibrations in that dance describe ex...

Before heading into the shop this morning, I took a quick run to the Twisp River. I only went a couple of miles out of town. The fishing was real good, but the size of the cutthroat was a little on the small size. I would guess the largest cutty I hooked into was about 14". Most of the fish I landed were in the 8" to 12" range. What they lacked in size though, they made up in their scrappiness. The water is in great shape and crystal clear. It is still in the drop mode as the summer progresses; it will get down into nice shape just before it closes around mid-August. Before that happens, I'll be have to hit the upper part that is open up by War Creek. The pink J. Slam was the go to dry pattern this morning as well as a tan Moodah Poodah. The Mini BDL pulled in a few that were looking for a big breakfast. Heading out to the river yoursel...

In need of getting my trout fix, I knew it was time to make another run up the Clark Fork River to see what I could find. I brought with me my Type 6 sinking and floating line, so I could reach several different water columns. The weather was beautifully sunny, and slowly turned into windy/rainy at around 2 p.m. I caught one small cutthroat on a #14 olive Pheasant Tail, and the rest were on a #6 Olive Crystal Bugger. I know I sound like a broken record with these fishing reports on the Clark Fork, but it is hard for me not to go back to the bugger each time. I honestly tried several different flies and methods in order to find which one is working best. I had a couple grabs and follows on a Silver Sparkle Minnow, other than that, all dries and nymphs were basically a bust. I have come to the conclusion that because the lower Clark Fork d...

Current flows on the Missouri River below Holter Dam are 4160cfs. The water has been in the low 60s. A few of these guys are around in the Canyon and on down to Pelican Point. You can try drifting a Pats Rubber Legs with a PMD or other small nymph. PMD and Caddis hatches are winding down. They are still important, but not as reliable as they were some weeks back. There are some drakes below the canyon some evenings, but you’ve got to pick the right night. Trico’s are taking center stage and terrestrials such as ants, hoppers and beetles are building into the mix.  Streamer fishing is also a great option. Some days they like the flash and some days a solid color will score more grabs. Some of our most popular patterns are- Double Duck Caddis, Outrigger Caddis, X2Caddis, Nyman’s DOA Cripple PMD, Mercer Poxyback Emerger PMD, TC’s T...