Page 121 - North 40 Outfitters

Why is it important for you to know what type of weeds you have in your lawn? Well let's explain what typically happens to your lawn when you DON'T know what type of weeds you have: One: you pick an herbicide that isn't directed for that particular weed, so the weed doesn't die and continues to spread (Not recommended) Two: you pick an herbicide that kills both the weed, and your lawn. (Also not recommended) Instead, learn how to identify some common types of weeds by reading below and start effectively addressing your weed problem. Once you know what type of weed you're fighting, you can read about the best way kill them. Main Broadleaf Weed Types in the Northwest Broadleaf weeds are the easiest to identify in the scheme of weeds. They look much like they sound and are very different from the lawn grasses we'd like to keep around. ...

What is there that can still make an archery tech giddy as a schoolboy on Spring Break? A bow box that shows up with your name on it! After working in archery shops for the better part of 11 years now, I can't even imagine how many hundreds or thousands of bow boxes I've opened. But one came in this year that has had me particularly excited. Check out our selection of bows online here. I ordered a Perfexion from the good folks at Xpedition Archery and they have certainly over-delivered on all of my expectations. Biggest Challenges with the Xpedition Perfexion Bow One of my biggest challenges is finding a bow that truly fits me. I was blessed with monkey arms and broad shoulders so setting up a bow that properly fits a 31+ draw length comes with a lot of give-and-take- mostly give. Not so with the Perfexion! With the same cams as their fl...

Fishing remains good on the St. Joe River with 1,190 cfs @ Calder. Dry fly action has been solid with lots of bugs in the air. Pmd's, Yellow Sallies, and golden stones imitations were all producing. The mid-day heat can drive the fish down some days, so if your not against bobbers, 20 inchers, pats rubber legs, and tungsten yellow sallies all produced several fish mid-day down deep. Sculpin streamers are picking up some big fish. Always remember to handle these fragile fish with care. It is especially important as we get into the heat of the summer, with high water temps making these fish even more fragile. Check Out The Current River Flow Here

After getting a few things done around the house, I was able to hit the Methow River for a few hours yesterday. The river looked good nice and clear but up some from the last couple of days. With a bright sun and temps rising, it was not the best time to be going, but that’s okay; anytime on the water is better then not going at all. I headed south to a couple of runs that have been good to me in the past. I decided I needed more time with the spey rod than the singe hander, so I broke out my 5wt trout spey, tied on a smolt pattern and headed to the top of the run. About my fourth swing down, I felt the tug and had what turned out to be a nice cutty on. After a bit and when I had it about a rod's length away, it gave a couple of good twists and was gone. That’s pretty much how the next few hours went. Changed flies a few times just s...

The water is currently flowing 4140 CFS Water temps are 58-60 degrees. Flows have been fairly consistent for over a week. Consistency is good. Consistency means patterns emerge. Daily spinner falls and emergence periods are happening. This means the fishing is great- The fishing is great, but the catching can be a challenge. More so if you want to go dry. PMD hatches have provided the most consistent action, but the fish are getting picky and nervous. If you can sneak up on a bank sipper, you might get him on the first drift.  If you try the mid river risers, good luck. They keep moving and they often know after the first cast that they are being hunted. I guess that’s fair chase, but many anglers are discouraged by the challenge. Others relish it. Tough dry fly fishing is something experienced anglers appreciate. They accept the cha...

Chemistry my dear Watson, Chemistry that's how honey is made. Enzymes, disaccharides, monosaccharides- there's a brave new world on the molecular level of bees. To understand why these small, furry angels should be reared in every garden in the world, we're going to break down the process of Nectar->Honey->You. How Honey is Made: The Growing The first step in the life cycle of honey is in the ground. It's in the dormant radicule that lays all winter asleep, waiting for the frost to let up- That's just a fancy way of saying, "Honey starts as a seed." Wondering what requeening is? Bees collect nectar from flowering plants, and some of those plants start with a good garden. Even unwelcome weeds flower. Fireweed and knapweed have flowers that feed bees and become some of the most prized honey variants you can come across. So the honey ...

Neighbor relations are an important consideration whether you're living on 100 acres or a city lot. Having a barking dog is probably the number one way of earning someone's ire, but bringing in a beehive, or two, might be a close second if you live with neighbors close by. While most people understand and appreciate the benefit of honey bees, and gardeners in the neighborhood will undoubtedly enjoy the results of their hard work, having fifty-plus thousand stinging insects taking up residence next door can cause issues. Having bees can make your neighbors love you, or hate you, depending on how you handle it. Need Beekeeping Gear? Check Out Our Selection Here. Talking to your Neighbors before going Full-bee As with most activities that impact others, if you're going to bring in honey bees, talk to your nearest neighbors before they see ...

Bass fishing has been great, depending on how you look at it. If you are the kind of fly fisherman that loves to hook into roughly 15 bass within the 1-2.5lb range, then fishing is stellar! If you are the type of fisherman that is looking for those 3lb + bass, then fishing is a little slow. Our Smallmouth here on the lake have recently finished their spawn, and are searching for ways to quickly gain weight. The problem is at what depth? Yesterday, I found those 1-2.5lb bass under docks, along drop-offs, and near submerged boulders. I have heard theories of larger bass retreating to deeper water after the spawn to chase schools of Kokanee. I will say this, the larger bass I caught yesterday were in that 15-25ft depth range. The bass were very aggressive toward my 2/0 Tan Bushwacker, and all Smallies I caught were on that fly. We fished e...

Luke and I sneaked away from the shop yesterday to see if we could chase down some bass on the Okanogan River. We launched the boat north of Tonasket and ran up river about 5 miles. The first bad omen of the day was when Luke made his first false cast on his Sage rod and the top section, at about the eight inch make, snapped off. No problems, he broke out his new Winston 6wt and got to work. We noticed that the water seemed a bit dirtier then normal, but it was the Okanogan River and it does that sometimes. We started working in close to shore and under trees where the smallies normally hold. About an hour into our efforts, the second bad omen happened. Luke hooked up with what seemed to be a nice fish, but then we got a look at it. It was a northern pike minnow. Not exactly what we were looking for. We continued to work down river with...

Aeneas Lake is still producing nice catches of fish. You'll need to go deep for them, so bring at least a type six full sinking line. Rob from the sporting goods department had a chance to go out the other day and did okay. He got a couple of rainbows in the 16" size category. Boobie flies and leeches seem to be go to bugs. Also, Jack from the fishing department was out a couple of days ago and besides the standard size fish being caught, he got into one brute that would go about 5lbs. Sadly, it LDR's before he go it to the net. With warmer days a head, keep it deep. Also, as a side note, try and keep the fish in the water and don’t over play them. Heading out to Aeneas Lake? Stock up first at your local North40 or Online.

The weather has started to warm up again with these bright, sunny days. The angler activity at the lake has been some of the heaviest I have seen in a lot of years; at times there was 40 to 50 various styles of one person water crafts on the water. It appears to has slowed down a little now. The callibaetis hatch was a good one this year with a lot of anglers having great days with fish eagerly taking surface dries. Of course, the chironomid fishing was as good as it always is. The direction now is the damsel flies that have been coming out for a while now. Both nymphs and dries have been the bug of choice for most angles, as evident by the number of times I've had to restock the fly bins in the shop. I noticed a little hopper activity along the shoreline so it wouldn’t hurt to have a few in your box. Then you have those of us who are ...

For the better part of my hunting career, I have owned bows with 70 pound limbs. However, shooting this heavy draw weight has really started to affect my shoulders, which also affects how often I can shoot and for how long. So, with that in mind, I decided to put my current setup up for sale and begin the search for a new hunting bow. I shot quite a few different models, all with 60 pound limbs, and despite the fact that my shoulders were more comfortable, I really felt like this draw weight was just too light for what I wanted to do. Weight Configurations in the Mathews Z2 Bow As I was wrestling with this thought and trying to decide what to do, I happened to be browsing through Mathews' annual sales catalog and noticed that they offered their Z2 model in several different draw weight configurations. Among these was the option to order...