Page 123 - North 40 Outfitters

We are in the thick of it. Recently, there have been lots of bugs seen on the Missouri River. Several different Caddis, PMD’s, Gray Drakes, Brown Drakes, BWO’s, Trico’s, Giant Yellow Mayflies and Midges. I’m not saying you should fish all these bugs or that they are hatching in big numbers. A few random BWO’s are not going to focus a feeding behavior. One small cloud of Trico’s is not going to create an epic spinner fall. A single Hex is not going to create a big stir. I just want to illustrate that there is a large variety of potential food out there. Small hoppers, ants, beetles and crane flies are also present and anglers are still fishing scuds and worms. How about a drowning mouse? PMD’s and Caddis remain the go to hatches for most angling efforts. Fishing the stages of these bugs should keep you in the game on any giv...

El Nino: This weather pattern took its toll on Christmas Island this year. The water in the lagoon and around the island was a full degree and a half warmer than normal. The results? Less bait, less big fish- on the outside that is. The fish inside the lagoon were eager to take a well presented fly and are strong as ever. Interested in booking a spot on our next trip to Christmas Island? Send an email to support@north40.com and we'll hook you up. The build up to the trip was exceptionally nerve racking this year. Friends had their trips cancelled due to weather, friends of friends had the same thing. This year probably marked the most cancelled trips in a long time on Christmas Island: as was almost the case with our trip. As we loaded on the 737 in Honolulu, the skies were clear and beautiful, then as the plane made its way south, the c...

I admit it, when it comes to archery, I'm a tinkerer. Never satisfied, once I feel like I have the setup, I have to change something; sight, rest, arrows, you name it. I'm not sure how or when I developed this obnoxious and sometimes expensive habit, but there it is - Hi, my name is Dan and I'm a tinkerer. What's your gear bag missing? On a Whim: Ordering an Xcentric Bow I didn't necessarily intend on switching bows anytime soon, but on a whim I sold the perfectly good bow that I was perfectly happy with (which was set up with a perfectly good sight, and a perfectly good rest, and a perfectly good... Well, you get the picture...) and, at the start of this year, found myself in the position no true archery friend likes to find themselves; bow-less. And so began this year's great adventure: Find Dan's new bow! Wondering we what stock from ...

The Coeur d'Alene River flows continue to drop. As of this morning, c.f.s. is 672. Wade fishing is a great option for anglers looking to get into some of those fishy buckets protected by skinny water. Floats are limited to the lower half of the river mainly from Steamboat down, with several boney sections through that stretch of river. Golden stones are still out in force along with pmd’s and big ol’ drakes. I also witnessed my first grass hopper of the year as I walked along the river bank yesterday. Although it was a just a little hopper, it definitely put a smile on my face knowing hopper season is right around the corner. Water is still a little cold for wet wading. Tungsten yellow sallies and Pat’s rubber legs cheater belly Size 10 continues to produce down low. Stimi chew toys are a good bug on top, as well as deer hair drakes...

Millennials. Tired of hearing that term yet? Me too-Let's start by just saying, "people my age." A lot of people my age have come into the sport of hunting differently than previous generations. We of course have TV, but we also have access to countless hours of hunting footage (good and bad) on YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, etc- and it's on every widget and device you can think of. However you perceive this induction into hunting, it's how my dad and I got into bow hunting turkeys over 12 years ago. Since then I've learned a lot about pursuing gobblers in the Northwest and even though it is slightly old school, I'm going to write a few tips and tactics that have helped me be consistently successful. Check out our selection of bows online here. Over years of trial and error, using a ground blind has been by far the best way for me to kill tu...

Chaos Packing: What Rivers? What Fish? Heading to Vancouver. Day 1: 4am comes quick if you have nothing packed for a five day fly fishing trip for who knows what. It's 9:30 PM and I'm scouring my drift boat, kayak, dry bags, wader pockets, wading jackets, and fly tying bench to scrap together a "catch any trout in the world" selection of trout stuff for this trip. Some experienced anglers would argue that could include just two patterns, a Chernobyl Ant and a Wooly Bugger. I'm not too proud to say that's not the plan on this trip. If you've heard of a fly pattern, we probably took it on this trip because I was very unclear about what we were getting in to, which I like. Which rivers? Yeah, I'm not totally sure about that either. Our guide, Craig, rattled the two or three unheard of rivers off over the phone, but they didn't really regist...

Bugs. Bugs everywhere on the Missouri River. Pretty Bugs-PMD’s Pretty bugs are on the current menu. Pale Morning Dun Mayflies are delicate and elegant. Large trout will gently sip them. Smaller fish will slurp and smack them. From the nymph, to the emerger, to the unfortunate cripples and definitely the spent spinners, trout are eating PMD’s. Sometimes, the PMD hatch comes off strong in the morning, followed by another hatch in the later portion of the day. That doubles the fun. Make sure to have a good emerger pattern such as Mercer’s Epoxy Back PMD. The Rusty Spinner is also a tried and true winner on Missouri River fish. I got on a relatively sparse PMD hatch yesterday morning. Despite the limited number of bugs on the water, the trout were sharking the ones they could find. They were also eager to eat my PMD emerger. And then, ...

Really though, she should leave these types of activities to the professionals. One just can't go on a hike and assume they'll instantaneously have sock model stardom. Look at me- It took skill, amazing hair and minutes of prep time to perform at this level of sock-awesomeness." : Sock-of-the-Month Sock Model, Drew Steinberger A certain "Zoolander-esq" former Sock-of-the-Month sock model, which shall remain nameless- Drew Steinberger, suggested that I needed to immerse myself in "our culture," as he put it. With this in mind, I found myself hiking at the base of the Bob Marshall Wilderness, nine miles northwest of the town of Augusta in the Sun River Wildlife Management Area, hunting for shed antlers. The Sun River Wildlife Management Area is 19,771 acres of pristine wildlife habitat and the winter home of one of Montana's largest e...

The St. Joe River continues to fish well as the river continues to drop. River flows have dipped down to 2510 C.F.S. The mid-day heat over the weekend made for a little bit tougher bite mid-day. So don't forget your sunscreen. The morning started off well with fish rising to mayflies till about 1:00pm, when the 90+ degree heat finally put them down. Pat's rubber legs, 20 incher's, and flash back pheasant tails fished down low produced a couple eats in the middle of the day. The all mighty Purple Chubby always manages to trick a few fish. As the air temps drop back down over the next couple days, fishing should remain good through the middle of the day. Sculpin streamers in earthy tones are always a good bet as well. Check Out The Current River Flow Here

Bass fishing on Lake Pend O'reille is simply in its prime. All the spawning hens are swollen up, and territorial to any glance of movement. My favorite flies to strip this time of year are Hud's Bushwacker in olive, tan, purple or blue. The hot color today was olive. In the three hours of fishing, I probably landed 10-15 bass. The biggest Smallie I found was under an anchored dock off shore in Ellisport Bay, cruising in 10 feet of water. She was in the 3-3.5lb range, and hammered that olive bushwacker like it was her last meal. After removing the fly, I saw the tail of what looked like a small Kokanee about to be swallowed, and never seen again. Everyday in the shop, I am hearing reports of big Smallmouths being caught, so the time is now to get out and rip some lips. If you are new to bass fishing, but are interested in hooking some he...

Most fly fishers know the Missouri River as the water below Holter Dam, near Craig, Montana. For thirty some miles below Holter Dam, the Missouri River is one of the best trout waters in the United States. But there is more... Below Great Falls, the Missouri flows for a considerable distance before running into Fort Peck Reservoir. All of that distance provides great fishing opportunities for a variety of species. Below Morony Dam and all way to and beyond Loma, there is great fishing for small mouth bass, pike, carp, drum and goldeye. There are also opportunities to catch walleye, sauger, a few odd but very large rainbows, brown trout and catfish. As a fly fisherman, I’m likely to focus on pike, bass and carp, but I will take whatever other species wants to play. My mantra is any fish, any time, on the fly. It’s fun to fish water wh...

I know I wrote about new tails in last month's issue, but I think this other new product, which just happens to be tails, deserves attention too. Deer hair master, Pat Cohen, has just recently released these new ultra-cool tails as part of his Cohen's Creatures series of products. These tails are made from the material, Ultrasuede, and have the same type of action that plastic gives you in the water. Pat has used Ultrasuede on other Cohen's Creatures products, so the material is well tested in its durability. They are available in the color white, so you can just color them yourself using permanent markers for example. The new shapes include Minnow Tail, Paddle Tail, Split Tail, and Double Flutter Tail. You get 6 in a package and they all come in small, medium, and large sizes. I was lucky enough to be one of the first fly tiers to test...