Page 133 - North 40 Outfitters

It’s the end of February, but it’s been feeling more like April. 73 degrees was the official high in Great Falls last Friday. Really nice, but a bit unsettling. I sure hope we get some heavy mountain snows and spring rains in later this year. Who knows what the future will bring, but if you are waiting for some magical date in the future to begin your open water fishing season, you are missing out on some of the great opportunities available right now. A sustained cold snap could cause some re-icing on the lakes and slow the bite on the river, but it will only be temporary. I’m already hearing complaints about how busy the Mo is up around Craig. The fishing is good from the Dam all the way to Cascade and beyond, so don’t be afraid to spread out. Late winter fishing on the Missouri River is can be exceptionally good as I found out...

The late winter grab was savage. It was pure power, bucking, thrashing and running away at a breakneck pace. The cheering section was having a heyday dropping pearls of wisdom as the massive buck jumped not once, twice, or even three times, but five times before it cleared the water. In the rush of the moment, I was brought back to the picture hanging above my fly tying desk: It’s a picture I will be eternally grateful to have. Father and son on their first steelhead trip together, holding success in their hands with grins as wide as they could possibly make. The cold crisp morning was classic and my dad hooked up right away in the first run. It was the first time that I had seen in person what a steelhead can do. I knew there was a solid possibility that my time wouldn’t come on this trip. Our guide worked his tail off to make it h...

Last Thursday, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game had a public meeting at the Ponderay Event Center for any interested fisherman concerned about the current state of Lake Pend O'reille. It was an extremely informative gathering that allowed the public to stay updated with projects Fish and Game are conducting on the lake. The IDFG touched on important topics like effects of lake trout suppression, species numbers, kokanee spawning habitat improvement, and invasive species. It was difficult for me to absorb all of the information simply because there was tons of it being presented with each new slide from the slideshow. Here are the facts that I took away from this informative meeting. Improvements in the Fishery and Harvest Numbers In 2014, 200,000 hours were spent fishing on Lake Pend O'reille by all anglers with a resulting 236,419 ...

Socks: the thing that's ruined a thousand hikes... and a thousand camping trips. For outdoor enthusiasts that have faced the beast of bad socks (and have had the bloody blisters to prove it), you already know how important your socks are to enjoying your time outdoors. For the rest of you, as yet unbroken (or should we say "unblooded"?), outdoor enthusiasts... you may have just stumbled across a blog that saves your feet and your experience outdoors. If you're wondering, "Why are socks so important, and why should I pay so much more for ONE pair... when I can get 4 pairs for under $10?" Then this is EXACTLY where you need to be. Men: Check these socks out to see what I am talking about... and for the ladies, these. Good socks are expensive for a reason--they're built to fit your foot and do a job those "normal," 6-pair-a-pack cotton, wh...

A year ago, I got my hands on some predator wrap. I immediately began working up some little baitfish patterns for swinging on the Missouri. My first outing met with promising results. After a few refinements, I’ve got a simple pattern that I'm really happy with and really like. As tiers may note, this pattern has been modified from the Foxee Clouser. I’m not ditching the Foxee, but this one is updated with some real fishy materials. Our rivers in Montana have lots of small minnows: shiners, suckers, dace, whitefish and juvenile trout are common. While the Predacious Fox is a small minnow, it certainly represents more biomass than a midge. Drift it, swing it, strip it and find a predator. Streamer 4X Long #10 140 Denier Ultra Thread in Cream Marble Fox - Golden Olive Spirit River Real Eyes Senyo’s Barred Predator Wrap Black &...

With steelhead season winding down, Omak Lake is heating up. I have been getting quite a few reports from the local anglers about how great the fishing had been at Omak Lake. So on Sunday, Luke and I headed over to the lake to see if all the smiles and happy reports were real. We got to the lake at about 10:30am. We could see 3 fly fishermen waded out into the lake and one of them was fishing on. By the time we got waderd up and the boat launched, these guys had landed about half a dozen fish. That was enough to tell me that the reports I had been hearing just might be true. We headed over to one of the spots that had been good for us in the past, but after about 20 minutes we knew we needed to move. Luke fired up the motor and out we headed into the middle of the lake only to run into something that neither of us expected. A sheet of th...

It’s hard to believe it, but we’ve had a winter free winter for the past month. What does that do to the fishing? Well, it makes it pretty darn good. Water coming from the dam has been reaching 36 degrees. By the time it gets to Pelican, it’s pushing 40 some afternoons. Those are some fishy temps and what we typically expect later in March. Fish are actively feeding. Streamer reports have been good. Nymphing reports have been good. Midging reports have been good. Some folks are not doing didley, but that can happen any day during any season on a river like the Missouri. You can be just a little off on your depth, your fly selection, the speed of the current, or the mood of the fish can be iffy at times. Or it can be lights out good in the right place at the right time with the correct rigging. Frankie and Jessica Lyons are dialed...

Just about when the river gets to where it is starting to be in great shape, Mother Nature changes the game. The fishing on the Okanogan for steelhead was starting to take off. I had been out a few times and even though I did not land any fish, I was getting enough action to keep hope alive. I was also getting a few reports from customers that they were picking up a fish here and there. The majority of the fish were being picked up by the guys who were nymphing. Most of the set ups were either a stone fly and bead combo or a egg sucking leech drifted under a indicator. I had been swinging a few different flies and had the most tugs and hits on a Kila-wa-bou in the blue and black. I had tied some a little bigger then what I use on the Methow River. Then, in the last couple of weeks, we have had rain and warmer weather. This has caused the...

So, what’s up with strike indicators versus bobbers? Is it price like Fred says... is it the Bowling Green in Victorian England as Joe suggests, or is it potential copyright infringement lawsuits seemed to be implied by the Coeur d'Alene fly shop? Definitions: Bobber vs Strike Indicator If we look at the colloquial and common use definitions (as Fred mentions), the traditional "bobber" is the red and white contraption used by everyone from kids to hallmark dock fishers. Bobber usually refers to this traditional piece of equipment used by gear fishermen. "Strike indicator" usually refers to a more technical piece of fishing gear used by fly fisherman. However, "strike indicator" is not a single-use word like bobber; this word holds under its umbrella a much larger range of materials and techniques. From the commercial Air Lock Indicato...

Why should you maintain your footwear? Simple. So you don't lose appendages. Dear Reader: What follows is a fictitious rendering of events that could have possibly happened at some point in time. Don't let these fictitious events happen to you. Waterproof with one of our Nikwax products available online here.  In the beginning of his life Dan wanted to be an alpine skier or a cross-country musher. He bought a pair of White's Firefighter Smoke Jumper Boots online from North 40 Outfitters in case he needed to jump into an arctic firestorm. (You can buy the same boots here.) But Dan didn't follow his dreams, and instead he settled for a job in the Bay Area where he paid 3,000 dollars a month for a one bedroom apartment above a noodle shop. Dan wore his White's Boots for 12 years, and when he finally saved enough money to travel to the No...

Missouri River trout like to eat. This time of year, they are hungry and they don’t have the volume nor the choices in February and March that they will have later on. Do the math. Your flies will get more attention from fish looking to eat this time of year, because they are not getting stuffed by nature. It’s almost not fair. It always makes me chuckle when someone comes into the shop and says, "Is anyone catching fish yet?" "Only the guys who are fishing, I reply." There must be lots of folks under the impression that river fish hibernate during the winter. While their activity will slow during the coldest periods, they still want to eat. Do you stop eating when it gets cold out? Not likely. Chances are, you eat even more. Add in the fact that it really hasn't been winter for the past several weeks. The extended forecast is showi...

With the past week of warm/rainy weather in Ponderay, I had a hunch that the fishing would start picking up. As predicted, the fishing was good. It was never fast and furious, nor was it mind numbingly slow. Just consistent action to help me enjoy a beautiful day. The weather was cloudy for almost the whole day, and I fished through a 20 minute downpour around 12:30. A steady 10mph wind occasionally tossed my line around, but never enough to be irritated. Runoff hasn't taken over the river yet, so the water is still clear and beautiful. The fish I did catch nymphing were on a small #18 red midge and a trailing grey midge behind it. Swinging/stripping a #6 olive woolly through deep holes also produced a couple fun trout. Very few small fish rising to dries just before sunset; not enough for me to tie on a small midge dry. If you are a ha...