Page 139 - North 40 Outfitters

This fly has been a long time in design, not something that just recently plopped off the vise. In fact you can see an old version of it in the youtube sphere somewhere called Wike’s CDC Caddis from way back in the day. Anyways, the Party on Top gets its name because of the only unrealistic material on the fly, elk hair, which is really too bright and course to truly imitate a caddis, and it is sitting on top for texture, visibility, and floatability. All the materials below the party are as realistic of an underbody as I could figure out while still keeping the fly profiled well, strong, and buoyant enough for riding through currents and seams. We really hope you tie this one, as it has been a very effective fly on virtually any water that gets caddis. Materials: 1x long standard wire dry fly hook Size 70 ultra-thread: Olive Wonder...

So you want to get something for your fly fishing friend or relative, but you just don’t know what they have or need? Here is a list of ten easy items that should make them happy. Yeti Colster Everyone loves these. It’s been really hard to get them. We have some right now, but they won’t last long. Even if your gift recipient already has one, don’t worry. There is always use for another. I’d like a whole case of them. "The YETI Colster represents the next evolution in can-insulating, hand-protecting technology." Simms Taco Bag (available online) The Taco Bag is a unique solution for keeping your car and floors mud free. Unzip the bag, stand on it, remove boots and waders and zip it back up for transport. No more hopping around on the ground. No more dirt on the stocking feet of your waders. "Headache free transport to and from...

I was once told by a guy that the only other person he knows that is as eaten up by fishing as I am, was his friend Roland Martin.  I’m not sure if that was a compliment, or if he was hinting that I needed therapy.  In any event, that’s probably why I still fish in December. It got pretty cold and snowy around here for a while.  The Ice fisherman were getting excited.  They are even venturing out in a few places.  Well, the open water fly fishers can rejoice again.  Temps are going to be up in the comfort zone this weekend and through the week to come.  With the warmer temps, we will be seeing strong winds.  December fishing often comes at a price.  I’m generally willing to pay that price. If you’ve not been out for a while, you will notice the season has changed.  Water temps are now in the 30s.  Bugs life is largely ...

Being that snow has started to fall in most of our areas we thought it would be a good idea to highlight a warm winter sock: enter the Fox River Outlander. For December's Sock of the Month we had a number of our employees test these socks out. Some chose to test the socks out while working a full day on their feet in the store. Feedback from these employees was pretty universal: these are socks made for cold weather. Many of them reported their feet being "a little warm" while working throughout the day while inside. Despite the warm feet many also mentioned not noticing their feet being sweaty until late in the day, leaving all users impressed with how these socks wicked away sweat. One thing that was also mentioned was the thickness of the socks. The added thickness felt good  for the employees who worked all day on their feet, bu...

I picked up my friend Erik at 9:00 a.m. and we made our way to the Spokane River for my traditional pre-Thanksgiving dinner fishing session. The air temperature was 23 degrees when we arrived at the river, so dry fly fishing was definitely not on the agenda. We strung up our rods with 9' 3X leaders and heavily weighted Pat's Stones with a size 14 hot-bead Prince Nymph dropper. We made our way down to one of my favorite winter runs on the Spokane, which has some nice riffles that drop into 4-6 foot buckets where trout wait for nymphs in the buffet line. The fishing was not fast and furious at first, but that changed once the sun hit the water, with both of us landing some nice redband rainbows. Most of the strikes were subtle, so use the smallest indicator you can get away with (I prefer .75" Air-Lock Indicator) and be sure to keep a dra...

I have noticed that without fail we always get customers looking to buy last minute gifts right before birthdays, holidays, or anniversaries. Along with these customers come a ton of quickly asked questions in order to find the best fit for their significant other... or wallet. With Christmas around the corner I am often asked questions regarding fly fishing gear. Mostly between rods and reels. The last instance I can remember is a woman looking to buy her husband a new reel. She had absolutely no idea what the difference between a $34 reel and a $500 reel was, other than one was "shinier." After I gave her a brief introduction of what the differences were, she pointed out two of our Lamson reels, the Lamson Liquid and Lamson Remix. These two reels in particular have caught a lot of attention lately. With these reels commonly displayed ...

The holidays are right around the corner, and the season is always busy. If you're anything like me, and put off your Christmas shopping until December 21st, Christmas shopping can be quite the rush. We've created a little "His and Her Gift Guide" to assist you in the busy season. Just click through to the website, and have it shipped straight to your house! Spoil your lady with some great gifts from North 40 Outfitters. Add a pair of those boots she's been eyeing or pick up a cute belt! Whether she's relaxing with a glass of wine or trekking through the woods, she's ready for any adventure. Find all of "Her" Gifts by clicking the links below: Ariat Boots Gloves Wine Glass Belt Gift Cards Jacket Shirt Socks Silverware Trekking Poles Check out "His" Gifts by clicking the links below Muck Boots Socks Gift Cards Headlamp Knife Gloves Hat J...

We get asked a lot, "What is North 40?" At first this may seem like a difficult question because we represent so many different categories. However, when you look to our core, the reason behind what we do and how we do it remains the same. Our mission, "Make a difference in how people experience work and play" is truly our heartbeat, and we work every day to live up to this standard. Below is a short video called "This is North 40" and if this video resonates with you, then you will probably enjoy our company. Here's to the get up early, work hard, get outside, teach, have fun, adapt, love your community, and move things forward crew. Start your experience at: North40.com

After hearing scattered reports on whether the browns were running up tributary streams to spawn, Calvin, James, and I road tripped up the Clark Fork river to find out for ourselves. With Calvin's ready jet boat at our disposal we could literally launch and fish any desired stream we wanted. The weather was overcast with a slight occasional breeze gusting up river. The temperature was in the low 30s, just enough to keep wet hands cold. We dropped off James at the top of a run while Calvin and I anchored and fished a beautiful seam 100 yds. below. After a couple minutes of swinging streamers Calvin hooked into what looked like a nice brown. He fought it for a little under 30 seconds before the trout came loose and left him with a slack line as a parting gift. We continued to swing several crawdad and sculpin patterns until Calvin made the...

The witch of November came calling and she is leaving a seasonal change in her wake. The high winds, cold temps and snow are harbingers of the cold water season. If you like swinging flies, you are not crying about these cyclical changes. You are thinking about making long easy casts and alternately warming your hands in fleecy pockets while waiting for the tug. You will gaze upon sparkling winter scenery and enjoy the best hours of the day on the water. Gone is the need to dash out the door at 0: darkness. Relax. Enjoy a hearty breakfast first. Then take in several hours of swinging goodness. Chances are you have tried some of these patterns in the past. If not, or if your swinging stash is thin, come in and get some. While there are an endless number of creations to swing, the "Sultans of Swing" is a solid line up that should put a smil...

3130 CFS and 46 degrees below Holter Good BWO conditions.  Not a lot of bugs.  Maybe more are coming.  There is a little time left.  Maybe the warm water to instant plummeting freeze that spoiled them last fall is carrying over.  There are still enough out there that some fish are finding and eating them every day though.  When it’s windy, you can often find collection zones near shore or within sheltered converging flows. Midges are rolling pretty steady.  Fish are definitely eating them.  Larva, pupa, emergers and adults. Good Nymphing conditions.  Plenty of options for your double nymph rig.  Czech, sow and scud fare is pretty solid.  You can drop your little midgling or BWO thingy off the back.  Or do what I do and just fish the one fly that’s working.  Once you figure it out, one good fly often works better.  Bette...

Fall fishing on Lake Pend Oreille is now in full swing.  Water temperatures are hovering around 49 degrees on the surface and the large Gerrard strain rainbow trout are looking for an easy meal.  Within the last 7 days there have been 6 rainbows over 20 pounds caught on the surface, with the biggest around 24 pounds.  The weather pattern is ideal this week with several small fronts moving in.  Wind and rain will bring the fish up to the surface and there should be several good bites throughout the day.   This is the time of year we all look forward to, so take full advantage of it while you can.   The Fall LPOIC K&K Derby should be stellar this year with the timing of the lake turnover.  I can imagine that the top three spots will all be mid 20 pound fish.