Page 172 - North 40 Outfitters

*Redacted Text At work I was approached by Sam and Denver to film a short fly fishing video. The catch, we were going to one of Denver and Sam’s spots on the AAAAAAAAAAAA.. Being taken to a "secret spot" is pretty common when fishing with friends. After all, no one wants to have the whole city fishing in their favorite run. Denver and Sam took this concept a bit over the top. In what felt like a police interrogation, I was sworn to secrecy and they never even told me where we were going. The best part, if I was going to be allowed to tag along, 'I would have to be blind folded on the way in and out of the fishing spot.’ This, of course, from Sam. -.. Not cool After being baited in by stories of a relatively untapped stock pile of trout, I reluctantly agreed to being blindfolded. I admit it was not my proudest moment. In my defense, ...

With the Okanogan river flowing over 1800cfs and the Methow blown out as well I decided to enlist my best bud Matt Featherly (North 40 Archery Lead, Omak WA) to go catch some fish at Omak Lake. Arriving at Omak early in the morning the wind was blowing out on the lake sending in some nice rollers to the bank, but with the mountains shielding us, the conditions were perfect. We had multiple hookups right off the bat and the morning was going great! Our choice fly for the day was one our very own Keith Roe tied, barred white bunny streamer. Another fly that worked well was the sculpzilla in the olive color. Matt had multiple hookups with some fish ranging from 18-20 inches running a floating line with a 9 foot leader. I chose to use a type 8 sink tip at the end of my floating line and 7 foot leader. We had several short strikes on the flie...

Not a lot of reports coming in lately. Its been windy and many folks are busy hunting. Rick decided to kick back and chill with his buddies instead of battling the mid day breezes yesterday. Nick from our tools department had another plan. He fished the Missouri from sun up to sun down yesterday and worked a number of runs from the Dearborn to the Untouchables Bridge. He said it was a great day! Nick started out fishing streamers on the swing and the bites were steady. You will have to ask Nick what he was swinging, because he ties his own bugs. The streamer bite slowed down mid day and he switched to a nymph rig. A purple Lightning Bug was the money fly. The streamer bite kicked in again for the last hour or so of the day. Nick switched to an single hand rod and stip retrieve. He said the grabs were savage. By this time, everyone has he...

We just received the new bug collars from Bozeman Fly Goods. If you have been on the internet lately, chances are you have come across them. We are excited to work these into some of our favorite winter patterns for the Missouri river. The bug collars make a great hot spot, adding both a metallic element as well as extra weight, helping you get your flies where they need to be that much faster. The cold weather will be here shortly so make sure you are ready for winter tying sessions!  

This year was the 27th annual Captn’s Table Derby on Lake Pend Oreille. We have fished this derby for the last 7 years and this year some really big fish took the top placements. We had 360 anglers register for the derby this year and lake conditions were a just about right for the fishing. The first day started out a little slow with calm water and rainy conditions. The wind picked up a little and the fish started to eat around 11:00am. The first day a few fish were weighed in with the biggest, caught by David Gillespie, at 22lbs. We managed to pick up 7 or 8 fish with the biggest being a little over 15lbs. The second day we got on the water an hour a later to a 5-6 foot chop. We managed to work our way across the lake to the fishing grounds and conditions continued to improve throughout the day. We started off the day with a few fi...

The internet has a niche for everything... and when it comes to "up-cycling used ropes," we sure found one at North 40 Outfitters. The story of how our once "traditional used rope program" which was only utilized by our customers in the rodeo and ranch businesses is incredible... and can be attributed to the internet's ability to bring different people together. Here's the low down. What North 40 Outfitters Thought Up-Cycling Used Rope Meant So, here's the program we have had in place for a long time: North 40 Outfitters Used Rope Program: bring in your used lariats for $5 towards a new calf rope, head rope or heel rope (good for up to three, for $15 credit towards a new one). It's a good program for people who burn up a lot of ropes: the college roper, regular roping goer or the sponsored professional. You have a trailer full of old ro...

  As the cold weather is approaching and I'm busy clearing my closets of summer clothes and shorts making room for all of our sweaters, long johns, thermals, boots, scarfs hats, gloves and everything else us Montanans wear during our 6 months of winter: I come across my wool socks. These are by far my favorite accessory and you can tell by ranging assortment (most of them SmartWool of course) and each one with a memory: the pair I got from my grandma who has since passed to the bright stripe ones I enjoy wearing to work or the heavyweight ones perfect for a winter day moving cattle with my husbands family. I've got them all- Why do I love SmartWool? First of all they keep my feet warm even during those -50 degree days when the car will barely start up and you pretty much don't want to look out the window, let alone go outside into ...

Aside from Christmas, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love opening up the front door to see who or what awaits me on the other side. Last year, I had everything from an Iron Man super hero and a scary zombie to a cute princess and a colorful peacock come knocking on my door. As a kid, I remember the best houses to knock on were the ones that handed out FULL candy bars and got totally decked out in Halloween decorations. I don't think I will go as far as full candy bars this year (sorry kids), but I want to get some better decorations. Whenever I look for decorating ideas, I always hit Pinterest first. I like finding an idea that will stand out from standard, store-bought decorations. Something that will make people say "Wow, that is cool! Where did you find it?"-and I get to tell them "I made it". It is so much more gratifyin...

How do you know when it’s time to replace your fly line? Has it lost its floatability? Does it hinge and catch on your guides while casting? Is there a series of knuckles a mile long? If your line looks anything like the one shown or tends to resemble any of the above mentioned conditions, it might be time to upgrade. Dirty, damaged line can wear grooves in your reel and guides which lends itself to a more expensive repair down the road. Fortunately we've got you covered. Almost all our current stock of Scientific Anglers fly lines have been significantly marked down. We've got everything from GPX trout lines to Mastery Textured Series Saltwater Tapers. Mark-down prices range from $11.97 to $34.97. Reduced pricing to last as long as our inventory does. Call or stop by your local North 40 Fly Shop to check on availability and pricing. ...

According to the charts on LPOIC.org's website, the lake has turned over down in Bayview, ID. Although there still is a 54-55 degree surface temp near Hope, ID. Ever since the navy put in a temperature gauge off of one of their barges, I have been studying the effects that weather patterns have on Lake Pend Oreille's temperature. You can now view what is called "Water Column Profile Data" on the lake conditions website. This plots shows water temps from the surface down to 600 feet. Yesterday the water in Bayview went from 55 degrees to 45 degrees in a 24 hour period. It is interesting watching this graph and seeing the effect that weather fronts have on the lake's temp. When a low pressure comes in, the graph shows lots of activity. When a high pressure is in place, the graph settles down and water temps separate at various depths. Two...

Let's face it- I'm a coffee addict, and, like many people up here in the Northwest, I've become spoiled with the proliferation of small, artisan roasters and coffee houses springing up everywhere. And I mean everywhere some towns up here have populations under 5,000 and you can find the best coffee in 100 miles in those tiny shops. Going out and discovering new coffees, and meeting the people that frequent those shops is one of my favorite things to do hence this blog. Below you will find a list of some of the best places I've had coffee (or had coffee from) in the Northwest.   But before you skim the list there is a bit of a selfish bent to this post, and it's this: I know this list is not exhaustive, and I KNOW there are some coffee shops out there that I need to visit. If you are a coffee shop owner, or you are a frequenter of an...

The story of Glacial Lake, Missoula and the ancient flood that forever changed the landscape of the Pacific Northwest has always intrigued me. This landscape feature is in one of the areas we serve at North 40 Outfitters, so I figured I'd go learn about it, and see for myself. Several thousand years ago, a finger of glacial ice moved through near present day Lake Pend Oreille damming the Clark Fork River and creating Glacial Lake Missoula. Imagine a giant buildup of ice creating a glacial lake the size of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario combined. The pressure on the ice continued to rise until the water level reached its maximum elevation of 4,200 feet causing the ice dam to fail, exploding the water downstream at a rate of 10 times the combined flow of all the current rivers in the world, moving at speeds up to 50 mph on its 430 mile journey...