Page 177 - North 40 Outfitters

Whoa-- when you think Mead, Washington, I bet you don't think, "tourist destination." Well, by the end of this blog, I'm going to try to change your mind on that issue. If you live in Mead, and you're thinking, "There's nothing to do in this city," then this list will help you change your tune as well. We built a list of activities to do around the city that only a handful of locals have ever done from beginning to end, and in the process, we developed a list of the top things you can do while you're out here. ...AND if you get through the list and you've done EVERYTHING on here, please drop us a line and let us know if we missed anything--we'd love to hear about what you do around town. So, without further ado, here's our list of things to do when you visit (or live in) Mead, Washington. BBQ on Bear Lake- 35 acre lake located in a reg...

"Fishing is great right now... and so is the weather. Streamer weather on the way this weekend as we could sure use some clouds. BWO's are all over the river and fish are looking up as well as down. Denver spent this week on the upper river, and the rest of us have been busting up to the lower river after work all week to swing flies and praying for grabby browns. Lots of October caddis on the lower river as well, and would make a great indicator right now for that hard to see BWO dry or emerger (We have in stock the Solitude October Caddis, the Godlike Caddis, and the Slickwater October Caddis... all great October Caddis options). There have even been quite a few people coming in to buy firebead patterns already (is it already that time again?). This week Paul and I have got to take out some new people to introduce them to swinging flies...

"Deckhands Log, Stardate October 22, 2013. Lake Pend Oreille. Dona Christine." 3:20 PM "Which way is Hope!?!?" exclaimed the captain of the ship that appeared from the grey and blue fog bank that had set in to Lake Pend Oreille's Eastern shores. With a shrug, Captain Fuller pointed back into the disorienting void of fog and water, sending the gentleman on a northwest bearing, but with no landmarks and no stars. I have to wonder if he ever made it off the water.... It would not be the first, or last, life that the lake has claimed. A good reminder that mother nature is boss out here. 3:40 PM The lines are set into glassy smooth water. The fog has dampened all the noise except for the purr of the outboard propulsion unit, which propelled the vessel forward at just shy of warp-3mph. The lines are set on the port and starboard planers. The bo...

Last weekend Camille and I headed South to go swing flies for steelhead. This time of year can be stellar on the Clearwater. The river is full of aggressive steelhead that are very willing to come up to a dry line and well presented fly. Last year I convinced my wife to come down to the Clearwater for some fishing and I told her it would just be the two of us and maybe we would see a few friends along the way. Well, seeing those friends along the way turned into a midnight, rain-soaked, lighted plug trolling session with some of my old friends and a few new ones. After finally making it to bed at 2:00am then waking here up at 6:00 for a full day of fishing, I quickly realized that I had dropped the ball on our fishing trip. It was very hard to convince her that this year would be different. I really had to bring my A game. This year we he...

Paul, Jake and myself drove about as quick as we could without stops to try to get to the Clearwater from Great Falls last week. We were headed to Orofino to meet up with Klaus Frimor, who is one of the rod designers for Loop Tackle and the instructor for our Spey Day in Omak last week. By the time we arrived in Missoula we soon realized we weren't going to make it to the Clearwater before dark the first night and stopped early on the Lochsa for some fall cutthroat. We've always stared at this water during the endless turns on Highway 12 but always in too big of a hurry to make it to Steelhead country to stop. We were glad we did as we got to give Jake some introductory spey instruction before making it to the Clearwater the next morning, and the Lochsa was full of October Caddis and happy Cutthroat. One of Jake's first evenings with a sp...

This weekend in Omak we held a spey fishing clinic, instructed by Klaus Frimor from Loop Tackle and Clearwater Steelhead Syndicate. Klaus is one of the best "scandi" casters in the world, and we are very happy to have the opportunity to learn from him. Thank you Klaus, for the visit from Denmark! The scandi cast is short for Scandinavian, the cast's country of origin where the line was developed. Klaus has mastered the underhand casting style, using longer shooting heads connected to running lines. This setup can be fished as floating or sinking, depending on the water being fished. Underhand casting is nearly effortless when done right, and truly uses the dynamic action of the rod to propel flies great distance with little to no room for a backcast. Scandi lines are the line of choice for most anglers fishing the Snake River’s fall ru...

It is inevitable that at some point, if you fly fish a lot, you will have to retain a fish at some point. For example, in the state of Washington, by law you must retain hatchery steelhead with a limit of 2. Or you may end up just fowl hooking a fish bad enough that you can’t release it. Either way, smoking fish has a long northwest heritage and is an excellent choice for your retained salmon, steelhead, or trout. Here is how I smoke fish- You will first need to clean your fish and pull out the pin bones using a forceps or tweezer (most fly fisherman can find forceps faster than a tweezer). I smoke fish with the skin off but that’s pure preference. I use a dry brine of brown sugar, kosher salt, and pepper. Next dry the fish off with a paper towel as well as you can and cut them in to eatable pieces. You don’t want to have to thaw...

Denver asked me if I was planning on going to the Spey Clave this year on the Clearwater because he was meeting up with Calvin and Paul. I groaned about the seven hour drive, then about the hot weather, the amount of anglers on the water because of the clave, and so on. In then hit me like dumbbell eyes to the face that I was talking myself out of going steelheading, and Denver gave me that great and necessary reality check.  Paul and Denver skated out of Great Falls on Thursday night and made it to the Clearwater at 4am.I had to hang back a day for work. I drove the 207 miles from Missoula early Saturday morning with glazed eyes at 4 am, squinting at the ''Turns for the next 26 miles signs" that show up every 26 miles from Lolo to Kamiah. I made it to the river by 7 am and swung a few runs before heading to Poppy's Red Shed Spey Clave (...

It's good to go home and get away. This was the case this weekend on a family trip home to Dillon, MT. I was fortunate enough to grow up on a large ranch that offered all sorts of opportunities and taught me valuable lessons that are still with me today. However, I may have been just a little too busy growing up and focusing most of my attention to all things horse related to realize the recreational advantages I had right there in my back yard, literally steps away from my door. The coveted access to the lower Beaverhead was probably the one single thing I took for granted the most. Fly fishing the Beaverhead is a must when I go home now because I feel we have so much time to make up, and to be honest, my home waters are probably the most challenging for me. It is the one river that I fish frequently that I know very little about. I go o...

Last night Keaten (Cornfed) and I went speeding after work back to the Missouri after hooking some nice browns with Jake the night before. I think the cooler weather and water temps are beginning to activate the fish. Browns should now be staging below possible spawning areas and larger rainbows will usually follow. We have been swinging 2-4 inch Crayfish and Sculpin patterns before dark with really great success. The weeds are beginning to relent on the Missouri which is making the swing possible. Although I would recommend if you are spey fishing to stay with about 10 ft. of T-8 or one of the MOW tips that has 2.5-5 feet of floating integrated to 5-7.5 feet of T-11 as there are enough weeds still that dragging flies across the rocks is still annoying. One of our friends Rick Matney has written a great 'how to’ section here on swingin...

Klaus Frimor is one of the key figures of these times when it comes to fly casting. His knowledge of both single and double-handed rods, lines and casting techniques have taken him to work in research and development departments for brands like Loop Tackle. He has also guided fly-fishers in the best spots of the world, like Iceland, Cuba, Argentina, USA and Canada among others. Since the age of 5, fishing has dominated his life. Klaus grew up in the western part of Jutland Denmark, where, in the beginning, smaller lakes and streams were the target for his adventures. Later on, Sweden and Norway became his primary interest, and fly-fishing for trout, salmon, and pike dominated his life. At the age of 19 he volunteered to join the army and requested to serve at a NATO airbase in Denmark, being that the best seat rout river ran through that...

Fall is in the air and for the lake fly fisher, there’s no better time than right now if you love the change in colors of the trees, the crisp air and unpredictable weather. If you need to get gear for the fall chill, we've got a large selection of warmer wader options online here. But sometimes fly fishing stillwaters can be tricky- luckily, we’ve searched and learned and failed so many times that we’ve figured a couple things out- so you can take these top 4 tips for still water, and actually get out and have a better shot at producing some hits this fall. 1. Stillwater Tips: Fishing Dragonfly Nymphs Dragonfly nymphs are migrating from the depths, heading for the shoreline in search of rush tubers where they burrow for protection from the freeze to come. The fly angler can anchor in the shallows and slowly retrieve a nymph pattern...