Page 179 - North 40 Outfitters

Chasing blue lines has been a hobby of mine since I started fly fishing. It is the best way to discover new spots, and the exploration is a large part of the draw for me. Nothing beats rounding a bend in the river deep in the woods, miles from the road, and hooking a sweet fish on the first swing or drift. But simply picking a blue line and walking it can be a real test of your skills as an outdoorsman and your patience as an angler. I can recount many days of spending hours hiking down a canyon, through head high brush, over countless dead logs, and finally reaching a river that is seemingly fishless. And that's not even the hard part, the real test begins on the hike out after a long fishless day. Luckily, given advances in information technology we now have some great tools to help us improve our chances and put our limited free time t...

It seems like one of the hardest pieces of fly fishing gear to figure out is your pack. There are a variety of ways to carry your gear for a days’ worth of fishing. Some guys like vests, some guys like backpacks, chest packs, or hip packs, while some prefer a coat with simple large pockets. I have tried almost everything but I think I have finally found the pack that works for me. Patagonia has a history of building feature rich, durable gear designed to get the job done. The Atom sling pack is exactly that. It’s a compact, over the shoulder bag that rests on the back, but easily slides around to the front for quick access. No need to stop and take the pack off, just release the waste belt and slide it. It is simple and extremely effective pack concept. I have used hip packs that will do the same thing, but nothing compares to the ea...

It’s exactly 3 minutes and fifty-eight seconds from Steelhead Lane to the North 40 Flyshop here in Omak. My shift today at the shop (coinciding with Opening Day), gave me the opportunity to take advantage of the lane. With the water still warm at 56+ degrees, I was psyched to fish dry lines and see what was looking up-even if only for a few minutes. Last night, I’d heard most of the crew planned to head off to the more spectacular 'hidey holes’ that are proven steelie territory and slay fish on opening day. Meanwhile, I would have to fish the town drifts briefly and scoot in to work. A little bummed, I chose our bass pro (Eric’s) 'honey hole’ because of its proximity to the shop, and hoped it didn’t already have numerous 'bobber-lobbers’ bonking fish. Luckily, I got there when I did, 'cause the jiggers showed up just as I w...

Each year, around this time, the boys in the shop begin watching the fish counts over the Columbia and Snake River dams. Right now there seems to be a lull in the return run of steelhead for the Snake, Ronde, and Clearwater River. Fish counts have dropped from the thousands into the hundreds over most dams. Right now there are thousands of fish tucked into cooler tributaries and The Hanford Reach, trying to avoid warm water. Soon the fish will turn around and start to head up the Snake River and we will begin to see thousands of steelhead a day returning to their spawning grounds. Studying the runs for several years I always notice two big pushes of fish. The second push usually happens a little over two weeks after the first. The daily topic at the shop is whether or not to head down to the Clearwater to try and catch what few fish are a...

It happened again. Another river, a large one, has managed to captivate my attention. Where to fish the Kootenai River, and why, are some questions that arise. Why the Kootenai River and Tips to Fly Fish its "Big" Water Like most big water, the Kootenai is tail water that is blessed by a constant supply of food and stable water temps. The river flows free on its journey to the Columbia, and we are lucky to have access to some of its most productive stretches here in North Idaho and Northwest Montana. Why would you want to fish the Kootenai? Dreams. Dreams of big fish in bigger water come to me at night. Riffles so large you could spend an entire day probing their depths, and still not cover them all. Undercut banks that stretch for half a mile. Waterfalls with enough water to devour boats... and the monster trout lurking in the depths o...

The St. Joe River, located south of 1-90 in North Central Idaho is a premier fishery for west slope cutthroat. It shares a lot of the same characteristics as the famous N. Fork of the Clearwater (Kelly Creek) and the CDA system to the north. Looking for Good Fishing Access on the St. Joe? Good access can be had from St Regis (Gold Pass), Wallace, Idaho (Moon Pass) or via the river road from St. Maries, Idaho. When on the Joe you can expect water as clear as gin, tumbling rapids, shadowy deep pools, and classic pocket water. There are also a variety of tributary systems to explore, the most well-known being Marble Creek and the N. Fork of the Joe. There is "primitive camping" (no water or service sites) for free dotted along the upper river, as well as a horse camp far up into the roadless reach of the upper river. The national forest serv...

That’s right ladies and gentleman, its Hex time here in Great Falls. For those of you who don’t know what a Hex is, it is time to learn. Hexagenia limbata or Hex for short are the largest hatching mayfly species discovered to date. As an adult, the Hex can grow to be 4-6" from head to tail and has a wing-span to match. Their habitat is constricted to streams and lakes that consist of extensive mud flats (i.e. the lower Sun River, Belt Creek, and Missouri) because they’re burrowers during their life as a nymph. Hex hatches have been noted to be so thick in the Midwest that their emergence can be recorded via Doppler radar. The Hex emergence is very impressive. Beginning just before twilight, the nymphs explode to the surface and hatch while on the surface film. When they break the surface they make a dimple on the water so big one ...

Lately Jerrin has been playing around with his GoPro while riding a popular bike trail around town. Thankfully during this ride he was wearing his helmet cam to capture the moment of impact. The meat and potatoes of the ride starts at 4:42 where it seems to be in fast-forward (but it's not). At 5:27 the video takes a turn for the worst as he tries to avoid on-coming traffic. This just goes to show how awesome GoPro's really are. Enjoy!

Dry fly season is upon us here in the Northwest Rockies. With fishing looking up all day long it's a good idea to put away the strike indicator and switch over to a high floating dry fly when you want to run a nymph rig. The problem is finding a fly that can suspend the type of nymph that is heavy enough to get down through fast currents quickly. I decided to run some very scientific tests on our popular indicator flies to see how much buoyancy they had. The method was simple, hang split shot off the fly via a piece of tippet and record how long each floated for, and if they would refloat after being pushed under the surface film. I tested thirteen flies, all coated one time with Loon Aquel.. Here are the results. 13. #12 Rainy's Grand Hopper. This classic and effective foam hopper pattern was able to suspend one split shot and did not re...

Been getting a lot of questions lately about the differences between monofilament and fluorocarbon, as well as the differences between the different brands we carry. Lets start this discussion by answering some questions about the differences between mono and fluoro. There are four main differences between the two which are: Density Monofilament is less dense, meaning it will float. Floating line = more relaxed line (more slack in the line, less feel). Fluorocarbon is much denser, it sinks. Sinking line = more tension (less slack in the line, more feel). Strength Monofilament has more dynamic strength meaning is has stretch or give. Mono also is permeable to water over time which means it will weaken (this is why you don’t want to leave spools of mono out in the rain). Fluorocarbon is more abrasion resistant than mono meaning is has ...

Every fly fisher is bound to experience the skunk now and then' it is an important aspect of our sport. Getting skunked will test your dedication to the sport. Ask any west coast steelhead fisherman and you will surely hear stories of months or even in some extreme cases years in which the dedicated angler fishes quality water day after day and simply does not touch a fish. It doesn't mean you're doing something wrong (unless of course you are STILL eating bananas in the boat), it is just unavoidable. Some days the fish are full (after a 3 day gorging of carpenter ants for example), some days you simply don't ever get a fly in front of a fish, and some days you just can't keep the line tight no matter how perfectly you fight the fish. The important thing is to not get discouraged, keep fishing, and you WILL eventually persevere. Having ju...

I started working in the Big R Fly Shop in Great Falls, MT in late October. I've known Kris for several years and was not surprised when he took off across the globe to Thailand in January. For weeks, I'd have to answer the question' 'Where is Kris?' Well I just checked my fly fishing media links today and found that MidCurrent has the answer. We knew Kris was working with Montana Fly Company, but here is the rest of the story in his words.... Thanks to Midcurrent....   Kris Keller: Thailand fly fishing is by far the biggest experience I have had yet. Like most Thailand stories it starts out in Bangkok. From there it’s only a one-hour plane ride and three-hour car ride that ends in a fairly primitive jungle. Fishing in gin-clear water for Masheer. Chiang Mai Fly Fishing has a pretty sweet thing going to restore the Mahseer fisher...