Page 184 - North 40 Outfitters

Two very important rivers to us here in Montana have been reunited with the removal of Milltown Dam. 'A Merry Christmas for Two of the Nation’s Most Beautiful Rivers Blog Post by Hal Herring. Uploaded on December 20, 2010:> by Hal Herring I’d like to celebrate something here today that has been almost 20 years in the making and that will be enjoyed by future fishermen and anyone who loves rivers and fish, for centuries to come. On December 16, workers completed the removal of Milltown Dam from the confluence of the mighty Blackfoot River (made famous in Norman McClean’s A River Runs Through It) and the even mightier Clark’s Fork of the Columbia, about seven miles upstream from Missoula, Montana. The rivers flowed free for the first time since 1908, when mega-entrepreneur and U.S. Senator William A. Clark had the dam built to p...

We have a great resource having the Missouri in our back yard here in Great Falls, and although many consider the 'fly fishing season' to be from April-October the fish on the Mo eat all year long. Not only do they eat all year long but they can be caught on dries, nymphs, or streamers all year long. I was out this past weekend, and KK and John T were out the days before-- it was easier to catch fish this past week than it was in August. No weeds and no people are on the Mo relatively compared to the popular months. I did see a few others fishing but more guys trying to shoot ducks than anything else, I actually fished the run I intended to fish without having to share it. I would say this about winter fishing on the Missouri from December to February. If you nymph you will most likely catch fish during these months. Streamer fishing ca...

'MOTIV Fishing is a new name for some familiar faces. Following the success of their past productions, former AEG Media founders, Brian Jill and Chris Owens, have teamed up once again with Thad Robison and Jay Johnson to create the next level of cutting edge fly fishing entertainment with their new adventure series, GEOFISH. In October of 2010, GEOFISH will follow the exploits of these die-hard fishermen as they embark on a grueling 8,000 mile overland adventure across the rugged landscapes of Mexico. Utilizing a diesel truck converted to run on vegetable oil, the GEOFISH crew will travel within Mexico down Baja's remote coastline, ferry across the Sea of Cortez, and continue their overland fly fishing journey along the Pacific Coast eventually reaching the turquoise waters of the Yucatan Peninsula. With a new obstacle around every corne...

Here is a short clip from a new video with famous steelheader Bob Clay... just kind of puts you in the mood. A Steelhead Family - Official HD video 3.1 from Andrew Hardingham on Vimeo. What if fishing was so important that you would change your life to pursue it? You would focus your entire life around it and raise your family to appreciate every aspects of the sport for themselves. "A Steelhead Family" walks you through a few days in the lives of the Clay family (Bob, Jed, Kaili, Kathy & Kateri), who have done just that. Headed by bamboo rod builder Bob Clay, this accomplished steelheading family makes the sport of spey casting look easy while illustrating the importance of the survival of these great fish in BC, Canada. A true fishing family in one of the last wild Steelheading strongholds left on earth.

I got to spend Thanksgiving in Oregon this past weekend. Bruce and I got up early and headed out to the coast for a short half day float. We had a great time, we didn't get any steelhead (which was the target) but it was a nice rainy coastal day. Landed a few sea run cutthroat and hooked a Chinook for a moment. Most of the Chinook we saw were spawning so we just took pictures but it was great too see lots of salmon in the river this fall doing their thing. Will return soon for winter steelhead.  

Here is the new fly of the week using one of our new suppliers, Pro Tube Systems. The tyer is Bruce Berry who is the rep for Pro Tube and we will be posting more flies using these new tubes in the future. The video takes place in Sam’s basement with KK, Sam and the crew watching intently with ideas in mind (hopefully you feel the same). We are working on some new ones in trout intended patterns-however the i-Fli is a great fly to start learning to tie tube flies with and switching around the colors will beach fish on the Missouri this spring (the black and chartreuse in the video would probably get ’em as is).

This is from our hosted North 40 Fly Shop trip to Belize this past April. Next up Pesca Maya, Mexico...just north of this location.. we can't wait. Sign-ups are in the shop for anyone interested and more information is on our site about the upcoming trips on our 'Destinations' tap on this site!

A couple weeks back I was quizzing some guys on the best dye to use for tying materials because I have shot a few birds this year and thought I would start to experiment a little. I heard hair dye and bunch of others but Kool-aid got brought up more than once. So I found this article on Field and Stream on the best way to dye using Kool-aid... Dissolve one or more packs of unsweetened Kool-Aid in a little warm water. Using more Kool-Aid gives greater color depth, so don't be bashful. A Kool-Aid pack costs 20 cents at my local Wal-Mart, so price is really no obstacle. Put the liquid dye in a microwave-safe container, add the hair and enough warm water to cover. Zap it in the microwave for a couple of minutes, and then let it sit. The water should be hot, but not simmering or boiling. You don't want to actually "cook" the hair and hide. (Yo...

This is sweet Musky video that should get everyone pretty amped up for next spring. There are quite a few great Pike (mini musky) lakes near here. Musky Country: Zero 2 Hero from RT on Vimeo. Musky Country is a visually stunning introduction into what it takes to go after the toughest fish in fresh water, the mighty musky, with a fly rod. Z2H will transport you into the heart of the beast and, along the journey, shows you an angling frontier right in the heartland, northern Wisconsin.

We have been seeing a lot of browns that look like this fish... George from FWP has helped clear up some of the confusion and here is what he has to say about it. "Please let me try to explain in some detail what we think is happening to the fish that you are observing that are in bad shape or dead, which should be primarily brown trout. The fungi that you are seeing on the brown trout is likely Saprolegnia spp, or a closely related genera. Saprolegnia parasitica and S. diclina are the principal species which cause the disease in salmonids. These species occur worldwide and appear as whitish cottony-like growths on eggs or fish. They are most commonly a secondary infection or invader to bacterial or viral infections, malnutrition, physical injury and/or physical stress and are opportunistic in nature." As John Wilson's email suggested, ...

Some motivating Steelheading shots. Touching the Soul (BC section trailer) from Troy Costa on Vimeo.

It's hard to decide what to do on a weekend in the fall. There are so many things that one can do. From hunting big game, or going after some ducks, taking the dog out for some pheasants, or deciding what river to go to and fish for some fall browns or maybe even head west and try one's luck at catching a steelhead. This past weekend we decided to go try our luck. Now I will admit that I had pretty much written off Spey rods and Steelheading because I just didn't think it was my thing. I had accepted the fact that I would just stick to a Montana fall and hunt and fish closer to home. But when the opportunity arose, I couldn’t pass up the chance to try it one last time. So we packed up the truck and the boat, along with the Spey Rods' (and yes I brought the trusty over-hand 8wt cause I just knew I would get frustrated with my cast) and ...