Page 186 - North 40 Outfitters

"I really wish we had more time to fish," is the thought that went through my mind on an annoyingly repetitive basis throughout my trip in Puerto Rico. My family who lives there constantly talked about how there are tons of Tarpon all over the island and no fly fisherman are ever around especially not outside of San Juan where they get a few anglers each year. Eating dinner we would see Tarpon swarming waiting for guests to hand off extra chicken and fish, and in the marinas the Tarpon fins were rolling as we came to dock. Indeed to go back, we need to get some hard core anglers and check it out. It's not like I was a seeing a few baby tarpon in the mangroves... these were like 40-100lb fish just laying around chillin' out. These images are of an island off of Puerto Rico that my family was telling me has a lot of Tarpon on a lagoon at ...

Kris Keller's Montana Mouthwash is the week's fly of the week. Check it out and pay special attention to how he finishes the end of the fly the a technique you may not be familiar with called 'Sleezing' the fly.

How do you explore new spots?  What if you google a spot you are going to for 'fly-fishing' and nothing comes up... like nobody's guiding it, there is nothing written, there are no blogs about it? Sweet, that makes me excited, and there aren't too many places anymore where you can't get good information off the internet.  One good tool that I have used a lot is Google Earth. The basic package is free to download and it shows water depths pretty clear and easy to maneuver.  I'm leaving Friday for Puerto Rico for mostly a family trip but I've had people asking me left and right if I am bringing fly rods and gear, and I sort of just look at them like...duh. Do you really have to ask me that...YES! Of course I'm bringing my stuff. Here's a small bit of the for Puerto that one of our buddies sent me... and I have furthered my studies since...

We are calling out the Urban Mo. It's right here, runs through town, huge runs and lots of water. Do people fly fish here? Some do. Who? They would never tell you. Where at? Haha...why do you think we never hear about it. What hatches? Hex's, drakes, baetis...hmmm... I have never tied a Hex. This is important. Where do kids fly fish after school? Do they even realize the opportunity is there? Who are the sticks in Great Falls that land more trout here in town that up stream from Craig, and still have a seat for a Prime Rib at the Bar S by 7? I grew up just outside of Milwaukee, WI. Not traditional fly fishing country. About the only knowledge or resource I had was the Cortland VCR cassette that came with my starter fly rod combo. With way less opportunity by 3rd and 4th grade we were like hawks scanning the Milwaukee river, stopping in ba...

This is a few day late but too cool not to share. The guys have been in Belize over Easter which is the reason for the delay. However, here is your Easter Hopper pattern by Brian Holum.

We just returned home last night from Belize, and dang it’s cold here. I woke up and it was 85, and go to bed and there is snow on the ground and 30. The trip went really well this year with lots of first. 5 guys on the trip landed their 1st Permit... lots of other casts went in the direction of Permit. A couple of larger Permit were hooked in the week but none over the 15-20lb mark were landed. Erik landed a nice Permit with quite a few others on, and so did Dan, Tom, Bryan, and Dick. Paul, Sam, Boyd, Keith, Dick, and David all landed Tarpon during the week. Mostly baby Tarpon, however, big ones were around, Dan had a tug of war with a 70lb-ish class Tarpon... and others, as well as me, had lots of shots and big cruising Tarpon during the week. Of course, Bonefish were very plentiful, and I think everyone on the trip landed lots, an...

Since graduating a few months ago life has been great. No homework, a shiny pickup, a steady paycheck, no weekend studying, but as of the last couple weeks something has been missing. I didn't realize it until I started looking at some of my old pictures. My life will no longer have any spring break fishing trips. These were the best times I had in school every year. A full week off to drink cheap beverages, camp, and chase fish, what more could a broke group of fish bum students ask for. Our first spring break consisted of one day on the Madison, three on the Big Hole, two on the Ruby, and one the Beaverhead. For some reason the fishing gods were with us because not only was the fishing spectacular, but the weather was great all week considering it was the beginning of March. Then I spent the next couple breaks chasing Steelhead over in...

We drove up to Missoula area this weekend in search of a Skwala hatch, however, extremely low snowpack has left the area with low and warm water which has made the Skwala's hatch much earlier this year. On the Bitterroot the heavy part of the hatch was already near Darby. With more boats on the water than Skwala's, we decided against a longer drive/boat traffic. On the way up we stopped briefly on the Blackfoot. The water looks good, saw a few fish rising in the evening. However, didn't see any stoneflies around but we were only stopped very briefly. Stopped in at a local fly shop for a shuttle and we got three numbers, 1 of which didn't work, 1 was disconnected, and the last one the person doesn't do shuttles... so uh... yea. Lower Clark Fork had been fishing well, lots of March Browns around but didn't have time for that long of a float...

"How far can you cast?" The question from my guide left me with a queasy/nervous feeling in my gut because I knew my casting ability was about to be put on trial. In fly fishing circles, it’s a pretty important question. I had cast an entire 90'² line before, but that was during a casting contest with a buddy, after a few beers, not nearly the same pressure-cooker situation I found myself in at the moment. I thought about saying something cool like, "As far as I need to," but quickly realized how stupid that would look when I followed it up by slapping a ball of spaghetti out there. So I aimed on the safe side and said, "Oh, probably 70 or 80 feet, not sure it’s been awhile since I threw a twelve weight." Instantly started kicking myself, it’s been awhile? Like since that one time in a different life? I had never touched a twelve...

While twitters, facebook messages, emails, and blog posts have been hinting the Skwala hatch on the Bitterroot starting to heat up, we went the other direction. Too much traffic there so we headed to the cold windy tundra on the lower Big Hole. On my lunch our on Friday I called the Sportman's hotel in Melrose for rooms for the next couple nights, and Roxanne got us winter rates in Melrose for $45 at night, staying 30 seconds from the Salmonfly boat launch and 15 seconds from the Hitchin' Post Bar and Restaurant. Christie and I left Friday after work about 7pm and made it down by about 10pm where we set up the vise in the room and got thing ready for the next day... 19 degrees. Woke up about 9am and tied a number of stonefly nymphs after hearing no Skwalas have been flying yet...too cold. After coffee in the room, went to the Hitchin' P...

By Sam Wike When it gets close to Saint Pattie's Day, I'm always reminded of one of my favorite streamer fly combos... a little something I like to call "corned beef and cabbage." This is a two part setup which requires the use of a construction grade hardhat and a rod with enough backbone to handle two large streamers. When the water is murky, which we approach around spring, I have had some absolutely great days using this deadly combo. Now pay close attention. The Super Technical Double-Streamer Setup First tie a short, stout leader straight to your sink tip (nothing less than 2x and no longer than 5 feet). Next tie a white streamer of your choice, any pattern works here as long as it’s white and has some flash in it. Now, tie on a natural color streamer trailing about 18" behind it. For me, my go to patterns are a white muddler i...

Kris Keller's Goodnight is a BWO nymph/emerger he designed to be a cross between the lightning bug and more traditional style BWO patterns. The dun colored CDC wing gives the nymph a pre-emergent look and the flashy color makes this a great nymph when baetis are hatching, even in off color water.