Page 187 - North 40 Outfitters

While Saturday was windy, rainy, and cold we had a great upper float by the dam and caught a number of fish. However, on Sunday with 60 degree weather, sunny, and no wind- we had our 'rookie day.’ How come no one ever knows (err how come I never know) when daylight saving time comes? So we plan to leave at 10:30- unknowingly, it’s 11:30. After gas stop/food stop/coffee stop in Ulm because Craig restaurants are still under construction we make it to Craig boat ramp by 1pm. Midges are all over the water- no fish eating them (there was a couple actually but it was crazy). Float the first two bends with girl in front of the boat using a nymph rig- guy in back of the boat throwing a streamer to clean up- no fish. Drift boat floats by waves and smiles and yells -’great fishing today’- ooo yeah- heart sinks. However perfect weather and ...

Like 'em or Love 'em... or even if you don't like them at all orange hot head flies have been the talk of nymphing on the Missouri. Whether it be a 'hot head sow bug'... 'hot head ray charles' - or Solitude's new 'sunkist'.. they work. It is pretty obvious what fish are eating these flies for this time of year and when the water begins to rise, we believe it also adds some visibility in off colored water. Last year this style of nymph exploded with popularity on the Missouri. We got the beads and a large selection of the patterns at the shop. Come check them out.. they are fish catch

This video is a little strange and pretty cool at the same time. Anyways, the video work is really cool, and it's got some pretty young spirit behind it.

I just broke through the clouds in one of the prop planes that fly from Great Falls, Montana to Seattle. I've only had 2 cups of coffee at this point, pre-8am, and thinking about fly rods keeps prop plane turbulence out of mind. Picked up a couple of publications with the latest fly rod reviews, read &lsquo'em, in my opinion they were terribly biased. So here is mine, yes they are biased, but not because I got payed to say anything particular about any rod or company. They are biased because of who I know is behind the rods, what I know about the companies, and because I have fished them all. I'm not going to comment on a rod I haven't fished against a comparable rod in this review, and I will say negative things about a rod that I don't think is up to par, regardless of the company behind it or the marketing that has been spent to ma...

Frozen rod guides are the most annoying issue on God's blue water when fish are eating on the Mo in cool weather. I've heard of a bunch of ideas to slow the pain of glacial rod guides. These include petroleum jelly, Loon's Ice off Paste, and now Mitch thinks Pam's a good idea. Pam...does not sound like a good idea. Mitch has lots of ideas that I question. However, I am willing to try his Pam trick today, and will report later. In the meantime, here's a little story about Mitch... Day 1 Baja: Mitch came along on our Baja trip to try to land Roosters from the beach's off the Sea of Cortez (we were successful) like a lot of people have in recent years. We flew in to Cabo and got this crazy taxista who was telling us all about how he just got out of jail, he didn't have a license, and he couldn't drop us off at the front of the lodge because...

Have you seen this official thingamabobber pro-staffer tattooed anywhere yet? Don't even think about copying this sticker...it's mine! (and you can see it is copyrighted right on the bobba). If you get the sticker, no matter how you get it, you're in. That's right, love 'em or hate 'em if you are a nymph fishing fool, or a guide you have spent time crosseyed and glazed over waiting for your thingamabobber to bob. Great nymph fisherman are skilled enough to not have to purchase these things...that's not me. I need a bright floaty ball to warn me of strikes, and I'm proud of it. Old School: ""Strike Indicator"" and you get your hand slapped for calling it a bobber. This is still true if you take a spin fisherman out and they call it a ""bobber"" with out realizing it should be called a ""strike indicator"" to avoid the association with conv...

Brian asked if us light has broken down the fiberglass on your oars what you could do about it...here is advanced composites reply... Brian, Thanks for the inquiry. Your oars are likely fine structurally but they may have been long overexposed to UV. Covering oars when not in use for extended periods is an important way to preserve the finish on composite materials. There is a pretty simple solution to get some coverage on the shafts. The easiest way is to rough up the surface of the shafts with a scotchbrite pad. Just knock of the debris and get them clean and dry. Next, go to a Lowe's or Home Depot and pick up a can of Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane (Indoor/outdoor/clear gloss). It is available in an 11.5 oz. spray can. Give the shafts an even coat and allow to fully dry (cure). I recommend 2-3 coats. The can is pretty good for coverage....

Achieving Bum Status: The Journey There’s levels to this- fly fishing lifestyle--and for those of us who have been fishing for more than say... 3 months, one of the most coveted titles/personas you can achieve as a fly fisher is that of "the bum." The bum is an elusive character, full of mystique and an almost wild abandon. The Test of the Bums If it’s 20 below outside, and there are a couple feet of snow on the water AND YOU STILL agree with 9 out of the following 11 bullet points- You’re well on your way to achieving bum status. 1. The roads are probably too bad to get 5 miles to work...but just good enough to get 30 miles to the Missouri. 2.  People think you are more hardcore for fishing in the snow (image booster), but in reality, you know no one else is on the river and some of your best days are when it snows. 3. Not need...

By Sam Wike Everyone has a story like this every fly fishing trip they take... but this one was so close I could taste it, and have had nightmares of losing this fish already. During the last hour of the entire trip (standard storytelling line, but it’s true), we were out in front of the beach hooking up and seeing some smaller Roosterfish and Jack Crevalle. Actually a huge school of Jack Crevalle--thousands just sitting under the boat. The day before I had made some casts in front of the lodge before dinner and saw a huge rooster crash on a Jack Crevalle. One of those moments that you wish everyone could see so they believe you, and impossible to replicate with words.   Hooking up with the Largest Rooster of the Trip Well we hooked a fish in this spot and I cast a larger closer towards a dock and I saw a large shadow beneath the ...

By Sam Wike Here's a Montana dude’s thoughts before a trip to fly fish for roosterfish in Mexico: We leave in 22 days for Baja, East Cape, and the Sea of Cortez to try to hook a roosterfish on a fly. We have been asking everyone what flies, leaders, lines, rods, reels, clothes we should bring and about the best answer we get is "stuff for saltwater." Sweet, I guess we will wing it. For flies people have told us to imitate the sardinas and mullet down there, yeah no problem because: a.) We haven't been there and, b.) I don't know what either of those look like. Go try to google a picture of one... it's impossible. For lines, the first guy we talked to said all you need is a floating line second guy (the guide down there, name is Jeff) says don't bring any floating lines at all. Rods and reels are cinch, just bring everything from an 8 w...

Evidently it is not too common to see one of these caught on the fly. We would have spent more time taking better photos of it had we known it was so rare. It is called a Rainbow Runner at least that's what the boat captain Santos told us. The picture doesn't do this fish justice but they fight hard like a Tuna and have really brilliant colors in the water. It ate a 3 0/Blue and White Seeker.

By Sam Wike The first three days of our trip we fished alone off the beach-no guides-no boats. The beach isn’t easy and takes a lot of dedication-- I took off with my backpack at 7 am after breakfast at Rancho Leonero with no idea what to do and alone. Looking for Roosterfish: Where I Found Them I started heading towards the point across the bay from the ranch looking for water where I could see roosterfish cruising. It helps to have white sand flats, and the best place to look is where there is a deep area near one of these flats so you can see the roosterfish crashing the baitfish. In about the first 100 yards I landed two ladyfish. Ladyfish are actually a really fun fish as they are similar to a baby tarpon and acrobatic when they are hooked up. Lots of ladies around, and you won’t hear too many guys complain about that. Got to the...