Page 28 - North 40 Outfitters

Omak Lake (WA) Day by day it keeps getting better. Even though the Lahontan cutthroats are not cruising in the larger pods, they are still there. On a good, day right now, a couple of hours of fishing can land you about six to 12 fish. Most are still in the 16 to 20 inches size range, but a few larger ones are starting to show up. Springtime as finally showed up with sunny and warmer days. The downside to these nice sunny days is it can slow fishing down a bit. One of the good things about Omak Lake is that most of the time you get some type of a breeze that can ruffle up the surface. It’s just enough to hide the silhouette of the fish from any predatory eyes from above. Fishing close to the bottom in 10 to 15 feet of water is going to be your best chance at finding a number of these hungry fish. The closer to next month we get, th...

Steelhead Rivers The Rivers are on the rise and starting to make their journey to blow out. Visibility on the Clearwater around Orofino was about a foot as of yesterday. The Snake and Grande Ronde Rivers are making their way up in the cfs. Driving up the Snake River yesterday showed some discoloration. The SF of the Clearwater could provide some fishing opportunities, yet that river has shown some rise too in cfs. The weather coming this weekend is showing rain, which has the potential to make the rivers rise and become more off colored. Trout Rivers Basically the same goes for the Trout Rivers around the area. All are rising and becoming off colored. Lake Fishing With these warmer temperatures that we have been having, our ice is starting to come off of the lower elevation lakes. Leech patterns would be a great pattern to fish, providin...

Snow and ice have been melting like crazy.  A fair number of folks are back out on the Missouri River.  Boat landings from Wolf Creek to Mid Canyon saw a bit of activity this past weekend.  Soon the river will be wide open again.  It’s like, suddenly, the lid came off of winter and eager anglers are spilling out. I hesitate to even mention it, but if you look at the forecast, the temperatures are mild, and the “W” is not an issue.  When does that happen in the spring?  If you like spring fly fishing, you should be taking advantage. Trout Spey Fish are eager to eat, and small streamers represent larger food items in their world when compared to a midge or sow bug.  For the next several weeks, the swing should remain an excellent technique.  Clouser’s, near nuff sculpin, thin mints, swimming leeches, balanced leeches, balan...

Coeur d'Alene River The river is flowing 673 cfs at Cataldo and climbing slightly.  Looks like good conditions this week up until Saturday.  We are expecting rain on Saturday and this will really get the flows bumping up.  The river has been very low and at this point we need a touch of water to get the fish moving around a bit.  We’ve had some better reports in from the last couple of days of warmer weather.   I think the fish are starting to wake up a bit.  The nights are getting a little warmer which will help increase the water temperatures as well.  There is a good amount of nemoura stone flies around.  They are the small skinny black stone flies you will see all over the snow banks.  The fish should be looking at smaller stone fly type nymphs now.   Also, streamer fishing will be really good in the next few days.  Wit...

Early one season, I was guiding on the Middle Kenai River in Alaska.  I came across this guy on the bank with a long rod.  He was sending casts 100 feet out into the river.  He was reaching water that I was working from the boat.  And, he was catching fish.  The same fish I was reaching by boat. I did not immediately go out and get a spey rod, but I thought about it.  Then I met these guys in Montana who worked at a fly shop in Great Falls.  They were all excited about spey for steelhead and they were playing around with their spey rods on the Missouri River.   I decided I needed to get in the game, so I called up George Cook.  He was the Sage Rep who I kept running into on the Kenai.  He set me up with the Death Star.  That’s code for the Sage 7126-4 TCX, and George turned that fly rod into a legend.  It took me a few out...

We’ll just state the obvious. Fishing for walleye is just plain fun. Thrilling and fast-paced, catching walleye means an angler has to be quick-thinking when it comes to fishing this predator. That’s why we asked walleye expert, Dale Gilbert, to share his extensive walleye knowledge with us. A walleye master, Dale, has fished walleye from Arkansas to Canada and Michigan to Montana, and he doesn’t disappoint. Jigging for walleye begins with the right gear. In this link, walleye expert, Dale Gilbert, explains the rods and jigs he uses and how to tie palomar knots to catch walleye.    Video Transcription How to Jig for Walleye Hey folks. This is Dale Gilbert. We're going to talk a little bit about getting set up to do a little jigging for Walleyes, and we’re over here at Noxon Reservoir today....

Omak Lake (WA) Next week is when spring is supposed to officially start. According to the weather forecast, day time temperatures are projected to be in the mid-50s. All I can say about that is, let's hope so!  Until then, I can report that right now fishing is okay. In talking to the anglers that have been out there, they are catching a few fish here and there. Nicholson (Beer Can) Beach and Cowpie Beach are producing some nice fish averaging about 18 inches with a few over 22 to 24 inches. As night temperatures, as well as the day time temperatures, climb, the fishing should improve greatly. Right now, you will find most of the fish cruising right at the drop offs. The depth you will find them in is anywhere from 10 to 15 feet. That said, don’t be surprised if you get follows into the shallower waters. Most of the fish are not bei...

Coeur d'Alene River The flow is 493 cfs at Cataldo.  That's not much water folks but get ready.  Next week the forecast says mid-50s.  This will bring the water up in a hurry.  Hopefully, it will not be too fast or bring too much rain on top of it.  There is a ton of snow to come down the creek this year.  So, keep a close eye on our reports and we’ll keep you abreast of the current conditions.  It is going to be a rollercoaster of a spring with this much snow.  If you are to go up this week or the first part of next week, it is going to be a nymphing game and/ or streamer game, mostly.  Now with the warmer temperatures, they are calling for, we might see some midges, blue wing olives, and, possibly, some namoura stoneflies. I think the ol' stand by rig with a Pat’s rubber legs for a lead fly and a smaller pheasant tail d...

It was intolerably cold and snowy from January 26th until the first week of March. You should take a drive along the river from Pelican Point to the Mountain Palace just to see the ice formations right now. When she starts moving, it’s going to be something. Now, it’s finally warm enough to consider fishing, but be warned. If you are headed up above Craig to fish, parking and walking access is very limited.  If you can find a safe place to park and are able to make your way to the river, you’ll also have to deal with shelf ice.  Not only can you fall through the edges, but drifting sheets have taken down wading anglers, costing them their pride and even their lives. So, stay safe out there! Swing Season Is Back The Missouri River is an awesome canvas on which to apply a swung fly.  March is an excellent time to employ the swing ...

We’ll just state the obvious. Fishing for walleye is just plain fun. Thrilling and fast-paced, catching walleye means an angler has to be quick-thinking when it comes to fishing this predator. That’s why we asked walleye expert, Dale Gilbert, to share his extensive walleye knowledge with us. A walleye master, Dale, has fished walleye from Arkansas to Canada and Michigan to Montana, and he doesn’t disappoint. Walleye don’t like a lot of current. So, where to find walleye, depends. Walleye migrate and move a lot. In this link, walleye expert, Dale Gilbert, explains how to look for the bubbles and how to find walleye in the seam.   Video Transcription Where to Find Walleye Walleyes migrate. They move a lot, so it kind of depends. And what we're dealing with here right now is that we're basically fish...

The most common type of fly rod you see on the water nowadays is a modern spey rod. If you were to drive up the Clearwater River when the steelhead are here, I would almost be willing to bet you would not see one angler fishing a single-handed rod. Most people wouldn’t bat an eye at this, but traditionally the rod that was used was a single-handed rod. So, why have people strayed away from them and towards two-handed rods? Casting a Spey Rod is Efficient Efficiency. That is the number one reason that comes to my mind. Once you have learned the basics of casting a spey rod, the cast becomes effortless. At the drop of a dime, you can cast anywhere from fifty feet to a hundred and forty feet (depending on your skill). The thought of that drives a lot of people towards a spey rod. There is also an added benefit of less fatigue -espe...

It’s time to shake the winter blues and get back into the fish-fighting spirit. This year’s film tour covers some awesome stories from friends road tripping cross-continent, salty dudes in the South Pacific, trading snowboards for spey rods, Idaho’s cutthroat mecca, conservation in Yellowstone, Hank Patterson’s laugh in South Dakota’s Black Hills, and adventure in French Polynesia. There’s something for everyone in this odyssey of sip rises, streamer chases, and screaming runs on the flats. For those of you that are not familiar with the Fly Fishing Film Tour, or F3T, this is the 13th screening year, and in my opinion, it gets better just about every year! All the films are proudly presented by Costa, Simms, and Yeti, respectively. The real focus though, are the organizations around the country and globe that benefit from the...