Page 49 - North 40 Outfitters

Coeur d'Alene River The Coeur d'Alene River is fishing well.  With the cooler weather the last few days, things have perked up a bit.  The hopper fishing is still good and smaller sizes will get more looks than the great big patterns.  Morrish hoppers are fishing great in a size 10-12# followed with a smaller black ant or a beetle.  There are decent pmd hatches mid-morning to midday, and surprisingly, a few fish are eating them up in the midday sun.  The late afternoon fishing will still be the most consistent.  Caddis will be the game and a smaller x-caddis or tried and true elk hair caddis, in a 14-16# followed with a soft hackle in a 16# or smaller, will do the trick just fine.  Swinging the soft hackles in the riffles after the sun has gone off the water will do wonders.  Streamer fishing and nymphing have been ok, running a ...

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Rufus Woods (WA) Fishing on Rufus Woods is still producing well for those who know where and what to look for. First off, be on the water before the sun shines above the horizon. First light is going to be your best starting time. In total, you’ll have about five or six hours of prime fishing time. You’ll want to look for any surface feeding activity. Chances are you will find the trout feeding just under the surface on small minnow/fry. They may also be feeding on emerging midges or mayflies. A floating line or an intermediate tip line will fit the bill for both feeding activities. Another event that is happening right now is that some of the crayfish are molting. The rainbows love crayfish in Rufus Woods, and a molting crayfish is a soft-shell treat for them. Once the sun his high overhead, call it a day. The fishing will have slo...

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What You Need to Know About Side-by-Side versus Over/Under Shotguns Read more

Rainy’s really stepped up their game with the creation of the Jiggy Worm. A serious eye catcher to say the least. Tied similarly to a conventional flipping jig, the Jiggy Worm has a buggy look both bass and fly fishermen desire. This fly is simply a must for anyone who wishes to chase bass this summer. Did you know we call a different fly to the spotlight every week? Check out last week's. Swing it, strip it, or drift it, this fly does it all. Tied on a sturdy #1 60° jig hook with brass eyes, this fly has great action. The marabou and rubber leg mane gives the fly tons of movement, no spiny ray can resist. The tapered tail is tied with a unique chenille-like material that wiggles identical to a live worm. Due to the brass eyes, the hook rides point up, and free of all possible snags. Giant fish don't eat tiny dry flies. Nee...

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Coeur d'Alene River The Coeur d'Alene River is fishing well, even with the heat, folks. Just pick your times and try and avoid the midday heat. Early morning and late evening are your best options for consistently rising fish. Use a hopper followed with a beetle, ant, or a bead headed nymph to run deep. You’ll want to concentrate on the fast, or shaded water to find fish. The evenings will be awesome with caddis and pale evening duns hatching. Rusty spinners will be on the table as well. You should try running an x-caddis in a smaller size like a 16 with a dropper of a rusty spinner or a soft hackle. In the afternoon, swinging tandem soft hackles in the faster riffles will produce well too. Streamer fishing with smaller black wolly buggers, rabbit leeches, or near nuff sculpins will produce also. Nymphing is still good too, just downsi...

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Clark Fork River (ID) The flows from Cabinet Gorge dam are between 4,000 to 28,000 cubic feet per second. For anyone who doesn’t understand cfs, it means the river rises and drops roughly six feet a day. The best time to fish the river for trout has been when flows are at its lowest. Caddis, western yellow mayflies, pmds, rusty spinners, hoppers, ants, and beetles are all a part of the trout’s diet. If they aren’t eating flies that match the hatch, throw a #14 purple rocky mountain mint, a #10 purple chubby chernobyl, or a #12 H & L Variant. Nymphs like a #14 red copper john, a #14 Taylor’s gut instinct, and a #16 tan three-dollar dip are great choices to drop behind a dry. Streamers like a #2 complex twist and a #8 olive balanced leech will attract some major strikes. Lake Pend Oreille Water temperatures are ranging from 72-...

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Missouri River It’s well under the 5K mark.  Easy wading, easy rowing and less water to wonder where the fish are.  There are lots of dry fly possibilities too.  There are easy dry fly and challenging dry fly presentation options.  You can decide how to play it. Nymphs The little zebra stuff is keeping rods bent from the dam to the Wolf Creek Bridge.  The fishing can be really good in that reach, especially in the mornings.  In the canyon, olive caddis pupa and purple or gold weight flies are a good choice in the morning. The scud sow range of flies along with jig hares and PT’s are the go-to for the remainder of the day.  If in doubt, roll the zirdle. Dry Flies Trico’s are so thick, it looks like smoke on the water some mornings. If your Trico game is strong, you can really have some fun right now. Ants and beetles are grea...

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Bonaparte Lake (WA) One of the nice things about Bonaparte Lake this time of the year is it sits at almost 3,600 feet in elevation. It might not be a very high elevation, but it is enough to temper the hot weather we are going through right now. I am still getting good reports of some very impressive tiger trout and rainbows still being caught. August is a slow time for many of our lakes, so it is always good to hear of good fishing at one of them. The downside is that the water temperature is really iffy. I would start fishing at first light and call it a day right around noon. A #12 red or pink San Juan worm or squirmy wormies have been the ticket form what I have been told. Most of the time they are being fished under an indicator in 10 to 15-feet of water. Even if the fishing is slow, the food at Bonaparte Lake Resort makes the trip ...

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Lochsa River (ID) The current flow is 631 cfs at Lowell. We are starting to feel the drought around the area. Rain hasn’t fallen for some time now and the trout are acting like it. The water temperatures are still rising, making the fishing tough. Small tributaries where the water is colder can be productive this time of year. Hoppers are everywhere; Morrish Hopper, donkey kong hopper, or a yeti hopper are great foam patterns to use. Dave’s hopper is a great natural looking pattern that works well too. You’ll want to throw a dropper (like a caddis pupa) below one of those and the fish could be catching. North Fork Clearwater River (ID) The current flow is 1010 cfs at Canyon Ranger Station. Water temperatures are sitting in the high 60’s. Fish are going to be hanging out in the coldest water they can find. Instagram is actually a ...

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I have grown an overwhelming interest in trout spey over the past couple of years. I knew I wanted a rod but I didn’t know which spey rod I should buy. I knew I wanted a 3 or 4-weight but didn’t know what length, make, or model. With so many different rod options, and only enough money for one rod, I wanted to make sure I purchased the right one for me. Still searching for the perfect Echo rod? Find it here. Luckily, I had the chance to cast several different trout spey rods and lines at North 40 Flyshop’s Spey Clave 2018 on the Missouri River. This is where I fell in love with Echo’s #4 TR Trout. It didn’t take too long before I had one in the back of my truck and was driving to the Coeur d’Alene River to chase cutties. Want to know what happens at Cinco de Speyo? Read about it here. I properly matched the rod with an Airflo...

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As a fly shop, trout still butter our bread, but more and more, people are asking about carp and want to know what flies to use. Before I provide my list, I’m going to delve briefly into carp behavior and some important fly designs characteristics. Carp are opportunistic feeders.  They often don’t wait for food to present itself.  Instead, they root it right out from where it is hiding.  Apparently, it’s an efficient way to feed and probably why they get so darn large. Flies can be imitative of nymphs, worms, leeches, crayfish and sculpin or minnows.  In some situations, carp will even eat seeds and vegetation.  At times, you can also find them working a hatch and eating dries like mayflies, caddis or terrestrials.  Depending on where you live and what you observe, there are many food sources to imitate.  For my carp fishing...

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Credited to Montana guide Andy Carlson and distributed in its original form through the Montana Fly Company, the parachute Purple Haze dry fly is one of the best patterns I have ever fished.  When customers ask what fly they should be using in Montana in the summertime, the Purple Haze is usually at the top of the list.  In a variety of sizes from #18-#12, the Purple Haze can cover many of your mayfly hatches.  It also works very well as a general attractor or searching fly, and fish still seem to select it when caddis are on the water.  Fish simply like it. Of course, fly tiers and fly companies have provided many replicas with a variety of body and tail variations.  Many simply change the dubbing to purple and package it as a Purple Adams.  While a purple Adams works fine, the Purple Haze ...

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