Page 53 - North 40 Outfitters

ICAST is the greatest sportfishing industry event in the world. There is a lot to take in and it can be overwhelming. We thought this year’s ICAST first look preview was innovative with a lot of diversity in game fishing tackle. Eager to showcase their newest selection, vendors did not disappoint us. In fact, here are our top ten picks, with an honorable mention.   1. Shimano Curado DC Baitcasting Reel A game changer, the Shimano Curado DC Baitcasting Reel lets you say goodbye to backlashes. Featuring a braking system that utilizes a microcomputer to monitor spool speed, the Curado DC applies the perfect amount of brake to prevent backlash and optimize distance.   2. LIVETARGET Hollow Body Crawfish Natural looking, this hollow body craw delivers lively action with claws and a skirt designed to get down to where deep water sma...

Trico’s Reliable and sometimes heavy hatches of the diminutive Trico mayfly bring many trout to the surface.  In key areas, large pods of sipping trout will form. It can be an awesome sight.  It can also lead to major angling frustrations.  Trout feeding on Trico’s are generally very selective. Trout begin feeding on hatching female duns in the early morning, eventually switching to the male spinners after the daily mating swarms occur.  Later in the day, they might focus on female spinners. Sometimes, they only want a male or female sunken spinner. Anglers must selectively match a very tiny fly and dead drift it very close to their target.  Basically, right on the fish’s nose.  Casts that are not precise and delicate will blow it, putting a fish or an entire pod on alert.  Then it will get really difficult.  Some anglers a...

McDougal is all smiles behind his 71-inch Wyoming buck taken on public land with the help of his self-crafted cardboard decoy. Photo by Rebecca McDougal I peered through the tiny viewing hole in my homemade cardboard decoy, fully expecting to see the pronghorns’ white rumps amidst clouds of dust. However, the three-goat group—two does and a massive buck—lingered and stared curiously at my cardboard cutout. One doe soon ambled directly away, while the other approached inquisitively with the buck in tow. I leaned out just far enough to range the goats as they advanced my way. When they stopped at nearly 60 yards, I knew they weren’t coming any closer; it was now or never. I slowly drew my bow and leaned out, and when my pin floated on his ribs, I touched the trigger. My arrow arched across the prairie, hitting slightly higher than ...

There are few baits more effective at enticing a fish to strike than a jerkbait. Effective in cold water they can wake a lethargic bass from its slumber, or entice ferocious strikes during prime feeding season. Of course, jerkbaits aren't limited to bass fishing and are an effective means of targeting a wide variety of gamefish including big stripers and are deadly in the salt for snook, mackerel, and redfish. The Big Brother The success of the 3.5", size 9, RipStop begged Rapala to build a bigger version. Like the smaller version, the new RipStop 12 has the same unique lip on the tail that results in hard stops after fast rips all on a 4.5" body. This lure can be worked strongly in a tight spot to pull fish out of nearby cover. Fine scaling details, holographics, and a diversity of bait fish and vibrant color schemes are enough to stimu...

Riding high from Jordan Lee’s back-to-back Bassmaster Classic win, Strike King has a lot to celebrate this year. They recently stopped by the home office and gave us a preview of upcoming new colors, sizes and lures they will be showcasing at this year’s 2018 ICAST. Here are some of our favorites… Strike King KVD Perfect Plastics Ocho 4” The one that helped Jordan Lee capture the 2018 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell, the Strike King KVD Perfect Plastics Ocho has new color extensions this year. Named Ocho, cause it’s got eight sides, this bait delivers awesome action and light reflection. Super soft plastic with a heavy salt content formulation, the Ocho has Strike King’s exclusive Coffee Scent technology which helps mask human scent and oils and attracts fish to bite. Body Length: 4” Strike King Hack Attack Pad Perch ...

The Fly Projects PMD Cripple is the perfect fly for targeting fish on the Missouri River during PMD hatches.  Fish on the Mo, and other rivers tend to focus and target on cripples since they are easier to eat.  Trout expend less energy eating cripples than they do adults. I started fishing crippled PMD's on the Missouri River and Henry's Fork a long time ago when I realized that big trout will eat a crippled PMD in the bright sun in the middle of the day. We would get continued refusals on PMD duns, and sometimes we would get them to eat a rusty spinner. We even realized that fish would refuse the cripples similar to this one that had a big bright CDC post on them. I used to think, damn, they won’t even eat a CDC cripple? Fish this against a CDC cripple and watch what it looks like on that water next to the real ones and you will qui...

We are rapidly shifting from a window of wondering what is fishable to a window of how do I choose from so many choices? Missouri River, Montana The Mo is finally on the drop and dropping like a stone.  It will soon be a whole new and smaller river to explore again.  As water levels continue to change, fish will be on the move, adjusting to conditions.  Streamer fishing can often be good, as fish roam the new bank lines.  Dry fly fishing should be relevant again.  Nymphing will be strong when you figure out the formula for the day.  That formula may keep changing. Nymphs PMD nymphs, caddis pupa, weight flies, Czech Nymphs, Tung Jig PT’s and hares, sow bugs and zirdles / crayfish are the go-to. Dry Flies You’ll want to us PMD cripple/emerger patterns, PMD spinners, CDC caddis and spent caddis.  Be ready for Trico’s soon. Str...

Methow River (WA) The flow for the Methow River is holding right around 1100cfs. With warmer weather in the next few days, it may bump up a little. I don’t see this slight bump hurting the fishing any. I'm getting some good reports of some good cutts and bows being caught up and down the river. At the flows it is right now, wade fishing shouldn’t be too big of a problem. You might not be able to cross the river in a lot of places yet, but the lower water is going to help you to be able to wade out to most runs to make the casts you need to find some fish. The up-river area around Big Valley might be a little limited on wading, but you should be able to still find some waters that are holding nice cutts. From Winthrop, all the way down to the boundary bridge at mile marker eight has plenty of fish holding runs that you can get into. I...

Coeur d'Alene River Flow 689 cfs and dropping slowly at Cataldo.  Fishing has still been great.  The river is low and coming into normal summer conditions.  Look to start seeing more terrestrials, ie. ants, beetles and grasshoppers.  The warmer temps this week will start these guys up.  Not sure it's a sign but at lunch cleaning our new backyard kiddie pool out, there were dozens of flying ants, the red and black kind.  So maybe this is an isolated thing but most likely not.  The PMD hatches and Caddis are now strong every day.  The PMDs are in the 16-18 variety and a pretty mixed bag of sizes on the Caddis.  In the afternoon the fish will really be upright until dark.  Streamer and nymph fishing are still good options, just start downsizing your streamers and bead head nymphs. St. Joe River Flow 1,440 cfs and dropping.  This ...

We canvassed Mid-States’s winter Rendezvous trade show in Minneapolis, Minnesota and walked away with a bevy of items we’ll put to use in 2018. We’ll also carry these products in our North 40 stores, so if you see something you like, check us out online at https://north40.com/ or stop into one of our 10 retail locations in the Pacific Northwest.   New Farm and Ranch Boots 2018 Noble Outfitters Women’s Muds Boot Mark Mason, one of the leaders in the Noble tribe, drove us to the ladies Muds boot first.  As he told us in the booth, “The Muds boot is one of the only ladies boots that actually was built to specifically fit a women’s foot.” To achieve this fit, Noble used a ladies specific last, which is a mold to build the footwear. The boots are easy-on and easy-off and include an Ortholite footbed and a mesh liner for br...

Clark Fork River (ID) Flows are currently at 36,600 cubic feet per second. The river is unfishable due to runoff. Hopefully, we will start to have fishable conditions in the coming weeks. Lake Pend Oreille Surface temperatures range from 62-68°F. Water clarity is between 4-8 feet depending on where you are on the lake. Pike fishing has been good. Most of the pike are feeding along weed lines in 6-15 feet of water. Flies like Flaming Lamborghini or Jacknife on sinking line will do the trick. However, if you are fishing over thick weeds, a floating line will keep you out of the weeds and catch fish. Don’t rule out topwater either. Several northerns have been caught on large poppers. Bass fishing has also been a great option. Most of the smallies are between 5-20 feet. The bigger smallies seem to be cruising the flats early in the mornin...

Lochsa River (ID) Flow 2960cfs at Lowell and dropping. Now is the time to start fishing large flies on the surface. This is a great time to do some prospecting and throw larger flies against the bank that can draw out some nice fish.  If you’re up for nymphing, fishing a dropper will really keep you busy this time of year.  Stonefly nymphs, worms, and princes all work very well. Hatches to look for are going to be; PMDs, Caddis, Yellow Sallies and there might be some Golden Stones left over. North Fork Clearwater River (ID) Flow 3160cfs at Canyon Ranger Station. Basically, the same as the Lochsa. The cutthroat are going to be hungry and happy. Attractor patterns and big flies will bring fish to hand. Some great flies to have in the repertoire are Humpies in red and yellow, Chubby Chernobyls in red, gold, and purple. Parachute Adams, ...