Page 55 - North 40 Outfitters

One of the most frustrating things next to assembling Ikea furniture is assembling a cot. Turbo Cot is a fresh take on what you thought a cot could be. Holding up to 350 pounds this cot is sturdy and also easily stored. Wolftraders Folding Hammock Style Turbo Cot patented frame design makes setup and takedown a breeze. To set up, simply grip opposite legs, extend and push down. It's that simple. To take down the cot, you simply step on the foot tab and pull up on the handle and watch as the cot folds itself up. The patented Turbo Cot is made with a heavy duty steel frame. The sleeping mat is made up of heavy duty 600D polyester with a PVC coating. The Wolftraders logos are embroidered on the mat. Every Turbo Cot comes standard with two (2) saddlebag gear pouches, one on either side of the cot. Gear pouch pockets include: a mobile device ...

Last week, on the Missouri River, we had “Falling Water and Rising Fish.”  This week, we’ve got the reverse.  The water is rising and the trout are falling back to their higher water haunts, eating copious amounts of food, well below the surface.  The good news is that boat anglers can keep on fishing and expect to catch good numbers of healthy fish.  The bad news is that shore-bound anglers have limited options and the dry fly fanatics are having their dreams crushed right now. It seems like we keep waiting and waiting for ideal conditions, but they remain just out of reach.  In the meantime, there are still plenty of fish to catch.  I’ve never seen the Mo in unfishable condition.  I like to say you can always catch fish, just not always the way you’d like to.  My favorite day starts with streamers, shifts to nymphing ...

Missouri River, Montana The good news is that the Missouri River is a highly reliable fishery in varied conditions.  Varied conditions are what we have been experiencing this year.  There have been some epic days lately.  Also, some tough ones.  Water is the issue.  It was dropping fast, but heavy rains changed that in a hurry.  Now she’s going back up. The Dearborn and the Sun River blew up to massive proportions due to heavy rains along the Rockies.  The Dearborn feeds into the Missouri below Craig.  On 6/18, the Dearborn was running at more than half the volume of the Mo, adding a significant muddy flow.  It’s going to fall quickly, but additional rains are predicted.  Most angling will be confined in the 13 or so miles between the Dam and the Dearborn for a while. Nymphs The fish were moving to the hard banks and bubbly...

Coeur d'Alene River Flow 1,090 cfs at Cataldo and dropping.  Fishing is fantastic.  The river is in awesome shape and with the rain and overcast this last weekend the fishing was killer.  This week’s forecast is great. With warmer and clearer weather to come, it should be great.  Mayfly and Caddis hatches are forming up well.  Lots of Pale Morning Duns out now along with Pink Alberts and Rusty Spinners.  Still a few Golden stones and Green Drakes around too.  If we get some more overcast weather, the Blue Wing Olives will be out in force like over this last weekend.  Nymphing is still good but with the abundance of May flies you will need to start thinking about some smaller offerings.  Mid-size bead head nymphs like Hare's ears and Pheasant tails in #14-20's are going to get attention.  Try doubling up with a smaller bead he...

Clark Fork River (ID) Flows out of Cabinet Gorge Dam are currently 49,200 cubic feet per second. As we near July, I expect this river to roller coaster its way down to 30,000 cfs in a little over a week. The river is beginning to clear up. Last I heard, visibility is between 2-3 feet. This is not ideal, but okay enough to catch fish. If you’re new to the river, I would suggest waiting a week or so to start exploring. The Clark Fork is still a little big and there are several partially submerged logs, islands, and boulders aching to ruin a prop. Nymphs and streamers will be your best bet. Double nymph a #8 Large Stone, #14 red Copper John, or a #12 Dirty Bird. Streamers like #6 olive Sculpzilla work well on the swing. Lake Pend Oreille The lake is only an inch or two under the normal pool. Water clarity is between 4-5 feet near City Bea...

Methow River (WA) With the warmer weather, the river is starting to bump up. Right now, it is at 2960 cfs and I would wager it will continue to rise a little each day and then start to come down a little by next week. The water clarity is still very good and should do ok for those wanting to give it a try. Always a word of caution, when the river is at its current level and rising, do not venture too far out into the current. Matter of fact, if you can stay out of it, I would strongly recommend it. For the most part, do not try crossing the river right now. Instead, work along the shorelines. Swinging streamers has been productive for myself and a some of the people I know. The fish are not too far from shore, depending on the location you are fishing. I've had good action within 5 feet of the shoreline. Still, not seeing much dry fly ac...

Lochsa River (ID) The Lochsa river spiked this last week and has been dropping the last two days. The Lochsa has a fast recovery from being blown out, so by this weekend, we could be seeing it back to fishing shape. The earlier we get into summer, more and more insects are starting to poke their buggy selves out. You will see Caddis flying around and Baetis. Luckily, the majority of fish are cutthroat so you don't need to match any hatch. Chubby Chernobyl, orange Stimulator, red Humpy, Royal Coachman, the fish will eat it. Hopper dropper would be the ideal way to fish. Grande Ronde (WA) No reports from the Ronde yet again. None of us at the shop have been fishing it. It is topwater time, start throwing some poppers to make those fish go crazy. The weather looks like it will be nice, so you shouldn't have to worry about the conditions bei...

North 40 Fly Shop discusses the Umpqua UPG HD fly box at the 2017 IFTD Show in Orlando, FL. FlyTrapTM High Capacity Storage with TPE 3-D Molded High-Grip Inserts makes the HD (Heavy Duty) the go to choice for maximum storage in a waterproof design. The see-through lids and magnetic swing leaf inserts will keep you organized while planning your trip while the Class 3 water resistance and bombproof construction will keep your flies safe on the river. Single two-sided magnetic swing leaf TPE inserts maximize storage capacity, grip and durability See-through lids Waterproof Watch the video below to learn more or purchase the Umpqua UPG HD fly box online here.  Brent Bauer from Umpqua Feather Merchants. Talking about out UPG box line. The HD line stands for Heavy Duty. This are bomb proof boxes that are a 100% waterproof. Heavy duty l...

It’s been a strange year for fly anglers.  A day of spring and a day of winter has given way to a day or two of summer, followed by a day or two of spring-like weather.  We’ve also been getting soaked lately and waters that were falling have been recharged and begun rising again.  Water temps have also been rising and falling, turning insect hatches on and off.  Conditions continue to fluctuate. Not one to miss an opportunity to fish and to see the river in all its moods, I was out yesterday afternoon and evening to see what was happening on the Missouri River.  I usually fish the river closer to Cascade, but torrential rains were causing the Dearborn to puke mud again, so we started above Craig. With a solid layer of clouds and some rain, we decided to throw streamers.  Good choice.  We were immediately rewarded by some aggre...

North 40 discusses the new Concept Z Baitcasting reels from 13 Fishing at the 2017 ICAST Show in Orlando. Concept Z for ZERO ball bearings! Huge Thanks to Flukemaster for helping us out with this introduction to the latest from 13. The First ever high performance casting reel manufacture with zero ball bearings. With cast that defy gravity and everything else, the Concept Z utilises American made CBZ polymer technology to deliver shocking results. This reel cast lures significantly further than reels with traditional ball bearings. The CBZ technology Concept quiet, effortless and controllable. Once you hook up, the 22 lb Bulldog drag and Japanese Hamai cut gearing do the rest, all you have to do is turn the handle. Zero Ball Bearing Design 22 lb Bulldog drag Super Quiet Corrosion Resistant Watch the video below to learn more or purch...

When it comes to food safety, I take it to a whole ‘nother level. Never shall meats and vegetables touch the same surfaces during preparation, and after making chicken, the kitchen smells like a swimming pool with copious amount of the bleach I use in the clean up. So, when home fermentation started becoming popular many years ago, even with all of its nutritional benefits, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do have food soaking in brine on the counter for a week or more, possibly with white fuzz growing somewhere on the liquid, and actually eat it. Thankfully, speaking with Sandor Katz (a.k.a. Sandorkraut), author of Wild Fermentation and The Art of Fermentation, alleviated my fears. His decades of research and international experience convinced me that I wasn’t going to kill my family, and in fact, fermenting food will act...

Clark Fork (ID) Flows out of Cabinet Gorge Dam is currently 55,700 cubic feet per second. The river is starting to clear up, but still too big to launch a boat. Lake Pend Oreille The lake is roughly a foot under normal pool. It is good to see water visibility start to clear up, but we are still looking at 4-5 feet of clarity. The further south on the lake you go, the clearer the water. Surface water temps have been ranging from 55-62°F. There is still a little bit of debris in the lake, so be careful while boating. Pike fishing has been good. The best time of day has been from 11am-3pm when the lake is at its warmest for the day. Sunny days with a light breeze have been ideal conditions. Most of the northerns have been in the back of sloughs and bays, hunting in 3-8 feet of water. Finding weeds is crucial when attempting to locate pike....