Page 58 - North 40 Outfitters

Clark Fork River (ID) The river has been bouncing around between 100,000-110,000 cubic feet per second. About the only thing you can do at this point is take pictures. This river is too high and dangerous to fish from shore or in a boat. Expect it to stay this way for the next couple weeks. Lake Pend Oreille The lake is currently 1.7 feet above normal pool, but is projected to slowly start dropping sometime this week. There is a no wake restriction 500 feet from shore and that will not be lifted until the lake drops. Water clarity is 2-4 feet depending on where you are. Surface water temps range from about 62-72°F. Be cautious when boating around the lake; there is a lot of debris in the water, and large logs can be barely submerged below the surface. I have heard of a couple people getting dents and one lost transducer just this week ....

The lettuce and spinach are finally planted, but it’s still going to be weeks before they’re big enough to make a salad and, truthfully, I am ready for vegetables that haven’t traveled more than I have. To satisfy my taste for something fresh, I decided sprouts and microgreens are the perfect remedy for a quick, fresh treat any time of the year. Microgreens are fast growing and super nutritious. What is the difference between sprouts and greens? Sprouts and microgreens are the very early growth of seeds, whether those are Asian greens, alfalfa seeds, broccoli, or beans. The difference is how you grow them. Sprouts are a soilless method using a jar and some sort of screened lid to drain out the water. Microgreens are grown just like any new plant, but they are harvested as soon as the first true leaves emerge. Both pack a boatload o...

The Zirdle, sounding like a dance that came from the flapper era, originated in Montana’s Gallatin Valley country outside Bozeman. This fly is a cross between a Zonker and a Pat’s Rubberlegs and can be fished under an indicator, stripped as a streamer, fished with a slow retrieve, or swung on a trout spey. The Girdle was created for anglers to have a hybrid pattern that could excel in numerous situations. From smallmouth to trout, fish aren’t shy when a Zirdle crosses its bow. During my short lived guiding career, I had a day on the Missouri River in August when the clients fished the Zirdle all day. I first tied on the Zirdle with a Zebra Midge as the dropper, all under an indicator. We learned quickly that the Zebra Midge was not the target for the trout that day. The fishing was banner and they all crushed the Zirdle. It was one...

Clark Fork River (ID) The river is running at 104,000 cubic feet per second. Don’t even think about fishing this river on the Idaho side. Flows are too high and dangerous to fish from a boat and shore. Lake Pend Oreille The lake is currently 1.2 feet above normal pool. Currently, there is a no wake restriction 500 feet from shore. Please be courteous when boating near lakefront property. There is a lot of debris throughout the entire lake, so keep your head on a swivel. Water clarity is between 2-6 feet depending on where you are fishing. The south end of the lake is the cleanest. Surface water temperatures range from 50-65°F. Northern pike are well into post-spawn, and starting to aggressively feed again. I have seen a couple pictures of 15-25-pound pike caught this week in a few of the lake’s sloughs and bays. When searching for p...

Rat Lake It was nice to see that Rat Lake was clearing up from what it had been for over a month. One thing about Rat Lake—the fish there like most anything in olive. A size 10 Semi Seal Leech was the ticket for most of the day. I did switch over to a Chan's Las Vegas Booby in hot orange for a while and picked up a few very aggressive larger rainbows. A #10 yellow Crystal Bugger did produce a couple of 14-inch brown trout close to shore. Once the sun got high overhead the activity slowed way down and that was my cue to call it a day. The two rods I used that day were both 6 weights. I had my Echo3 10', rigged up for indicator fishing Balanced Leeches. My Echo Glass 9' was loaded with Type 3 full sinking line. When I was fishing booby flies, I had the Scientific Anglers Booby Tip on my full sinking line. The 5-feet of floating line on t...

Coeur d’Alene River Flow at Cataldo is 5,610 cfs and level.  The river fished well this past weekend with many good reports of big fish being caught all through the system.  It is still a touch high for great wading, but is for sure doable.  Good hatches as well.  Quite a few green drakes, big golden stones, a few salmonflies, caddis, and blue-winged olives are all coming off from mid morning to late in the evening.  The water is clear and in great condition.  Perfect right now for floating in the driftboat or pontoon boats.  Do be careful though as there are lots of new downed trees in some of the side channels that you need to be aware of.  Streamer fishing will be great, nymphing will be excellent as well.  The dry-fly fishing will get better as the water temps warm up a bit and is good in some areas, but spotty for the mos...

  Lakes and Ponds (ID & WA) I have been told that the top-water fishing around the local lakes is picking up. If you're after largemouth, bluegill, or crappie, going out could bring you some good fishing. The waters are warming and helping those fish get active. Casting parallel to a bank allows the fly to travel over multiple fish. A range of poppers can produce. I believe your best bet is to try different colors and patterns. Confidence is going to be key. We've got a decent number of different poppers and top-water flies here in the shop. Read past reports from the Lewiston region here, or click here to view all northwest regional reports.

The river is high, but the water is beautiful. It’s got color coming in from Little Prickly Pear  Creek and the Dearborn River, but with the Missouri’s high volume, their influence is quickly absorbed. The river has some color, but it has been fishable all the way down to Cascade. Nymphs A fly does not have to be a fly to be a fly. Worms are often the fly of choice. Many are fishing a double worm rig with one made of wire and one made of softer materials. If you don’t groove on fishing two worms, your scuds, sows, mayfly nymphs and caddis pupa are also get you in the game. Look to the banks or to the shelf-lines where the banks used to be and be ready to burn through some flies. You might think you are fishing off the edge, but your fly will sometimes be drifting over the willowtops—those willows are fly eaters. Dry Flies Caddis...

I am an Ohio born corn snob. A fair amount of the corn I’ve eaten in Montana reminded me of the field corn grown on my family’s farm, and it took a lot of butter and salt to make it palatable. Of course, one of my gardening goals has been to grow good tasting corn, and after all of these years in Big Sky Country, I’ve figured it out. Plant corn in a block of rows. Know when and what to plant Choosing the right variety of corn is key to a successful corn crop since we don’t have the warm nights, nor the extended season of the Midwest. Unfortunately, you’ll have to bypass varieties such as the long standing Silver Queen that takes 92 days to harvest. For our shorter season, Ambrosia and Bodacious are both super sweet types that mature in less than 80 days, making them good Western choices. The 68-day Kandy ...

When it comes to motor oils, the debate rages around whether or not to opt for synthetics. When this question came in for #AskNorth40, we went to Jerrad White, one of our store managers, for a quick overview. He advocates synthetics over standard oil for numerous reasons, some of which are more mileage between oil changes, less overall oil changes and better-operating temperatures. Those all sound nice- but what does that really mean? Let's get into it. The Structure of Synthetic Oils VS Standard Oil To begin, standard oil is a byproduct of natural oil. It is the result of a process called frictional distillation. First, it is extracted from the ground and then it's refined to remove impurities. It's made of non-uniform molecules and has a mixture of hydrocarbons which include: sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, and metals like nickel. The oil ref...

Coeur d' Alene River Flow at Cataldo is 8,750 cfs and climbing.  That means the river is still pretty big guys and gals.  Looks like we will be getting another push of water with the really warm temps and this just means we are getting closer to the good stuff.  For now though it's still a bit too big.  I like to see flows on the drop and around 5,000 cfs at Cataldo for good floating and decent wading options.  So stay tuned because we are in for a great summer with nice cool water for our fish. St. Joe Flowing 12,900 at Calder and climbing. Seems to be hanging above the fishable flows for now. Same thing here— we need to see flows around 5,000 cfs for comfortable floating and wading.  It shouldn't be too long guys. Just hang in there and know that the fishing will be off the hook good this summer. Clark Fork (MT) Flow at St. Reg...

Missouri River Well, the water level hasn’t gotten any smaller. The only question is how big is she gonna go? Eighteen-K, 20K, 22K? Only time will tell. The upper river from the dam to Stickney Creek is by far the busiest section, with anglers trying to stay in the cleanest water. The Dearborn to Cascade is pretty quiet. If you float up top and are not going guided, go later in the day. Many guides are off the water by 5 p.m. Nymphs It’s primarily a nymphing game right now and you can forget the 5X. Two X and 3X are the tippets of choice. The primary combinations are to run worms and scud/sows, worms and BWOs, worms and March Browns, or worms and caddis pupa. Look to the banks or to the shelf-lines where the banks used to be. Focus on the inside softer flows and the seams that come off island points and channels. Big eddies are good ...