Page 87 - North 40 Outfitters

By Fred Telleen I had the pleasure of meeting and fishing with Jerry French this past spring in Montana. We had some great conversations about fish, fly fishing, fly rods, fly lines, fly tying and fly design. Jerry has a keen mind when it comes to understanding what tools are needed to complete a task. When that task is fly fishing, Jerry likes to design his own tools, including fly rods and fly lines, to match his fishing style. At the end of that system, he won’t just throw on any fly—instead, he’ll tie on one he’s constructed with clear intent and purpose. The Steelhead Sculpin is one such fly. Here are the specs. Have fun with the video. Shank 25mm The shank is the platform for building the fly.  Shanks have certain advantages over standard hooks.  The fly can be constructed to any length and then completed with a variety...

—North 40 Great Falls Wader Season is back For those not chasing fur and feathers, the fishing has been stellar most days since our big weather change on September 13. After an extensive drought, we experienced a flash of fall that brought significant moisture, freezing lows and highs in the 40s and 50s. Everything changed in a good way and it’s staying the course. Highs are currently creeping back up to a very comfortable 70-degree range, meaning it could not be more perfect out there right now.The water temps have dropped into the upper 50s and the fish are charged up. Expect great fishing conditions to continue for many weeks as the water remains in the 50s and the trout continue to feed heavily. On Top Flows have now dropped below 4,000 cubic feet a second and there are plenty of bugs that keep the trout looking up and feeding on...

—North 40 Coeur d’ Alene The fishing has improved a lot. The rain and cooler weather has done wonders for the water levels and water temps. Fish are now actively feeding from mid-morning to late afternoon. BWOs and mahogany duns will play well for you. Be prepared to match them. October caddis come off later in the day. More rain is expected this weekend so our fishing should remain solid. Look for those Baetis hatches to be most prevalent and last a little longer on the cold, drizzly days. A #18 thorax BWO with a BWO emerger or cripple as your dropper will be a go-to rig. St. Joe River Fishing amazing. The previous rain did wonders, and with the follow-up of 70-degree, blue-bird weather . . . are you kidding me, that was the best. Streamer fishing and a big orange stimmie with a larger bead head for a dropper will get you going in t...

—North 40 Outfitters Ponderay  Expect the Clark Fork’s flow to fluctuate as water managers draw down Cabinet Gorge Reservoir. Unfortunately, that translates to unpredictable flows. The only trend I see is that flows shoot up, at least once a day, to somewhere between 6,000 cubic feet a second and 18,000 cfs, even on the weekends. Despite these radical flows, fishing is good if you hit the river when the water is low. October caddis should appear soon, but don't count on giant hatches—when I’ve seen the big caddis on the Clark Fork I’ve only seen a few bugs. Dry flies will still work on the Clark Fork. Some top performers are a #10 October Caddis, #14 purple Grumpy Frumpy, #12 red PMX, and a #10 pink Transfoamer. October is when I generally like to nymph or swing 2-to 3-inch long streamers. Small, olive sculpin patterns can sav...

—Ryan Kilgore and North 40 Omak Methow River This Saturday, September 30, is the last day of the catch-and-release trout season on the Methow River. Since there is not going to be a steelhead season for Upper Columbia tributaries this fall, I’ve been trying to savor what I can of this fishery. On a cloudy and cool day last week, I got into plenty of fish when I floated a section of the river below Twisp. I started off the day with a purple Chubby Chernobyl attractor pattern. It soon found its way into the jaw of a nice cutthroat that was holding along a foamline among some large rocks, and under an overhanging tree—perfect cutty water. I found a few more fish in the morning, just below the riffles and inside the corners, as well as the middle of runs along foam lines. With the low water conditions, typical of this time of year, it�...

By Dylan McGregor It may be difficult to pull yourself away from the elk grounds or the upland bird slopes this weekend, but there’s a very good reason why you might do just that. This Saturday and Sunday the 13th annual Clearwater Spey Clave takes place at its accustomed site—the Lenore rest stop along Highway 12 (at mile marker 27.75) just north of our North 40 shop in Lewiston, Idaho. Put on by the Red Shed, this clave draws some of the most dedicated and talented steelhead anglers and speycasters on the planet. So, if you’ve ever dreamed of catching a steelhead on a spey rod, or you just want to mix and mingle with like-minded anglers, this is the place to be. The gathering actually gets started Friday night with the showing of Our Two Hands, a film about salmon and steelhead made by Bloodknots Media of Salt Lake City, Utah. Yo...

When I am asked if the Rio Gallegos waders are comfortable and worth the money, I often say, “It feels like you are fishing from a house.” There might be a little bit of an exaggeration with that response, but you catch my drift. Patagonia did an excellent job of offering innovative features on a tremendously durable wader, and here is what those features are. Buckle up there are a lot. The upper wader is made of 4 layer 100% polyester microfiber high-density taffeta, and complimented with a 4-layer 100% polyester microfiber high-density double-weave taffeta lower. Since the lower is high-density DOUBLE-weave taffeta, it is twice as durable as the upper. The wader is also self-healing. I know this sounds like witchcraft, but it’s true. Unlike GORE-TEX where you would have to locate the hole, and patch it with aquaseal, H2 no barrie...

For stealth situations, you can’t beat these indicators. By Dillon Given Chuck, duck, CRASH... and the fish is spooked. There is nothing more frustrating than fly fishing with a hefty indicator on a gin clear river. The most perfectly presented cast isn’t good enough if the fish is spooked from your indicator. If only there were an indicator that is light so it doesn’t disturb the water, and is buoyant enough to hold heavy nymphs. But wait there is! Alright, I’ll drop the salesman pitch. The New Zealand Strike Indicator is currently my #1 indicator when spooky trout is the name of the game. I’m sure most of us by now have seen what quality of trout and water New Zealand has to offer. In order to catch those spooky rainbows and brown with nymphs in NZ’s crystal clear water, it calls for a light indicator that doesn’t create ...

Skagit casting with single hand fly rods. By Fred Telleen Skagit casting combines Spey style casting techniques with short Skagit shooting heads. When trout anglers think about Spey casting, they are likely to envision long two handed rods designed for salmon and steelhead. While two handed rods have their place on big rivers for large fish, lines have been developed to allow anglers to Spey cast with their standard length single hand fly rods. To avoid confusion, we are going to replace the word Spey with the word Skagit and refer to the method as Skagit casting Why would a trout angler want to Skagit cast? Who has not been caught up in the bushes on their back cast? Who has not been in a situation where a standard roll cast could not deliver the fly where it needed to go? Who has felt like they’ve thrown their arm off while false cas...

By Sam Wike Just over a week ago I was sinking my teeth into a bacon cheeseburger at the Bar S in Great Falls, Montana with Paul Considine, North 40’s fishing buyer, and our longtime friend and walleye fishing guru Dale Gilbert. As you would guess, we were talking about fishing. And why wouldn’t we; Gilbert is a veteran of the Professional Walleye Tour (PWT) and now, in his retirement, he guides and teaches walleye tactics across Montana. He is, for sure, one of the most knowledgeable and effective walleye fishermen we know. At the Bar S we discussed educational videos and some of the new baits that Considine and I are bringing into our stores in 2018. Gilbert was interested in the video discussion—because he may be the featured attraction in those—but he really perked when the conversation turned to those new...

The bad news is the days are shrinking fast. The good news is that shorter days concentrate prime fishing hours into a reasonable window. Banker’s hours. Gone are the days when you have to get up at 4 dark thirty for the pre-sunrise bite. I’ll be home after dark is now well before 11 pm. Through the compressing daylight hours of fall, the fishing is pretty darn good. Trout know their window of daylight feeding is getting smaller and they want to eat just as much as they did during the longer days of summer. This means they get a bit less picky. Advantage to the angler. On Top Dry fly opportunities may dwindle a bit, but they never go away on the Mo. Right now, the midge and pseudo are key players, but they are very small. You can definitely find fish feeding on them if you want to play the tiny dry fly game. A few caddis are out and ...

Coeur d'Alene River: So great news, the rain we received in the last couple of days has made tremendous improvements for the CDA. Cooler water temps and higher flows mean good things this time of year. The CDA is at 457 cubic feet per today. If you have the next few days off, by all means get out there.This will be banner fishing. Bwo's, mahogany's, October caddis will be the players. Streamer fishing will be good too. The hopper and terrestrial fishing will slow down with the cooler temps. Small x-caddis trailed with a small flying ant will be a great rig, think 16-20 on the caddis and 18-20 on the ant. St. Joe River: Man, what a god send! The St. Joe went from a trickle at 350 cfs up to 726 cfs in two days. This is awesome stuff here guys. You will see best fishing mid-day now with the cooler nights and mornings, the bugs really won’...