Page 95 - North 40 Outfitters

After flying in from our homes in Montana and Idaho, we arrived in Orlando, Florida just in time to sneak into ICAST’s new product showcase, where we stole some looks at the fishing industry’s most anticipated new products. After inspecting the loot, we decided to share with you the products that looked most promising, the ones that really caught our eyes. Here is our list from the New Gear Showcase on Day 1 of ICAST 2017. 13 Fishing’s Fate Black Rod Look at the picture, not the name. It’s not black at all--it’s all chartreuse from tip-to-butt and stands out on Facebook and Instagram.  Whether you like the color or not, this rod felt great in our hands and it’s coming in at the right price, just under $100. Shimano Curado K This newest edition of the Shimano Curado , decked out in a matte black, is the coolest looking Curad...

Lots of new products are launching from Rapala and Storm this year, and we wanted to make sure to give you a rundown of the "best of the best" new products. Storm's 360 GT Swimbaits in 2017 So, obviously not brand new because the Storm 360 GT swimbaits were one of the hottest baits of 2016- BUT- now, not only can you get the pre-rigged packs for 2017, but Storm has launched the components individually. Want to see the Storm 360 GT swimbait in action? That means now you can get those sweet translucent jig heads with the rattle in them separate, and mix and match them with the molded to fit bodies.  This way you can use any size body with any size jig head, and with any color combo. You can order the Storm 360 GT lure here, or opt to order the bodies and the jigs separately.  Rapala's Balsa Extreme Brat or the BX Brat Crankbait Fishing L...

We have been getting more people asking about where they should start in the swim bait category when targeting bass, or many other species for that matter. We have our ideas, of course, and carry some of the products, but a friend of ours, Rob Bolke, is a fanatic. We asked him if he could give us a little deeper insight into swim bait culture; where people should start if they want to get into it, and to help us breakdown what is becoming a massive category in fishing baits. A guide to swim baits paraphrased: Swimbaits are becoming one of the most intriguing categories and an entire sub-culture has developed around the swimbait technique. It's been mostly out west in California but has been spreading across the country over the last few years. However, the big, deep, trout filled lakes of Northern California is the birth place (or as Rob...

After my last outing on the 4th, I knew it wouldn't be hard for me to push off some household chores, and get back on the Clark Fork River. However, this time I wanted to concentrate more on the stretch downriver from the Clark Fork Bridge. Temperatures were in the 80s, there wasn't a breath of wind in the air, water clarity was excellent, and flows were around 26,000 cfs. Another typical day on the Clark Fork. Curious what the river is doing? Check out flows here. We fished from 6-dark and caught most of our fish in the last 45 minutes of light. Honestly, the trout didn't start consistently rising until 9 pm. There were hordes of caddis fluttering inches from the surface, and thankfully not in our faces. Oddly enough, we caught our trout on everything BUT caddis. #8 Purple Chubby Chernobyls, # 10 Black Moodah Poodah, #12 Purple Rocky M...

After a long winter, I was eager to get out on the water and pursue smallmouth and largemouth bass. Recently I got my hands on the new Trapper Tackle bass hooks, which are produced by Landum Outdoors. These hooks won the Best New Product award at ICAST 2016 and have made quite the splash in the bass-fishing scene. Want to get your hands on the new Trapper Tackle bass hooks? Check them out here. In the early season, I am a big fan of fishing Senkos, or other finesse worms, weedless on offset wide-gap hooks. Fishing weedless plastics in the shallows is sure to produce quality fish but also involves chewing through a lot of plastics on bass, weeds, and timber. In fact, I generally expect to donate one Senko per caught bass, not to mention a few along the way to milfoil or timber. Looking for the subtle, natural action of a Senko? We have Y...

Like a switch, Missouri River conditions have changed.  Many anglers complained about the high waters in May and June.  Now it’s July and the water is down and will continue to drop and warm up.  The tradeoff is weeds.  Lots of weeds are floating in the water column again.  It’s a hassle, but if you want to get fish to eat your flies, you’ve got to keep them clean.  Sometimes a little water slapping will rip them off and temporarily solve the problem.  Just don’t do it over the fish. The current flows below Holter Dam are holding above 6000 cfs.  Water temps typically fluctuate several degrees upward each day starting in the low 60s and moving to the high 60’s moving down the river toward Cascade.  Hopefully, the current heat wave won’t push the temps over 70 and trigger hoot owl restrictions, but that is a distinct p...

The Clark Fork has finally cleared up! I have been waiting for this day literally all year, and it took until the 4th of July for me to throw dries on the good ol' CF. Flows were at 26,000 cfs, so I knew that finding some rising fish could prove challenging. With over 72 distinct patterns, you can find and buy most dries online from us here. I only fished from 1-4 pm due to BBQing and fireworks, but those 3 hours were well worth the trip. Air temperatures were in the 80s, and the wind proved bothersome. An inexperienced caster would have trouble casting into the 10-15mph breeze. There wasn't much hatching.  I only spotted a few caddis, and only one of the famous white mayflies I see every summer... that I still haven't identified. I concentrated most of my time upriver from the Clark Fork bridge. The fish were not rising, but still loo...

PMD’s, Caddis, Brown Drakes and Yellow Sally’s are on the menu for dry fly enthusiasts fishing the Missouri River right now. Ants, Beatles and small hoppers can draw some attention too. Trico’s are just around the corner. There is lots of opportunity to fish on top. Flows have dropped precipitously. Today, we are looking at 6,390 CFS below Holter. That’s back to a more comfortable wading level. I love to wade and fish dry flies. With water temps running into the 60’s now, wet wading is a pleasant experience. If you need some neoprene guard socks for wet wading, we’ve got them from both Simms and Patagonia. Brown Drakes have been putting on a show on the lower river lately and the fish are eating them. It’s really fun to fish a #10 dry fly that you can actually see on the water after sundown and watch it get sooked down by a ...

I fished the Clark fork two days in a row, last Sunday and Monday.  Sunday was good—we did a short float from Superior to Dry creek and the flows at that time were still up a bit—at 15,000 cfs. We had decent clarity on the banks, 2-3 feet, and did well on a tandem nymph rig—a big rubber legged wolly bugger and a larger stone fly nymph was the ticket that day.  We've got a rubber legged wolly bugger here and a large selection of nymphs online here. We only fished for about 3-4 hours, but between two of us, we caught plenty of fish. Sunday was amazing, I have a couple good friends that I get to fish with every few years. One of them lives in Ireland, but he and his dad were able to get out with me in the drift boat this past week.  We killed it! They had very sore arms at the end of the day.  Again, short tandem nymph rig or a ...

Fishing is great on the Joe.  Still a touch high in some of the regular upper-end spots, but again the flows are dropping every day, and that means more and more options are opening for wading. The lower stretches are fishing well out of the boat--and producing lots of fish. Hatches will be very similar to the CDA River this time of year.  PMD's, caddis, yellow sallies, rusty spinners, still a few big goldens out, too. You can check out our PMD patterns here. Nymphing in the pocket water will be deadly; tandem shorter nymph rigs with a large stone nymph and smaller bead head will produce well.  Streamers in the fast water and pools will get fish… and bigger ones, too. Need a stimulator pattern? Attractor flies, stimmies, chubbies, Pmx’s with a mid to small size bead head dropper will be a great rig as well. Swinging soft hackles...

Fishing has been stellar on the CDA River.  The flows are just about normal summer flows now.  The hot weather has changed the game up a bit.  The fish will start to be more active early and late. Look for shady banks, faster pocket water and deeper runs to hold fish.  Mid-day might be a bit slower, but you can still find fish—no problem.  Nymphing a bit deeper in the faster water will produce mid-day just fine. They are still looking at streamers but not in big numbers. So, always run your favorite black or olive leech or streamer through the run after you have tried your dries or nymphs. PMD's are a major player now, which will be the case for the next couple months.  Caddis in the evenings will be a staple, as usual.  Rusty spinners, Yellow sallies, and beetles and ants will produce fish. You can check out our PMD patterns ...

Have you ever been in the middle of hatch flurry, whether it be mayflies, caddis or midges... and seen dozens, if not hundreds, of trout rising? You tie on dry fly pattern after dry fly pattern, and after a dozen fly changes you might, if you are lucky, get one trout to eat.  You see adult duns on the water everywhere, but still can’t seem to get the trout to eat your matching fly pattern. "What the heck am I doing wrong?" you ask yourself. "I am getting the perfect drag-free drift presentation every time, but still they won’t eat my dry fly!" as you mutter expletives under your breath. Why High-Floating Patterns Don't Work and Emergers Do I was in this exact situation about 5 or 6 years ago on the Missouri river, in a braided side channel where every single trout in the river was eating every other bug but mine. Frustration was get...