In late May of 1989, I put a line into Alaska’s upper Kenai River for the first time. After only a few casts I was into a wild rainbow and that set me on a life addiction—I’ve been tangled up with the Kenai River ever since. I spent many years guiding and running a lodge, but last week I made my first trip to the Kenai as a fly-fishing vacationer. I’m not going to lie: It felt pretty awesome. While I did have a little business to do, and I could not help but take a few turns on the oars, I focussed on being an angler and enjoying my time on the water. My partner, Stacy Corbin of Mystic Waters Fly Fishing, directed the trip. Also in the wings were Martin Hribernick, aka Chef Nitram, and Stacy’s wife, Shannon. I was accompanied to the Kenai by Terry Jenner. Terry was a frequent face in the fly shop, and the first program leader f...

Whenever you have a couple hours to burn you might want to sink your teeth into North 40 Fly Shop's fall eMag, which we made live yesterday. You may notice a difference in our design and content, including offerings from several notable fisheads, including the always edgy Dave McCoy, the brown trout addict Brain Kozminski, the silver slammin’ George Cook, steelhead model Michael White, steelhead savior Dave Moskowictz, spey guru Marty Sheppard, and the Utah wordsmith Robert Robertson, among others. You’ll also read pieces on October caddis, the bounce back for GTs and bones at Kiribati, a review of Johnny Cash, how to nail it on the MO, and where to fish on Montana’s lower Clark Fork River. So, there’s your heads-up—the new eMag is live, all 72 pages, and all you have to do is follow this link, and you’re looking at a couple ...

By Brian Rogers, Great Falls MT: We had a question on this blog from Monique in South Africa. Monique Budge: Hello, Thanks for the information! I'm a new beekeeper from South Africa and I would like to build my own solar wax extractor. I think this would be similar to the crush and strain method but you would be able to better use the melted wax. Do you foresee any issues with this?” Wax Extractor Versus a Solar Wax Melter... What's the Difference? Hi Monique!  Wow, a solar wax extractor (one that melts wax and honey), rather than just a solar wax melter (one that melts wax only) is a great exercise in efficiency and ingenuity at first glance!  So, in the interest of brainstorming this concept let’s see if what we would get in reality is the same as what we envision.  As with anything going from theory to practice, we need to make...

By Steph Avena Why on earth would you change your tapered leader every go-out? The reason is simple: The one that got away. I learned this painful lesson while trout-bumming around northeast Oregon, just after viewing the eclipse last week. Scanning the map for a trout stream near the path of totality, I settled on the Wallowa River (more on this great stream in a future blog). Arriving after the eclipse, I found a pullout and snuck through a bush tunnel onto a prime looking run. At the head, I noticed a few boulders breaking up the flow as the riffle deepened. I was rushing a bit, still hoping to find a campsite before darkness. I pulled the dry line from my reel and I saw it had a decent looking leader attached. How long had it been on there? Maybe a month? So, up the guides it went and I strung up not thinking anything of it. Adding a...

—North 40 Coeur d’ Alene Coeur d’ Alene River (ID) Fishing has been solid.  The overcast and rain we got had lots of fish looking up.  BWOs and mahoganies are still the go-to bugs.  Still plenty of October caddis around as well.  The mornings have been pretty slow due to colder nights so nymphing and streamer fishing will be the go-to rigs early until about noon. As the temperature warms we will start seeing fish up.  Fish late into the day as it only gets better as the sun rises higher. There are plenty of salmon in the system from the lake now, so this will get the cutties looking for flesh and eggs too.  Trout beads under an indicator with a dead-drifted flesh fly behind the salmon will get you some nice fish. Think Alaska rigs!  Looking forward, it will be getting colder at night so the mid day fishing will be best. If y...

—North 40 Lewiston Clearwater River, (ID) Roughly 28,000 fish have made it over the dam since July 1. Considering this year’s predictions for steelhead, this week has had a fair amount of fish come over. About 10,000 fish swam over in the last three days. With water temperatures cooling down throughout each system, there is no telling where these fish are going. I have had a few reports of fish being caught on the Clearwater, yet it seems more people are coming in and talking about being skunked than they are catching fish. Still, the guy who sticks it out and fishes low water flies with confidence will find a fish. Do not stray away from the skater. Brett’s Klamath Skater, or any October caddis skater pattern would work. Been hearing that the October caddis are here, I’ve also seen a few. No mass flocks of them yet. Grande Ronde...

—North 40 Great Falls The North 40 crew found some time to hit the river on Tuesday—on the first real snow day of the year—and the change in the weather had the fish up and eating. If you fish the river this weekend and on into next week expect a steady train of Pseudos riding the surface. You’ll see a few midges as you dump the boat in early, and you’ll see some snouts popping out to eat those bugs, but the real Pseudo event won’t kick in until after noon. That means you can sleep in and run a shortish float in the afternoon, or dump the boat in at 8 a.m., run a long float, and work streamers until the hatch kicks in later. Speaking of streamers, the bite was on the other day and we landed a couple nice browns, including one that may have gone 20 inches, on a several patterns. But back to the Pseudos—by 3 PM these things ...

—North 40 Fly Shop Ponderay Clark Fork River (ID) Fishing Report Fishing has been mainly good, but still a little spotty. Flows are low for the most part, but can drastically rise at any moment. I have heard of a couple boats grinding up their props, or running ashore this week, so be careful out there. This river is no joke. There should be a few October caddis fluttering around, as well as light cahills, and midges. Mid-day through the evening has been the best time to hit the river. This is great for those fair-weather fisherman who like to sleep in, drink an extra cup of coffee, and make a lumberjack breakfast. When you’re on the water try a #10 October Caddis adult, a #12 Light Cahill, a #16 PMD Comparadun, a #20 Hanging Midge, a #14 purple Grumpy Frumpy, a #10 black Moodah Poodah, or a #12 orange RL Stimulator. Personally, this...

There are lots of options. Where and how you fish dictate the best lines for you. By Dillon Given Stepping into a fly shop that carries a large selection of weight forward (WF) fly lines is convenient, yet overwhelming if you don’t know what you want. A shop employee may be nice, have a great smile, and point you into the direction of a suitable fly line that he thinks is best for you. But that doesn’t mean you will leave with the best option. As a consumer, it is prudent to research fly lines before purchasing. That way you are telling us what you want, not the other way around. Here is a list of WF5 floating fly lines we carry in North 40 fly shops, with specifications and opinions on each, based on our personal experience fishing these lines. Airflo Velocity Overall Length: 82ft Head Length: 38ft Available Weights: 4-9 Color: Opt...