Summer is a good time to be in the mountains and the appeal grows when you add native westslope cutthroat trout and huckleberries to the mix. Want a little history lesson on westslope cutthroat trout in Idaho? Read this. That’s what I did about 10 days ago when a friend and I headed into Idaho’s backcountry to fish those cutthroats and to, hopefully, locate some bull trout. We found the cutthroats but didn’t see any bulls. But we found an adequate consolation prize: hundreds of huckleberry bushes loaded with ripe fruit. Between my friend and me we may have landed 40 nice cutthroats on dry flies. The fish are eager this time of year with modest flows in the rivers and lots of bug activity (aquatic and terrestrial) on top. Throw a Parachute Adams, a black Humpy, a small Stimulator, an X-Caddis, or a Purple Haze, and it's game-on. Loo...

These boots sprang from a failure. Jim Winjum says this about the origin story of Kenetrek hunting boots: “We first started designing and building boots after an eight day hunt in the Mackenzie Mountains of the Northwest Territories in 2002. The merciless country tested us in unimaginable ways, and I was winning the fight, until my feet made me want to lay down and die. After chasing a Dall Ram 10 miles straight up, we caught and killed it, and started back down. That's when my muscles screamed and my pack straps felt like they cut clear through me... but that didn't stop me. My boots did. What were once blisters became almost freakish gashes that took me down for the count. That's when I knew we had to design and build a better boot that could keep up with me, a high-country mountain sheep hunter.” These boots are used by hunters an...

Lowa is the only footwear manufacturer in the world to be granted ISO 9001 status for the highest quality construction and process standards. What is ISO 9001? ISO 9001 is the international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS). Organizations use the standard to demonstrate the ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements. That means when you buy a pair of Lowa boots, there is a history of happy customers standing behind their purchase to help give you peace of mind. Our Lowa's are online here and they qualify for free shipping. These boots are built to exacting standards that have earned the company a name known throughout the boot world. Below are reviews from employees who use Lowa hunting boots in their hunts. What boots did you first start...

“I’m a signalman for BNSF railway.” That’s how the interview with Sam McAnally opened. For me, that profession is a white space—so, I had to ask what that job entailed. “See this?” Sam says, as he points at the light switch in Drew’s office, “It has wires and electricity inside it that allow me,” he flips off the switch, flips the switch back on, “To open and close the circuits that allow energy to pass through and control the light in that outlet. A signalman does the same thing, except we work on the connections between tracks. So, when a train switches tracks, when the arms come down and the signals blink, there has to be a circuit that opens or closes to make that all happen. A signalman works on those connections, for railway boom trucks, cars… all the equipment you see on a track—we work on the electricity...

If its bass you seek, get out your headlamps and bug spray. That’s what I did recently when I headed up to Palmer Lake in northern Okanogan County to see how the summertime warmwater fisheries were fairing. I got on the water around 6 p.m. covering my usual spots, marking fish on the fishfinder, but catching very little. Around 8 p.m. the mountain shadows spread over the lake and, like a switch turning on, the bite happened. I picked up numerous perch 8-10" in 10 to 15-feet  of water trolling small Storm Smash Shads in perch patterns. Check out the baits and lures we have online here.   When I tried trolling deeper all I found were large northern pikeminnow, which are staging in spectacular numbers on the north end of the lake. Switching to bass around 9 p.m. I landed several smallmouth in the 14- to 16-inch range, and one fat 4...

It’s relatively quiet on the river these days.  The summer peak of guides and anglers from all over the country has moved on.  The days with mixed hatches of bugs available all day long has also changed. Trico’s still dominate the morning and will remain your best bet for finding the most rising fish.  Caddis are still about, but are a shadow of what they were in late June. The dry fly game after the early morning is shifting to terrestrials (ants, hoppers, beetles) and attractors. Want to see our selection of terrestrial patterns? In the Summer we see a Slower Mo The pace of the river has slowed somewhat.  The current now winds its way through weed beds, giving it that slow, undulating, spring creek look.  The water is also at its summer temperature peak.  The activity level of the fish follows the daily temperature swing (inv...

Flows were between 17,000-30,000 cfs in the 3 hours I fished, and the water clarity was decent. The North side of the river looked inexplicably clearer, however I was fishing the South side. There was a strong 10-15 mph West wind rushing upriver, making it almost impossible to throw dries... not that there were many rising trout to cast to. I saw a handful of small cutthroat sporadically eat a few dries off the surface, but the rises were too inconsistent to have a chance at hooking one. As far as bugs, there were a few #12 white mayflies and #20 caddis that got caught in the gusts of wind, and buzzed by my head. Have you seen these dry fly patterns? The caddis were able to hang on to the downwind side of my shirt, while the mayflies are probably somewhere in Missoula. Swing the Deeper Waters The swing saved the day! I initially th...

The flows through Cabinet Gorge Reservoir have been low and slow. This isn't necessarily a bad thing--it just makes maneuvering a boat through stump-covered flats a little more challenging than I’d like it to be. I didn't get an exact on the water temperature, but I would guess it’s running between the high 60s and low 70s. Yesterday the wind, which usually blows out of the west and pushes upriver, came out of the east, which gave me time to do nothing but fish. Need any new gear for summer fishing? Check this out. Right now the water clarity is great and there is nothing better, in my opinion, than watching your eight-inch long fly disappear into the trap jaw of a "water wolf." I was on the water and fishing by 7:30 a.m. and stuck it out until roughly 2:30p.m. The fishing wasn't hot... or even good for that matter. I would classify...