If that title sounds familiar, then you know the popular hash tag from Costa Sunglasses (#SeeWhatsOutThere) and it’s a great line. With Costa polarized lenses, you can see what’s out there really well. It’s surprising to me how many anglers don’t realize how important good lenses are. I can’t begin to count the times I’ve said, "Do you see that fish?" The response is usually, "What fish?" Then I say, "Let me see your glasses." Then I don’t see the fish and understand the problem. This year we tripled our stock of the 580 Green Mirror Lens and now it is offered in the 580P lens, with is their poly lens making it lighter weight.  For those that have never worn the 580 Green Mirror it literally makes Lake Pend Oreille look like a tropical paradise. Check out the Costa sunglasses we have online right here. The 580 lens enhance...

May seemed to fly by, carried along by lots of water.  As we roll into June, river levels have come down significantly and fly fishing prospects are good.  The current flow on the Missouri River below Holter Dam is 8,740 cfs. The water temp is at 54 degrees.  Fishing is fine.  In fact, I’ve heard from some guides that fishing has been stellar recently. For most anglers, it’s a boat show.  Wading areas are limited, but that does not mean that you can’t wade at all.  There are still some areas that fish just fine on foot.  If you need help figuring these places out, just swing by the shop and we can show you some options. Even if the flows spike, you can still use these highwater tactics to catch fish. The primary technique for catching fish is Nymphing with plenty of leader between the indicator and the split shot.  In brigh...

Do you like to catch big trout?  Does ripping an articulated streamer all day wear you out?  What if you could fish a moderately large fly with or without an indicator, without exerting an excessive amount of effort and provoke predatory trout to eat said fly? If that sounds good, consider the crayfish. Got indicators? A surprising number of trout anglers don’t consider crayfish despite the fact that you will see evidence of them along the river banks and in the water. There are lots of crayfish in the Missouri River and crayfish are basically a shrimp. Everything loves a shrimp. Perhaps many fly fishers don’t think of crayfish because they don’t think of imitating a crayfish with a fly. In the words of fly fishing sage Hank Patterson, "A fly does not need to be a fly to be a fly."  We have crayfish flies. I was out fishing last...

I was overly excited when I saw these hanging on the shelf of our fly shop in Great Falls, MT.  If you're around 30ish years old like me, you probably lived in the Adidas slides with the little clear plastic "massaging" footbed for at least a portion of middle school or high school (and if you're honest with yourself, you were probably wearing black Nike socks with them). So, at first when I saw these new Simms slides my reasons for wanting a pair had nothing to do with anything practical. Buy these Simms Transit sandals online here.  Now, I may be the only one excited about this new product from Simms, but let me give you some reasons why--because this isn't just another flipflop with another brand name on it.  First, let me explain that I seriously tested these things. I recently purchased these for a 5-day trip to Venice, Louisiana...

I had the chance to leave the shop early today, and man did I take advantage of it. I hit the pond from 12-5 PM. The weather was sunny without a cloud in the sky. Temperatures reached the 80s, and the wind came up strong around 2 PM. Water clarity was a little disappointing. As the day went on, the wind heavily muddied up the water, and pushed the fish off the shore a little. I started the day along the Long Bridge simply to get the skunk out of the boat early. It produced for me, but not as well as I thought it would. Caught 3 on my Chartreuse Predator Minnow, but nothing bigger than 1.5 lb. Next I hit shoreline near the Memorial Field boat launch. The next couple hours consisted of Smallmouth, Largemouth, and Crappie aggressively chasing and eating my Low Fat Minnow (Bluegill). Check out our streamer selection online here. The bite wa...

Fly fishing can be easy and fun and it’s not just for trout. Perch, bass and pike are also popular targets. Of course in Montana, rainbow trout, brown trout, cutthroat trout and brook trout are the big deal. If you live in Montana, you are required by law to at least try fly fishing. Maybe not, but you seriously should. Especially if you like to fish in general. What flies will you need to get started fly fishing? Great Falls Fly Shop May 28th @ 10 am $30 per person RSVP: 406-761-7441 or email support@north40.com In our "Introduction to Fly Fishing" class, we talk about how to choose a fly rod and how to set it up. We talk leaders and knots and fly selection. We look at real fishing scenarios and explain fish food, how flies represent fish food and the different ways to present flies to fish. After our indoor session, we go outside and...

By John D. Malison "Twelve meters, and lay it half a meter in front of the fish", Luis said. Those words were uttered to me by my guide when we were still thirty feet from the lake. I was frantically looking out into the open water for the fish, so that I would not screw up my first shot at what Luis referred to as a European Bonefish. I was still searching the open water when he finally pointed to a fish swimming not three feet from the shore. How To Cast To Barbel From The Shore I have casted a lot in my life, but I have never been asked to lay down most of my fly line on dry land, and to only have three feet of tippet on the water. I put the cast down softly, and the fish did not even give it a look. Luis was quick to reprimand me, "You put it down too softly. Next time make it plop." I did not have long to wait, as another fish posit...

We are beginning to have our summer weather here in northern Idaho. For me, this translates to long days on the lake, and late nights on the river. I recently had the chance to sneak away from work, and spend a few hours on our local puddle Lake Pend Oreille. The goal was to hook big Smallmouth on the fly, what I found was something I should have been expecting. Learn to tie Dillon's Dill's Pickle bass fly right here. The wind was dead calm, temperatures were in the 70s, and water clarity was great. We launched at City Beach, and started at the rock wall along the Long Bridge. Here we found a few healthy Smallies, but hooking them seemed to be an issue. Plenty of follows and grabs, but hardly any hook sets. Is my fly too big? Should I tie the flies with a stinger? The part that puzzled me the most was that the bass had no problem finding...

We spent 4 days fishing from Holbox Fly Fishing Lodge. While the wind was fierce, it was nothing we are not used to coming from Montana. What we were not used to was casting 8-10 weight rods with 12’ leaders to moving targets or tiny pockets. The fishing was very challenging, but it was also very good. We offered guided to trips to Mexico, if you're interested, drop us a line here: support@north40.com March 2: Journey to Isla Holbox Flies Tied & Preparation It’s after midnight. My friend Brian is picking me up in less than 4 hours. Tonight, I tied 6 more tarpon flies I really don’t need. I’ve got my gear distilled into one carry-on backpack along with three rod tubes taped together. If you're looking for flies to take to Isla Holbox, start here. I sheared my head, shaved, showered and brushed my teeth. I was totally ready to ...