Today, it happened again.  I saw that glassy look of anxiety in the eyes of a prospective customer.  I soon discovered why. "I’m new to Montana.  I grew up fishing saltwater in Louisiana.  I’m interested in fly fishing, but what is all this stuff?  How do I even begin?" Well, you’ve come to the right place.  Introducing anglers to fly fishing is what I love to do. 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 always on the list. What flies will you need to get started fly fishing? If you currently reside 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. Great Falls Fly Shop June 17 @ 1...

Visited some North Okanogan Lakes the other day in some cooking heat and under blue skies. I fished with two experienced Bass guys on a Skeeter boat and got to see how the other half (Gear Guys) live. Reluctantly, they permitted a flycaster to mix in some shots to the heavy cover they were patrolling-but, once they saw that I could stay out of their way and still hook an occasional largemouth, I got the thumbs up. If you're interested in exploring more stillwaters, then you'll want to read this.  I am happy to report that Palmer Lake, Whitestone and other Tonasket area lakes are booting out some piggy largemouth and bronze-backed smallies. Another lake in the area is Spectacle Lake. Leaving Omak at 4:30 AM to hit the top water bite didn’t pay at the first lake we tried. Other than a few panfish bumping my popper, no bass were looking ...

It’s really nice out there. Really fishy too. There are also bugs. The kind that make trout rise to the surface. The kind that you can imitate with dry flies. It’s really the best time. Check out our selection of dry flies. I’ll admit, I never got any fish on Baetis or March Browns this year. Between variable weather and water conditions, the timing never worked out. It was a major let down after a long winter. I was Jonesing for some top water action. When I finally got some fish up on PMD’s and Caddis last week, it felt great. As my friend Kevin would say, that’s how fly fishing is supposed to be. We've got floatant and other accessories if you need them as well.  PMD’s have been coming off for over a week now on the lower river. The hatch should soon make its way up to Craig. You’ll need some good emerger/cripple/spinner...

Since the day I moved to northern Idaho, I have developed a special place in my heart for bass, specifically Smallmouth. The way they attack the fly, and dig to the lake's bottom is second to none. Some of my first Lake Pend Oreille outings consisted of fishing Trestle Creek Recreational area from shore with a chartreuse roostertail and an olive clouser. This class is FREE and open to the public and will be hosted at the Sandpoint North 40 Fly Shop on June 10th & July 8th at 5 PM. Whether I was throwing lures or flies, the bass were always willing to bite. It wasn't until a few weeks later that I realized our lake is home to giant bass...and that I was only catching babies. Since then, I have been experimenting with different fly rods, fly lines, leaders, flies, places, and overall technique on how to catch those elusive large Smal...

The lake level is rising, and the fishing has been great! Smallmouth have just about finished spawning and are hunting for some quick protein. The Smallies I have been finding are eating crawdads, perch, and juvenile kokanee. Stripping flies along sharp drop-offs in 5-10 feet of water has been the ticket. Check out Dillon's special bass fly: Dill's Pickle.  My go-to flies have been Chartreuse Bushwacker, #4 Hot Flash Minnow, and an Olive Creek Crawler Crawdad. I haven't had much luck in terms of topwater action just yet. However, I know that will change any day (if it hasn't already). Now lets talk Pike. The Pike fishing has been hit and miss. Mornings have been slower than the hot afternoons. This is great for the lazy fisherman because you get to sleep in, and have a great relaxed breakfast. In my opinion, the best fishing has been f...

Spring is in the air and soon we'll be surrounded by the wonderful buzz of our most valuable, favorite pollinators; the honey bees!  Whether you're just starting out or you're a veteran beekeeper, you'll recognize that knowledge is essential for our toolkit in having successful dealings with our bees.  And let's face it, sometimes us beekeepers can be rather, umm, opinionated; so, there's no shortage of suggestions on how to accomplish a certain task in the bee world. After all, it's not surprising to find that this hobby/business can be as complicated as we want to make it with details, facets, factors, circumstances and a whole host of concerns to keep in mind; the more information we have the better in general. We've got a wide range of beekeeping supplies online here. But in the end, it's more important that we just jump in and do ...

Had a chance to make a run up to Little Twin Lake just south of Winthrop. I had been getting mixed reports about the lake so I thought I would check it out. The day before we had a pretty big thunderstorm with a lot of rain, come through the valley and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees. I was skeptical about how fishing might be, but decided to give it a try anyway. I noticed some shucks from damsel fly nymphs in and round the water's edge, but saw no nymph activity. There were blue adults buzzing around. I went ahead and tied on a size #10 damsel nymph and worked it just off the shoreline out to about 8 feet of water and had a couple of little shakers that popped off once I got them close to the boat. I tried a few other colors and sizes in the damsel nymph selection I had in my box, but nothing to much more then I had already ho...

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...