It’s May 22nd.  We are right in the heart of the spring fishing season. Last year, the Mo was running 5730 CFS.  Short leashing small nymphs and dry dropper fishing the skinny flats was producing fish.  May 22nd 2017 is a little different.  This is last year's report from this time. Snow and 82 degrees. Almost Entirely Unlike Last Year This picture was taken last Thursday at the mouth of the Dearborn.  The water is running somewhat clearer now.  Today’s flow is 11,300 CFS at Holter.  By the time it reaches Cascade, it’s at 13,700. That’s big water and we still have significant run off on the way. Depending on rain, heat and various climatological factors, the river will shift in and out of prime fishable shape in the portions below the major tributaries.  One thing will remain consistent however. The fish will still be ea...

Who could tired of sight fishing to cruising cutthroats on Omak’s beautiful beaches? Not me. Playing here kitty, kitty with a 7 pound trout tends to get the blood pumping. But occasionally, while stripping in that bugger, we wonder what lies beyond the foreboding cliffs ringing the lake? After all, variety is the spice of life -- particularly in fly fishing, right? It is said, "Never leave fish to find fish," and who wouldn’t agree? But over the years, Colville tribal fish biologists have proven to be magicians, and magic can make a guy curious. I Will Fight no More Forever.. Fighting Cutties on Omak Lake Omak Lake features aggressive, toothy fish often taping well over 20 inches. The lake boasts the Washington State record for cutthroat (over 17 pounds), and is completely pristine. Between Chief Joseph Dam and upstream megalith Gra...

It’s that time of year. The lakes are filling, if not already full and the water must be released. Rivers, streams and small creeks are on the rise and runoff has commenced. We haven’t seen the peak high water flows yet, but expect to see flow continue to rise over the next couple weeks. Don’t be discouraged by high water, trout still need to eat and are more than willing to, you just need to find them and present your flies correctly. In my experience, concentrated numbers of trout are found resting (and feeding) in the same areas during periods of high water. If you want to stay off the rivers, here's how to fly fish stillwaters. If you find one in a particular high water holding spot, there are likely to be more following pursuit. I will be making most of the tactics presented here pertaining mostly to tailwater fisheries, speci...

The long wait is finally over! The weather is SLOWLY warming up, water temperatures are rising, and Smallmouth fishing is great on the fly! If there is a gear fisherman reading this, he is probably laughing because finesse fishing for Smallies has been great for a few weeks now. However, finesse fishing for Bronze Backs on a fly rod isn't easy, so we are limited to stripping streamers. The bass are still in pre-spawn so they are fatter than ever, and looking to eat some protein before the spawn. The bass I am finding are along sharp rocky points in 7-10 feet of slow moving water. All of the "small" smallies seem to be elsewhere because every bass I am finding range from 1-4.5 lb. There will come a time in the summer when I can't keep the sub-1 lb. smallies off my flies. Blue or chartreuse flies have been the go-to colors. My favorite ...

I’ve heard about Heather Hodson and her active ladies fly fishing group Spokane Women on the Fly for several years.  I even corresponded with Heather last spring about possibly hosting an event for us. The timing did not work out, but I got the chance to meet Heather in Bozeman last fall at a fly fishing dealer summit.  We did a little talking after hours.  Heather's passion for engaging women in fly fishing is quite simply infectious.  I asked her to let me know if, and when, her busy schedule would allow a trip through Great Falls. It turns out, Heather is hosting a group of ladies on a fly fishing trip to the Missouri River the first few days of June.  Routing through Great Falls works out nicely. Get Ready Ladies Heather Hodson, AKA Northwest Fly Girl will be hosting a Ladies Night at the Celtic Cowboy on Wednesday May 31st fr...

Ryan Kilgore sends us reports of his fishing outings in the Omak area. He was out this weekend at a couple of our local lakes. His report is below. I have been itching to get out and find some fish, so I packed up my gear, strapped my Buck’s Bags pontoon raft to the top of my Subaru, and headed out. Buzzard Lake near Loup Loup pass is a favorite spot, offering peaceful meadow scenery and usually some eager trout. But I also hadn’t been to Omak Lake for a while, and I was hoping to get into a nice Lahontan Cutthroat. Driving southeast on Omak Lake Road, I found that the access road down to Nicholson (Beercan) Beach at the north end of the lake is closed. I could have parked there and hiked down, but I decided to keep going down to Cowpie Beach at the south end. The dirt access road to Cowpie was also in rough shape, with soft mud ...

Most anglers consider Spey casting and two handed angling techniques to be winter or at least late fall and early spring focused. While that may indeed be true in Montana that does not mean that Spey instruction needs to take place on a frigid winter’s day. How about working on Spey casting on a comfortable day in the early summer, say June 3rd? Spey Casting on the Missouri River in June? Introducing Zack Williams Guess what? Instructor Zack Williams is coming to do a class for us on June 3. Zack is a full time Spey guide and casting instructor, international Spey casting competitor (4th in the world at the 2016 Spey O Rama world championship), and editor of Swing the Fly magazine. See more at www.swingthefly.com & www.pnwspey.com I met Zack for the first time at our Trout Spey Clave this past April. Zack came to represent Swing th...

Got water? Yep, we got water. Too much water? Nope. Water is good and so is the fishing. We are fortunate that the Missouri River is tempered by the dams and remains a great fishery, even as the flows increase. While the flows were raised some more this past weekend, the fish are eating and the bugs are hatching. Reports of good fish being caught are still rolling in. You can check out our gear for hopper dropper rigs, including dry flies, right here. Last Friday, I decided to nymph like I really meant it. I put on a pink indicator and never looked back. My streamer rod and dry fly rod stayed in the truck all day. I’ll admit to taking the indicator off for 30 minutes to try and swing some fish on soft hackles. So many caddis were out, it was maddening, but the fish wanted nothing to do with a fly that was not drifting near the bottom. ...