There's not much to report on our local lakes due to several inches of ice still covering the ones that opened on March 1st. With any luck, all of the rain and temperatures in the 50's will get everything melting over the next week. Once the ice does come off, look for hungry fish cruising the shoreline in search of chironomids, bloodworms and damsel nymphs. Need flies? You can find them here Stay tuned...

Out on the Washington coast, now’s the time to 'Hurry up and Wait’. That is, wait for that perfect coastal steelhead river level to come into view. This time of year, when shimmering, native steelhead head for home, I often leave a weather forecast tab open and periodically stare into my crystal ball. Unlike salmon season, this really isn’t big water. For decent fly angling in March, you can target CFS levels to drop into the 1 to 3 K range depending on the river. Thursday March 2, Capt. Shanks and I took a chance on the advice of Superfly (local steelhead sage) and made the drive out to the coast. Superfly had done well on the last river level drop, the fish were in, and the current CFS was right at 2,000. We were in luck some real bruisers were holding in semi-shallow runs of 2-4 feet deep, fishable with weighted nymphs like the...

Since January 1st of this new year, I have been able to get out and fish the Missouri River at least once per week. It’s pretty cool to know that fishing can be still be HOT in below freezing temperatures. I used to say I wouldn’t go fishing at anything below 40 degrees, but finding out that I can handle cold feet, frosty fingers and icy guides at 10 degrees with at least 10 MPH winds, I no longer think twice about gearing up and heading out. This past Monday, with the sun shining and the temperature a degree or 2 above freezing, I didn’t hesitate about making the 30+ mile drive knowing the 25 mph winds from the southwest would be a factor. On the Missouri River, this kind of wind can actually be somewhat ideal when two hand casting from river right. When in the right position, the wind flows down and across making a downstream dou...

Here's a fly that will put a smile on your face. I formulated this fly after the Smallmouth favorite Gary Yamamoto Senko, bringing a whole new meaning to fly-finesse. Fished best with an intermediate fly line, this wiggly worm will attract every #fathawg along weed lines, or under that fly-snagging log. The trick is to jerk the fly back violently, but with long 3-4 second pauses between each strip. As the fly falls, the marabou turn up, displaying an irresistible show no bass can deny. If you are a believer of scent, you can spray crawdad or anise scent on the chenille mid-section to really sell it to those high nosed bronze backs. Tied up of only marabou, chenille, and 30 lb. mono-filament, this fly is just how I like it INDESTRUCTIBLE. The only weight is the lip ripping Gamakatsu SC17 Tarpon Hook that will tow up a stump before it stra...

Spring is close, at least that’s what I keep telling myself. Standing in a clear-running Yakima River, with a fly rod in hand, I think I may have had Old Man Winter beat. Temperatures hovering around 40 and light angler effort made it a perfect afternoon to shake off the cobwebs of winter. A short sinktip was all I needed to swim streamers happily through the cozy holes and riffles I found in the South Cle Elum stretch. However, I should have brought a floating line (and I suggest you do) because as I wandered down the banks, I noticed something crawling on the snow- a stonefly!!! Yep, a little black winter stone was coming off in the Upper Yak. Eureka! But, having already wagered it was too early, I left my nymph attack in Omak. Now, I was wishing I had something to nymph with, besides a streamer- maybe like a Black AP Nymph in a size ...

Between a busy schedule and wintry weather, my only fishing venture this past week consisted of 30 minutes down at Giant Springs. I caught a perch on my Spey Rod before deciding it was simply too cold and too windy to attempt a more impressive conquest. Dave and Johnny ventured forth on a snowy day early this week and managed to nymph up a few fish. The usual suspects came out to play including the rainbow, the brown and the whitefish. They kept it simple with Firebead Pink Sows and Thunderbugs. Need to stock up on flies? Check out our fly selection here Good-Bye February February is a somewhat cruel month for the open water angler. The weather shows glimmers of fishy goodness, but winter generally slams the door rather abruptly. March generally offers better prospects. As the days lengthen, wintry blasts typically pass quickly, followed...

Crafting Masterpieces Last night, we held our second "Fly Tying Challenge" night at the Mighty Mo Brew Co in Great Falls, Montana and boy was it fun.  Great Falls has a group of young kick butt fly tiers, who jumped right in and began crafting some masterpieces. Need supplies for your own masterpiece? Check these out. Spectators enjoyed the Lip Ripper, Rising Trout, Dam Fog, Root Beer and Pizza along with sides of Nachos, Wings and watching the fly tying fun! Kelson raised his own bar with the "Black Momba".   It has so many articulations, it makes me dizzy. Zach tied an almost perfect woolly bugger with big honking gloves on.  He also tied a fishable San Juan blindfolded and crafted a perfect Dungeon. Nathan tied up a beautiful "Seam Ripper".  The Seam Ripper got its name last Saturday during our fly tying showcase. Nick worked o...

Two of our area lakes are scheduled to open March 1st, but Old Man Winter doesn’t seem to want to give up. Lake Lenore and Dry Falls Lake are still iced over with only a couple of small spots that are ice free. These spots are not really close to shore and I would not trust the ice to get to them. Looking at the projected weather forecast, I would say we still have a couple of weeks till you can get your line wet. Lake Lenore holds Lahontan cutthroats and Dry Falls Lake has some nice rainbows and a few browns. When the ice does finally clear off, those fish will be hungry and on the prowl for just about anything thrown at them. Omak Lake is starting to really come to life. When the weather permits, you should spend some time casting to big Lahontans that are starting to cruise more along the shoreline. A number of flies are working ...

North 40 Fly Shop employee, Jerry Petrina, hit the Kootenai River and was able to find a few trout willing to cooperate. The weather was cloudy with scattered snow showers, and temperatures in the 30's. The original plan was to fish below Libby dam in hopes of a big trout. However, the discharge from the dam was nothing but chocolate milk. So fishing right below the dam was completely out of the picture. The mouth of the Moyie River was plan B. Luckily, Twin Rivers Road wasn't icy, so driving down the steep mountain was easy. The Moyie River was a little off-color with the recent rain, but the trout didn't seem to mind. The best fishing came within the last our of light even though there wasn't a bug on the water or in the sky. Need to stock up on flies? Check out our fly selection here All fish caught were on the swing, and were hot on...