Below Holter Dam, the Missouri River is currently 3510cfs and 34 degrees. The air temperature before noon in Great Falls and Craig is approximately 47 degrees and at Cascade, it's 53. That’s great for fishing prospects. The wind is blowing significantly, which may be a pain for casting, but it can result in warmer water temperatures by the early afternoon. A one degree upward shift can make all the difference around this time of year. Two degrees can make for some really great fishing. Reports from the last week have been mixed. Nymphing up by the dam is consistent, where the pink stuff is always the menu. So far this year, they have been eating the big pink stuff pretty well. Size 14 Rainbow Czechs and Rays are getting as many eats as the smaller stuff off the back. Streamers have been inconsistent both from the boat and the two hand...

Many anglers have a rough idea about how to set up with an indicator, but we are going to delve a bit deeper into rigging options and usage. January is a great month to prep and learn. By mid-February, fishable days and fishing conditions are improving. Saturday January 16 at 10:00 a.m. in the Great Falls Store, Fred will be teaching our first Fly Fishing Mastery Class.  The topic is "Nymphing". We will look at fly choices and preview the differing styles, rigging and methodology for fly fishing with nymphs. If you’d like to join, the course fee is $30. Sign up at North 40 Fly Shop Great Falls, or give us a call if you can’t make it in. Get your Mastery on now.

As long as it is above zero, I go fishing on New Year’s Day. I also invite lots of folks to see who will show up. I think Sam and Paul were the ones who started the tradition. However, Paul was out of town or something lame and Sam was supposedly "injured". Hmmm. Anyway, this year's New Year's Day was a balmy 19 degrees at the boat launch below Holter Dam. That would have been fine and good if not for the stiff wind blowing downstream. With the chilled wind, it probably was closer to zero. That would probably be why only a few hardy (foolish) souls showed up during the day. Regardless, we launched Jerrin’s boat and cruised across to the Upper Bull Pasture. We set up some chairs, a couple of Buddy Heaters, and rolled out the barbecue. Thankfully, we had a Yeti Cooler to keep our food and beverages from freezing. I brought along six...

Christmas came early at North 40 Fly Shop this year. Today, we received our first ever shipment of Senyo's Barred Predator Wrap. I am so stoked about this product that I have literally been tying flies all morning long. The barred predator wrap gives flies a somewhat dirty look to them, like a scavenging sculpin that just crawled out from under the rock that he calls home. When you combine this wrap with your current, favorite streamer material, I guarantee that, absolutely without a doubt, it will add realism to your flies. Also, some of the barred predator wrap has UV strands in it, making it an even more deadly addition to your bench. The wrap comes on a string with the fibers at roughly 4 inches in length. The material can be trimmed to any length and it can be either wrapped or tied on in clumps. If you add this to your bench, it'...

As the bow of the sled pushed on to the riverbank, I was beginning to wonder what exactly I had gotten myself into here. It had been months since I had ascended any considerable incline; and even those weren't littered with loose slides of basalt. River bottoms and finned game had consumed me. I had been scoping the riverside bluffs for some time, and while I had always realized the magnitude, never had I come to know it first-hand. Nearing halfway on the initial climb was the first flush of birds. With the sun directly in my eyes, I had just enough visual on the birds to shoulder my gun and rapidly squeeze off both barrels. No birds fell, which is about what I expected. I watched them coast to the next ridge and touchdown, mentally logging their location for the decent. Seconds later, three shots rang through the canyon from the next ...

The TFP Cripple was created because Missouri River fish tend to eat dead, crippled, and rusty PMD’s much better than bright yellow duns. The problem with a lot of the cripples that we had in the bins, even the CDC variations, was that they tended to be way overdressed and when fished among a bunch of naturals didn’t even look remotely convincing. So, we came up with this cripple to have a low profile, be sparse, still float, and be visible. We have antron added to the tail, ice dub in front and deer hair on the crippled wing. At first we thought the deer hair would over power the fly, but after using a lot of different wing materials, if you actually watch the fly on the water--it is the least overpowering of any material as long as you use the deer sparsely on the fly. The deer hair also repels water and floats much better than many ...

Finalizing the details for a trip always leaves me with a sense of relief...and panic at the same time. The relief comes when booking a seat on a 737 bound for Christmas Island is successful. Especially after spending 4 hours trying to get the last seat, knowing at any moment it could be snatched up from under neath you. Panic. Thoughts of gear begin to enter my head. Do I have enough flies, do I have the right line, do I have the right rods, reels, leaders, clothing,... the list goes on and on! Sunscreen, bug spray... I keep thinking of more stuff. I begin to wander around the fly shop putting stuff into a basket. Luckily we have everything for the local angler traveling to warm destinations during the winter months. I even found sunscreen, bug spray, 80lb fluorocarbon, and a new buff. The only way to calm myself is to begin tying fl...

Fishing on the Coeur d'Alene river yesterday was absolutely stunning to say the least. With all of our recent snow our local rivers have become saturated with beauty. Several feet of the white stuff, have painted a picture too beautiful for words. Temperatures in the mid 20's for highs make for cold fingertips and frozen guides on your rod, but like my grandpa used to say, "there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing." There is definitely no need to get up early to get to the river. The fishing started picking up around noon and continued to fish well until around 3 pm. Small may fly nymphs such as the UV2 and Hogan's Military mayfly worked the best.  Believe it or not, I was also able to get some dry fly action around 1 o'clock on Kellers Rocky Mountain Mints size 18. I noticed some fish rising in some slack water ...

I wanted to test these socks in a real atmosphere to see if they could live up anywhere close to their name "40 below." Not sure how many of you guys have been in 40 below ZERO weather but that's pretty cold. In fact, that's so cold that I did not get to test these socks down to that level, but I did get to test them in relatively cold working conditions at about ZERO degrees. In this test we were insulating an old shed, outside of town, at night, on the coldest night of the year from about 6PM to a little after 10PM. So- my point here is that it was cold. It's important to keep your feet warm in the winter. Warm feet keep your feet dexterous, and actually improves the ability for your immune system to function properly and fight of flus. The 40 Below socks are warm, and have 49% wool content, the best natural fiber for warmth, odor, and...