Want your horses to have good feet, stand for the farrier and keep healthy year round? Follow the simple steps below, provided by local Montana farriers. Regularity for your Horse's Feet Keep your horses on a 6-8 week schedule, and, if possible, let your horse go unshod with regular trims so you can get a balanced, natural shape before the spring preseason kicks off. Handle their feet regularly, pick up their feet, put them down and clean them out: once more, handle feet regularly. Want to read the full review about these safety glasses you see in the video above? Cleanliness in your Horse Pens Not only should you have a clean area for your farrier to work when he comes, your horses should also have clean water, clean feed and clean pens before he gets there. Cleanliness translates to hoof heath. When it's wet and boggy, your ho...

The Sandpoint Fly Fishing Film Festival is coming April 24th and April 25th to Sandpoint, ID.  This two night, one day event features the Fly Fishing Film Tour Films on Friday night and the International Fly Fishing Film Festival Films on Saturday night.  We will have several items to raffle off from fishing gear to guided fishing trips during the two nights of films.  Tickets are available at North 40 Fly Shop in Sandpoint.  Doors open at 6pm and the show starts at 7pm each night. On Saturday from 11am-3pm we will have a demo day in the North 40 parking lot featuring rods from Echo, Sage, and Winston.  People will be able to come out and cast several different types of rods as well as get some instruction.  Presentations on casting will begin around 11 and run every hour until the demo day is over.  We will have industry repre...

"In 1974, Montana did something that stunned anglers across the state and the nation: it stopped stocking trout in streams and rivers that supported wild trout populations." Initially, the decision produced outrage.  Anglers feared further loss of catchable trout. Today, Montana is renowned throughout the world for its strong wild trout fisheries.  40 years later, anglers support the decision and thank the intrepid men who stood strong behind their science and weathered the storm of public opinion. Check out this excellent video featuring a unique snapshot of Montana trout management. The Montana Story: Forty Years of Success from North Fork Studios on Vimeo.

The toad!  The marabou toad is a Tarpon classic, and as our North 40 Fly Shop staff gets ready for their hosted trip for Belize this year it is a requirement for any serious Tarpon box.  The marabou gives this fly a lot of action even while sitting still.  A lot of times a properly casted presentation of this fly can earn a reaction from a tarpon or snook even by sitting still.  The EP fibers on the front of the fly pushes a lot of water and creates some commotion and agitation.  The fly is nice and light so if you are in the mangroves attempting to curl loops under mangrove branches, this fly is capable of it.  Are you? Materials List Gamakatsu SC17 Tarpon 3/0 Large Black Mono Eyes Olive Marabou Tan Marabou Olive Saddle Hackle EP Fibers Backcountry UTC Thread Olive 140

Conditions are setting up well for dry fly action this spring. Back in February, it was looking like a strong water year. Now, not so much. While we would like to see more water, lower spring flows will mean fish have a reason to look up. Scuds, worms and nymphs won’t be scoured into the drift as they are when flows crank up. Water volume can change in a hurry with a few spring storms, but for now, you should plan on filling out your dry fly boxes. We’ve got juicy patterns with hackles, hair wings, poly wings and CDC. We’ve got parachutes with natural posts, white posts and bright posts. We’ve got bodies with biots, natural dubbing, UV dubbing, fluorescent highlights and bunch with purple. Beyond the bugs, you might need to remember a few other essentials like floatant. There is little worse than watching fish rise all around you...

In like a lion. Out like a belching lamb. Oh, if the wind would only moderate. If you wait for it to stop, you won’t get in much fishing time, but it sure would be nice if it would quit once in a while. Like on a day when I can actually go fishing. Like this past Saturday when gusts were beyond 40mph. While the incessant wind can be frustrating for casting and drifting, it does have one positive. Our water is warming up much faster this spring. With lower flows not likely to change anytime soon, we are quickly moving into spring conditions. That means more bugs and fish moving into faster runs. It’s already happening. Baetis and March Browns will be coming on soon. Caddis are just around the corner. Dries? Midges are hatching, but wind is the biggest issue with finding rising fish. Tiny parachutes are a good bet for risers. The Skwal...

If we only bought fly rods based on good looks, then Winston rods would be hard to pass up.  I got my first look at a Winston rod in Alaska over 20 years ago.  I was guiding a party from Hawaii and we had just been dropped off by float plane on a remote piece of water. This fellow uncased his brand new Winston on a gravel bar.  We were surrounded by mountains adjacent to rushing waters teaming with salmon and trout. We were in close proximity to bears. We all stared at the Winston rod.  I can never look at a rich, deep green colored Winston rod and not be taken back to that place.  I’m good with that. Today’s Winston BIIIX is more than just a pretty fly rod.  Experienced craftsmanship combined with advanced Boron technology merge to form a smooth, lightweight and powerful rod.  The BIIIX can send accurate casts both near and f...

Handle with Care No one can argue that catch and release practices are essential for our fish populations to continue thriving.  Unfortunately, improper handling of fish before release can lead to delayed mortality.  We all want great pictures with our trophy fish, but the bigger they are, the harder they can be to handle.  Is it worth killing them for that hero shot in the boat or from the bank?  Salmon and Steelhead are particularly vulnerable.  We need to ensure that our returning fish are healthy enough to spawn. Breakin' the Law In Washington: "It is unlawful to totally remove salmon, steelhead, or Dolly Varden/Bull Trout from the water if it is unlawful to retain those fish, or if the angler subsequently releases the salmon, steelhead, Dolly Varden/Bull Trout." In Alaska:  "A person may not remove a king salmon 20 inches or lo...