I have been lucky enough to not only float the Smith River many times but also grow up, shoot potato guns, get married, brand cows, eat oysters (Rocky Mountain style), ride, huck cliffs, climb limestone, hike, hunt elk, have dance parties, and fish my butt off on its banks; and it is one special place. If you haven’t floated the Smith River, do. The Smith dumps in to the Missouri River near Ulm, Montana (12 miles from Great Falls). For those of you who say there is nothing to do in Great Falls, I strongly, with all my heart disagree with you. I do agree that these areas are hard to research on Google, and have weak SEO (until this article) but if you live here you should certainly favor that because compared to other area in Montana the Smith River and its surrounding areas are still WILD. To float the river during its normal float se...

UV materials have been increasingly popular for the past five years.  Our fly shop has reacted and now reflects that.  We have lots of UV reactive and UV reflective options for your fly tying creations.  UV Polar Chenille, UV Krystal Flash, Spirit River UV2 Dubbing, UV2 Marabou, UV2 Rabbit, UV2 Mohair, and of course lots of UV Ice Dub.  We also have natural UV reflective materials such as peacock herl and rooster feathers. Why have UV materials become popular?  From a simplified perspective, they seem to work.  Why they work well or when they work best is still up for debate.  What we do know is that UV light travels through water and is reflected by certain materials.  Some fish see in the UV spectrum quite well.  Others, not so much.  Trout definitely see some level of UV.  In the bug world, caddis flies have UV reflective b...

The Panhandle Chapter of Trout Unlimited will be having it's annual spring banquet on March 7th at 4:30 PM at Columbia Bank (formerly Panhandle State Bank) in Sandpoint, ID. Come join us for lots of great prizes, raffles, and auction items.  This will be a great time with good food and a chance to get caught up with local issues and fishing.  If you are interested in becoming a member of Trout Unlimited, this would be a great opportunity to get signed up!

If you are not fishing today, I bet you are wishing.  I’m wishing, but can’t complain too much, because I did get out and fish during this past week.  It was good.  It should be even better today.  Tomorrow will be fine and the prospects for the upcoming week look good.  No deep freeze on the horizon. This past week, we tried it all.  Nymphing is automatic in the right places.  The swing is good in the right places.  The midge is still tricky, but we got a couple eats on top.  We saw some heads, but there were not enough bugs to keep them still.  Hard to target when they are cruising.  That will change as more bugs pile up. Today I can just smell it.  It’s going to be good.  Got a guy buying flies right now and heading out the door.  He’s loading up with UV Czechs, Soft Hackle Sows, tiny little pink stuff, zebras,...

Some companies golf for a little R&R and team building.  Our company grabs waders, fly rods and heads out to our local home waters.  This was obvious to me from day one seven years ago.  Over the years I have watched many newbies develop into great anglers.  We are just as passionate about introducing people to fly fishing as we are about fly fishing ourselves.  I remember many days when a much more knowledgeable angler would tote me along on a drift boat, or drop everything they were doing to make sure I had on the correct fly set up, take the time to test my knots, adjust my indicator, etc.  Generally there was always someone there to make sure I was being effective and safe. The guys at our fly shop are talented and skilled in their trade. I have come to appreciate our time out on the waters together to the point where I now...

Fly fishing is really fun. Spending a day on the water with great people while fly fishing is really, really fun. I had not floated on the Missouri River since October, but an opportunity for some photography, filming and story creation presented itself this week. My favorite office is on a river. As a long time fly fishing guide, I have spent several thousand days on rivers. As a fly shop manager, my office is the fly shop most days. I really enjoy helping people get outfitted with the gear and information they need to have fun on the water. But all talk and no fishing makes the fly shop feel a bit confining. Getting re-engaged with the river and the fish keeps my passion for this sport and my work within it alive and well. If you would like to help get a kid started on the road to fly fishing fun and engaged in a pursuit with endless o...

The UV Tung Prince combines the classic reliability of the Prince Nymph along with new-age UV synthetics and a tungsten bead.  This is a great searching pattern and has enough weight to get your rig down to where it needs to be. Materials: UTC 140 Denier Brown Thread Tiemco 3769 #14 Plummeting Tungsten Gold Bead 7/64" Goose Biots White Goose Biots Prince Nymph Brown Ice Dub Peacock UV Ice Dub Brown Ultra Wire BR Hot Orange  

Most anglers who are familiar with shanks assume they are only for salmon and steelhead flies.  Google "Intruder Fly", and you will see why.  While shanks are indeed excellent for many salmon and steelhead flies, they are equally excellent for trout flies. If you don’t know what a shank or shank tied fly is, the recently posted Bald Eagle Streamer Video is an example. I like to use Senyo’s Articulated Shank for Steelhead & Salmon Flies in the 1" size.  It is perfect for trout flies. Then I add Senyo’s Standard or Thin Intruder Wire, depending on the hook sizes to be used.  In the past, I cut hooks for my shanks and used 30# Fireline for the trailer.  Now I can grab a bag of Senyo’s Shanks and a bag of Intruder Trailer Hook Wire and get right to tying.  The shanks even come in several colors. Tying flies on shanks offers...

Can you dig it? Early February and the temps are like April. Unfortunately, warmer air has a cost. High gusty winds, driving rain squalls and intermittent sunshiny sucker holes, leading you to think it’s actually going to get better. That’s usually how we get our warmest winter weather. What does this do to the fish? Well, they are still wet and they still need to eat. "If" you can get a good dead drift or set up a nice swing through the tempest, they will eat your fly quite readily. At this time of the year, the weather is often more challenging then the fish are. How will I be able to make a fishable cast in this crazy airstream? Often, I laugh out loud at the ridiculousness of it. This is heavyweight kite string weather. Some casts literally fail to launch. Others reach the mark, but are unmanageable on the drift. Sanity might com...