January’s about over, and it’s been an interesting month.  Following a long stretch of winter weather, we’ve enjoyed a long stretch of mild weather. I mean mild like spring with 50s and even a 60 or two. The snow is gone.  The streets are clear again.  The river clear of ice all the way down through Great Falls. Winter is likely to speak a bit tomorrow, but fishable conditions will still be in play and look to be good even through next week. Have you been out there?  While most days have been windy, there’ve been some calm ones.  We’ve had some happy reports from anglers taking advantage.  Some say they’re simply happy to be out there on a warm winter day.  Others say the rainbows are chomping the nymph and the swing.  Some have even handled a few feisty brown trout. I consider any winter day spent in comfort a great d...

Early in January I headed to Christmas Island for our annual hosted trip with Frigate Adventure Travel.  Arriving on the island, we had a week of perfect weather ahead of us.  Temperatures on Christmas Island range from 77 at night to 88 in the daytime. The sun is very intense and burn times can be as quick as 20 minutes during the heat of the day.  We had several people get burned through their UPF poly blend sun shirts. This year, I decided to try Free Fly's Bamboo Midweight Hoody. When I first received the hoody, the first thing I noticed was the feel wonderful in my hand.  The hoody felt softer than any other material I had felt, and was even more comfortable once I put it on.  The UPF 50+ really held up to the demanding conditions, and I never felt any sun get through the shirt.  The hood was essential to protecting my head la...

Materials: Senyo's Articulated Shank 1" Senyo's Standard Intruder Wire Spirit River Real Eyes Plus 3/16" Krystal Flash UV Tan Flashabou or not Rabbit Strips Dark Brown Rabbit Strips Cream Diichi 2557 Intruder Hook #4   The Bald Eagle is named for the color similarity to the impressive bird that eats the same fish the fly is intended to catch. Trout, Salmon and Steelhead. The cream colored head simulates either wounded prey or a flesh eating fish, something game fish have a hard time passing up. Quick note: Brown and cream was my original dressing and has been a favorite color combo.  More recently, I've had success tying the body with black or purple and using peach as a head color. It can also be effectively scaled down by using Pine Squirrel Zonker Strips and 5/32" eyes.  

Got to the lake this week in the late AM. Warm air temps (mid 30s) and little or no breeze got me pumped to find a few famed Lahontan cutts. An hour of effort produced three cutthroats on streamers. The fish are looking pretty chunky this winter with the smallest caught about 18", and the largest probably pushing 25". Fast-sinking, jigged flies in sizes 4-8 were chomped pretty heartily. I also twitched a bugger pattern about 6 or 8 feet under an indicator but above the weeds, when a truly bright beasty lightly mouthed it out of curiosity. Luckily, I had one eye on that thingamabobber and one on the pair of bald eagles circling Mission Bay. When it scooted slightly, I set up attached to a big cutt. That one tested my SA Fluorocarbon pretty well. Omak Lake cutts should be chasing streamers for another couple weeks until they st...

I, like many folks in the Northwest, have been hunting for quite some time. What I didn't know, up until about 10 years ago, is that I was missing out on a lot of hunting opportunities because all I was hunting was typical Montana big game. My hunting epiphany occurred in my 20's when my dad picked up 18 used goose decoys to get us started in a new adventure. Up until then I'd always had a place to go goose hunting, but never did it. My thought was that laying in a field waiting for geese couldn't be nearly as fun as stalking a deer, elk, antelope, etc- Dang I was wrong, but luckily I found this out before it was too late! If you haven't tried chasing geese I highly recommend that you do: here are my top 3 reasons why waterfowl hunting is a blast: pun intended! Extend Your Season: Before I started chasing geese my hunting season typic...

There are many synthetic flash material options for accenting flies.  Flashabou, Krystal Flash and Angel Hair are popular long fibers.  In the middle, we have Ice Wing and Shimmer Fringe.  On the short side, there is the ever popular Ice Dub.  Counting off the colors and choices on the wall, I found 170 options to bling your flies before looking at today’s featured materials. Add in 24 new choices of Angel Dub and Salar Synthetic Series Glitz.  Why do we need more you might ask?  Are 170 options not enough?  A fair question. Fly tying is constantly evolving and anglers are always looking at creative ways to construct flies.  New materials provide fresh options.  Angel Dubbing and SSS Glitz are longer fiber flash dubbings.  They are perfect for building dubbing brushes or adding to dubbing loops.  The fibers can be combed out...

Do you think you have sick poultry? Here's some helpful tips to spot the symptoms. Whether you're a first time chicken farmer or a seasoned veteran, there is always a great "unknown" when it comes to disease. If you're looking for medication for your poultry, click here to see what's in stock. Well, thanks to this great #N40 infographic this is now a known unknown. Poultry Diseases and Symptoms Frostbite in Poultry Symptoms: pale combs or wattles in winter; reddened areas indicate thawed frostbite Prevention: Increase coop ventilation to remove excess moisture in the air. Consider providing supplemental heat. We have a selection of chicken health products online here. Conjunctivitis Symptoms: cloudy, watery eyes; blindness can occur Prevention: Conjunctivitis is caused by ammonia buildup in the coop, often occurring in deep-litter syst...

Directions: Let all dyes come to room temp. strain and transfer into individual cups. Let hard-boiled eggs sit in dye for 15-20 minutes or leave in the fridge overnight for deeper hues. How to make Yellow Dye Ingredients: Dry mustard, orange peel, celery seed, and carrot. Directions: Add the mixture to 2 cups boiling water. Let steep until room temperature, strain. Add 3 tsp. vinegar. Homemade Lavender Easter Egg Dye Ingredients: 100% grape juice. That's it. Add 1 TB vinegar to juice. Looking for more crafty things to do? Check these out. Greenish Yellow Egg Dye Ingredients: Spinach leaves. Directions: Add baby spinach to 2 cups boiling water. Let steep until room temperature strain. Add 1 TB vinegar. Rust Orange Easter Egg Dye Ingredients: Paprika Directions: Add 2 TB of paprika to 1 cup boiling water. Let steep. Add 2 tsp vinegar. Si...

MISSOURI RIVER FISHING REPORT 1-23-2015 The weekend is almost among us and warming weather trends are full force.  At the moment, Ice off paste is no longer a factor. Flows are riding at 5K. Fuel costs are down. Making it to the river is very affordable.  Days are getting longer.  Today is about 40 minutes longer than the winter solstice. Your winter go-tos are still the ticket. FB Rays, Czechs, Sows, etc. Need to switch it up? Try dead drifting a double micro zonker rig or a #8 Sculpzilla.  Both can be effective and a ton of fun. Beating the wind is key. The MRF Banquet is less than a month out. Our Belize trip is less than three months now. We still have space available. Free coffee and wisdom tomorrow morning if 50’s are still too cold.