The snow has finally melted in town.  You take the old beat up tarp off the S.S. Cutthroat and take a big sigh.  Why you ask?  Well, if you are like me and lots of other drift boat fishermen, there is always a list of to-dos with the drift boat that seem to never get done, especially after a long winter.  Kid, jobs, house chores, and all the different distractions of life always seem to take precedence over taking care of the ol' trusty drift boat.  I know some guys obsess over theirs but, to me, the drift boat is a tool and needs to get used.  Now, that is no excuse to not take care of it.  I usually will dedicate a day or two in the spring, typically during runoff when fishing is not great and go through the boat. Drift boats are a pretty simple boat.  They are designed to be robust and tough.  A ding or chip here or there is n...

Purple Peril Ken Mcleod was the originator of the Purple Peril. This fly attracts steelhead in all sorts of conditions. Trey Combs writes in his book “Steelhead Fly Fishing” that he likes to fish bright flies when the rivers become off colored. With its bright purple color, this fly will attract the fish on those off colored water days. It is a very effective summer and fall fly. With it being very sparse, it has the capability to be fished effectively in the water column that the steelhead are holding in. Material List: Hook: Daiichi 2051 #7 Thread: UTC 140 Red Tail: Strung Saddle Hackle Purple Rib: Veevus French Tinsel Medium THREAD6 Body: Hareline STS Trilobal Dub Purple Hackle: Strung Saddle Hackle Purple Wing: Wapsi Squirrel Tail   Video Transcription Intro to the Purple Peril Hello everybody. This is Dylan here, at t...

Trout Rivers They are in shape and looking great! The water has been dropping off at a steady rate. The Lochsa River has been producing nice fish for anglers as of lately.  The clarity is good, making the fishing very promising as well as every trout river in the area. The weather has been staying cold in the evenings and mild during the day. You should be seeing a lot of insect activity on the stream. Skwala’s and March browns can show up throughout the day. The streamer bite will still be producing fish. Nymphing is a good route to go as well. Find the slower seams with a good drift and you’ll be successful. Lake Fishing It takes a while for our lakes around here to get the color back to a decent visibility, but that does not mean fishing is bad. Largemouth are starting to become very active due to the spawn. Baitfish patterns are...

Mother nature threw us a curve for the opener for our area lowland lake opener this last weekend. Colder temperatures and high winds made fishing a test for the most dedicated angler. Chopaka Lake (WA) Even with the temperamental weather, those that plied the water were rewarded with some hard-fighting rainbows. The weather must have kept a few of our traveling fly angler home for the weekend because the number of boats on the lake was only moderate. In between the rain, snow, and high winds, you could see several rods bent over with fat feisty rainbows on the other end. The diehard chironomid anglers were anchored up in their normal areas on the south end of the lake, and the action was pretty good with strike indicators going under on a pretty regular basis. Black chironomids or other styles of dark chironomids seemed to be enti...

Coeur d'Alene River It's on!  Flows have dropped quite a bit in the last week.  This morning at Cataldo the river is running 3,500 cfs.   This is an amazing flow for this time of year.  There have been lots of great reports coming through in the last couple of days.  Skwalas are out and there are also lots of March browns too.  This weekend should be fantastic.  Whether you want to nymph, streamer fish or dry fly fish, you will catch fish on any of these techniques.  The mornings will be better for streamer or nymph fishing, and the afternoons will pick up with the dry fly fishing.  An olive chubby chernobyl with a longer bead head dropper will be a great set up all day on the Joe.  You’ll want to have a good assortment of soft hackles too.  If you find fish up in the flats, try a March brown adult trailed with a soft hackl...

Planning for Runoff It is inescapable when we have normal or high snowpack, and it’s a good thing.  Rivers need runoff to flush out the old detritus and silt and to revitalize spawning gravels.  Flushing flows are good for caddis, stoneflies, and mayflies too.  Basically, fish need their habitat spring cleaned. Unfortunately, there will be times, sometimes weeks, when some rivers and streams will simply not be in fishable condition.  A couple of warm spring days followed by a rain shower can turn a river or stream into something that looks like a caramel macchiato.  A nice treat for drinking, but not for finding fish in. So, what is an angler who’s frothing to fish going to do when the water has been frothed like a latte?  Here on the western side of central Montana, we’ve still got some great options. Door Number One Door nu...

The healing waters of Omak Lake soothe my body and soul every spring when the water begins to warm. The warmer times of spring signals the beginning for the resident Lahontan cutthroat trout to start moving closer to the shore of Omak Lake located outside of Omak, WA.  When the water temperature and daylight hit a certain mark, the giant fish begin to move into the shallows making them a targetable species with a fly rod from shore.  When this happens, it is not uncommon to see pods of fish moving around in three to four feet of water.  Lahontan cutthroats feed primarily on small baitfish with the primary baitfish being the red-side shiner. The other baitfish that they will feed on are, sculpins, peamouth chubs, and bridgelip suckers. Talk to anyone that has fished this lake much and I'm sure they will tell you about catching a 20-plus...

Montana is an exceptional place to hunt big game. Residents are spoiled with low tag prices, ample species to pursue with over the counter (OTC) tags, millions of acres of public land, and seasons that last for months. It’s also home to special draws for moose, sheep, goat, bison, elk, antelope, and more. On the top of that list, and arguably at the top of the list in the world, is the bighorn sheep. Most notably, the Missouri River Breaks, “The Breaks” bighorn sheep tag. It’s a tag so coveted that it once went for nearly a half million dollars at auction and consistently sells every year for hundreds of thousands of dollars. In 2018, I drew this permit… Before you head out - Find out what our favorite Top 5 Bows from ATA are. Photo by Jerrin Uecker Lesson 1 - How to Draw a Tag for Bighorn Sheep If you’re someone who applies ...

Seminar Bugger Not sure how many years ago I came up with this pattern it was at least 2 maybe 3. I tie so many flies it's hard to remember exactly when I came up with the patterns. I do remember it was sometime around when we had a stillwater seminar here at the shop. I do remember I wanted a leech/bugger that had a relatively slender body and movement. The first lake I tried it at was Rat Lake. After a handful of fat rainbows and a couple of smaller brown trout I was very happy with the results. Since then I have tried it at just about all of our area lakes and my home river and have put this fly in the category as one of my go-to flies. As I mentioned before I came up with the name after some of the guys that went to the seminar liked it and liked it even more when I gave out a couple of dozen to them to try out. Tie it up in a number...