Anticipating Ice-out for Fly Anglers This year, most lakes east of the Cascades have acquired a thick, stubborn ice layer that is only now just starting to thin. Late March is here and finally, the sun is out. In the Omak shop, we’ve noticed that cabin-fever is luring winter-weary anglers out from behind the vise. Many anglers are starting to get that itch and ice-out can’t come soon enough. But when? We can only clean our fly lines so many times, right? Ready for much-needed river time? Read about the first fishable hatches here. Ice-out is not only the termination of a long fish-less slumber but also some of the best fishing you’ll ever witness. So, after you’re convinced that your fly lines are clean enough for surgical sutures, saunter over to your handy internet device and check the weather. As you can guess, certain weather...

Spring is in the air.  You can feel the fly fishing buzz building and Missouri River Fly Fishers is bringing The International Fly Fishing Film Festival back to Great Falls.  The show date is Friday, March 29th.  The fun starts at the Do Bar Banquet Hall at 7:00 p.m. The IF4™ consists of short and feature length films produced by professional filmmakers from all corners of the globe. The selected films showcase the passion, lifestyle and culture of fly fishing. IF4™ contains exclusive content and is a must-see experience.  There will also be some raffle items and some free stuff to give away.     Before the films, Montana FWP will present their popular State of the Rivers Address. Come join us for an evening of some of the world’s best new fly fishing films and learn about the populations and health of ...

By the time March and April roll around, I’m ready for some much-needed river time. Hatches this time of year can be sparse, yet they can still provide some stellar fishing if you hit them right. Even if these bugs aren’t “hatching”, they will be crawling or swimming below the surface. As a disclaimer, there are a million and one different bugs that pop off during the spring, and the following are the ones that we observe as fishable hatches. Thinking about heading out to the Mo? Learn more about early spring fishing here. Midges March is a tricky month for fishing. It could still be cold, or it could start getting warm quick. Either way, this is a good pre-runoff window to fish if you find some accessible waters. On most rivers in the Inland Northwest, midges are one of the first bugs that come off in numbers. Patterns such as a...

My Grandfather, "Grandpa Jack," landed on the mainland of Japan during the final stage of the Second World War. Originally he was there for the impending invasion, but as events occurred his job turned into more of a humanitarian role. I never got to hear much about his time spent overseas, but occasionally, he would pull out a few pictures that he took of the area surrounding ground zero. I do however, distinctly remember him telling me about the kids he encountered there. He treated the local children as if they were his own. "This wasn't their fault," he told me. At the time he was 19 years old. Grandpa Jack liked his food cooked well, borderline burnt. I was told this was due to his time in the army, something about eating raw chicken. Subsequently I don't think he ate much chicken the rest of his life. He was part of what would beco...

Omak Lake (WA) Day by day it keeps getting better. Even though the Lahontan cutthroats are not cruising in the larger pods, they are still there. On a good, day right now, a couple of hours of fishing can land you about six to 12 fish. Most are still in the 16 to 20 inches size range, but a few larger ones are starting to show up. Springtime as finally showed up with sunny and warmer days. The downside to these nice sunny days is it can slow fishing down a bit. One of the good things about Omak Lake is that most of the time you get some type of a breeze that can ruffle up the surface. It’s just enough to hide the silhouette of the fish from any predatory eyes from above. Fishing close to the bottom in 10 to 15 feet of water is going to be your best chance at finding a number of these hungry fish. The closer to next month we get, th...

Steelhead Rivers The Rivers are on the rise and starting to make their journey to blow out. Visibility on the Clearwater around Orofino was about a foot as of yesterday. The Snake and Grande Ronde Rivers are making their way up in the cfs. Driving up the Snake River yesterday showed some discoloration. The SF of the Clearwater could provide some fishing opportunities, yet that river has shown some rise too in cfs. The weather coming this weekend is showing rain, which has the potential to make the rivers rise and become more off colored. Trout Rivers Basically the same goes for the Trout Rivers around the area. All are rising and becoming off colored. Lake Fishing With these warmer temperatures that we have been having, our ice is starting to come off of the lower elevation lakes. Leech patterns would be a great pattern to fish, providin...

Coeur d'Alene River The river is flowing 673 cfs at Cataldo and climbing slightly.  Looks like good conditions this week up until Saturday.  We are expecting rain on Saturday and this will really get the flows bumping up.  The river has been very low and at this point we need a touch of water to get the fish moving around a bit.  We’ve had some better reports in from the last couple of days of warmer weather.   I think the fish are starting to wake up a bit.  The nights are getting a little warmer which will help increase the water temperatures as well.  There is a good amount of nemoura stone flies around.  They are the small skinny black stone flies you will see all over the snow banks.  The fish should be looking at smaller stone fly type nymphs now.   Also, streamer fishing will be really good in the next few days.  Wit...

Snow and ice have been melting like crazy.  A fair number of folks are back out on the Missouri River.  Boat landings from Wolf Creek to Mid Canyon saw a bit of activity this past weekend.  Soon the river will be wide open again.  It’s like, suddenly, the lid came off of winter and eager anglers are spilling out. I hesitate to even mention it, but if you look at the forecast, the temperatures are mild, and the “W” is not an issue.  When does that happen in the spring?  If you like spring fly fishing, you should be taking advantage. Trout Spey Fish are eager to eat, and small streamers represent larger food items in their world when compared to a midge or sow bug.  For the next several weeks, the swing should remain an excellent technique.  Clouser’s, near nuff sculpin, thin mints, swimming leeches, balanced leeches, balan...