Coeur d’Alene River Flow at Cataldo is 5,610 cfs and level.  The river fished well this past weekend with many good reports of big fish being caught all through the system.  It is still a touch high for great wading, but is for sure doable.  Good hatches as well.  Quite a few green drakes, big golden stones, a few salmonflies, caddis, and blue-winged olives are all coming off from mid morning to late in the evening.  The water is clear and in great condition.  Perfect right now for floating in the driftboat or pontoon boats.  Do be careful though as there are lots of new downed trees in some of the side channels that you need to be aware of.  Streamer fishing will be great, nymphing will be excellent as well.  The dry-fly fishing will get better as the water temps warm up a bit and is good in some areas, but spotty for the mos...

  Lakes and Ponds (ID & WA) I have been told that the top-water fishing around the local lakes is picking up. If you're after largemouth, bluegill, or crappie, going out could bring you some good fishing. The waters are warming and helping those fish get active. Casting parallel to a bank allows the fly to travel over multiple fish. A range of poppers can produce. I believe your best bet is to try different colors and patterns. Confidence is going to be key. We've got a decent number of different poppers and top-water flies here in the shop. Read past reports from the Lewiston region here, or click here to view all northwest regional reports.

The river is high, but the water is beautiful. It’s got color coming in from Little Prickly Pear  Creek and the Dearborn River, but with the Missouri’s high volume, their influence is quickly absorbed. The river has some color, but it has been fishable all the way down to Cascade. Nymphs A fly does not have to be a fly to be a fly. Worms are often the fly of choice. Many are fishing a double worm rig with one made of wire and one made of softer materials. If you don’t groove on fishing two worms, your scuds, sows, mayfly nymphs and caddis pupa are also get you in the game. Look to the banks or to the shelf-lines where the banks used to be and be ready to burn through some flies. You might think you are fishing off the edge, but your fly will sometimes be drifting over the willowtops—those willows are fly eaters. Dry Flies Caddis...

I am an Ohio born corn snob. A fair amount of the corn I’ve eaten in Montana reminded me of the field corn grown on my family’s farm, and it took a lot of butter and salt to make it palatable. Of course, one of my gardening goals has been to grow good tasting corn, and after all of these years in Big Sky Country, I’ve figured it out. Plant corn in a block of rows. Know when and what to plant Choosing the right variety of corn is key to a successful corn crop since we don’t have the warm nights, nor the extended season of the Midwest. Unfortunately, you’ll have to bypass varieties such as the long standing Silver Queen that takes 92 days to harvest. For our shorter season, Ambrosia and Bodacious are both super sweet types that mature in less than 80 days, making them good Western choices. The 68-day Kandy ...

When it comes to motor oils, the debate rages around whether or not to opt for synthetics. When this question came in for #AskNorth40, we went to Jerrad White, one of our store managers, for a quick overview. He advocates synthetics over standard oil for numerous reasons, some of which are more mileage between oil changes, less overall oil changes and better-operating temperatures. Those all sound nice- but what does that really mean? Let's get into it. The Structure of Synthetic Oils VS Standard Oil To begin, standard oil is a byproduct of natural oil. It is the result of a process called frictional distillation. First, it is extracted from the ground and then it's refined to remove impurities. It's made of non-uniform molecules and has a mixture of hydrocarbons which include: sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, and metals like nickel. The oil ref...

Coeur d' Alene River Flow at Cataldo is 8,750 cfs and climbing.  That means the river is still pretty big guys and gals.  Looks like we will be getting another push of water with the really warm temps and this just means we are getting closer to the good stuff.  For now though it's still a bit too big.  I like to see flows on the drop and around 5,000 cfs at Cataldo for good floating and decent wading options.  So stay tuned because we are in for a great summer with nice cool water for our fish. St. Joe Flowing 12,900 at Calder and climbing. Seems to be hanging above the fishable flows for now. Same thing here— we need to see flows around 5,000 cfs for comfortable floating and wading.  It shouldn't be too long guys. Just hang in there and know that the fishing will be off the hook good this summer. Clark Fork (MT) Flow at St. Reg...

Missouri River Well, the water level hasn’t gotten any smaller. The only question is how big is she gonna go? Eighteen-K, 20K, 22K? Only time will tell. The upper river from the dam to Stickney Creek is by far the busiest section, with anglers trying to stay in the cleanest water. The Dearborn to Cascade is pretty quiet. If you float up top and are not going guided, go later in the day. Many guides are off the water by 5 p.m. Nymphs It’s primarily a nymphing game right now and you can forget the 5X. Two X and 3X are the tippets of choice. The primary combinations are to run worms and scud/sows, worms and BWOs, worms and March Browns, or worms and caddis pupa. Look to the banks or to the shelf-lines where the banks used to be. Focus on the inside softer flows and the seams that come off island points and channels. Big eddies are good ...

Clark Fork River (ID) Flows are at 100,000 cubic feet per second. This river is too high and dangerous for anyone to fish from shore, or from a boat. Lake Pend Oreille The lake level rose to “full pool” this week and there is no sign of it stopping anytime soon. Water visibility is roughly 2-3 feet depending on where you are fishing. There are debris scattered throughout the lake, so be extra careful boating. Surface temperature ranges from 49-60°F. The pike have finished spawning, but still remain in the same sloughs/bays they have been in for the past four weeks. Generally, the big females disappear once post-spawn rolls around. However, I have still seen pictures of a couple 15-20-pounders being caught. Bring your eight-weight rigged with floating line, and tie on a big, flashy, and red fly. My favorite fly for northerns is a Jac...

Chopaka Lake I have sad news about Chopaka Lake. Last week the road into the lake was closed by the Dept. Of Natural Resources. After the snow melted out and the road was passable, one location had some damage to half of the road. With traffic going in and out of the lake, the other half of that location was showing signs of in instability. So, for public safety reasons the DNR closed the road completely. Last report I was able to get on an ETA when it would be reopened is about three weeks out. Keep your fingers crossed. McGinnis Lake Luke McKee and I made a second trip in a week looking for some redemption. Our first trip was a day of oops. When you clean your boat bag out to reorganize, make sure you put all your fly boxes back in. So, on our second trip we were a ready with all our stillwater flies. After catching our first brook tro...