Clearwater The river has dropped since it shot up last week. It was off-color two days ago when I drove up to check it out. The Peck gauge is reading at 10,700 cubic feet per second. Tyler Balich, the manager of our Coeur d'Alene Fly Shop, told me that he had friends who were catching fish up high on the river. I would imagine they were focusing their efforts around the North Fork. The techniques I would utilize are fishing with a sink-tip and a Hoh-Bo Spey. A fly with lots of movement and a bigger profile can get the job done. Grande Ronde (WA) I talked to my fishing buddy DV and he told me the Ronde is looking a little off-colored, getting close to the greenish hue. The cfs is 3,190 at Troy, Oregon. Same type of fishing technique that I would use on the Clearwater. Tips and a bigger profiled fly. Focusing on the slow water can bring fi...

Missouri River Conditions are good considering it is the middle of winter. The Mo has been running around 4,200 cubic feet per second lately and staying a few tics above 34 degrees below Holter Dam. If you get out in the afternoon on a milder day, it will warm up that one precious degree that really gets the fish moving. Last Friday, it was nine degrees. The water and the air were cold. I still got out for a few hours with another obsessive angler. I managed to keep my line clear enough to swing three rainbows before the icing got too extreme. If you can find three or four days in a row of above freezing temps, you can expect some pretty good wintertime action. This Friday, it looks like one of those windows is lining up. I can’t wait to be out there. Winter on the Missouri River Not much changes over the next few months in terms of fi...

Clark Fork River (MT) Gauges are reading “ice” at St. Regis. No recent reports here guys, so I'd be looking at a steelhead trip this weekend if we don't get a bunch of rain. St. Joe River Current flow, 2,240 cubic feet per second at Calder and dropping. Depending on the upcoming weather this might be an option—again, if we don’t get a lot of rain. Not sure of the boat launch conditions so this might be a better walk/wade option now. If you go, nymphing will be most effective. Tandem beadhead rigs should work. Your standards will be fine—Pheasant-Tails, Prince's, Brassies, Pat's rubberlegs. Make sure you get your bugs down and run a long enough leader to do so. The fish won't be super grabby now, and takes will be subtle. So pay close attention to your indicator. Streamers may get some attention as well guys, but keep them slow....

Fly tiers are creative, especially when said tier is in a jam, meaning they can’t find the materials they need on their cluttered desks or in their desk drawers. He or she might be able to find those materials at a fly shop, but not always. So, instead of trekking to the shop, the creative tier searches the garage, the kitchen and the laundry room, and scavenges these four materials. The next time you’re in a pinch, consider these items and give them a go. At the very least, you’ll be entertained in seeing what you can create with materials that rest nearly at the tips of our fingers. Mop Mopfly, Mop Caddis, Cased Caddis, Mop N’Glo—these are the names of some popular flies that are tied to match caddis, and they are creating a lot of buzz right now. All of these are easy to tie, they are extremely durable, they look realistic ...

We had a blast ice-fishing on Lake Frances in Valier, Montana, during the 2018 Ice Derby last Saturday. We’ve got lots of video and pictures to sift through. Look for another blog later this week with more details and some technical info. For now, check out some of our visual highlights from the derby, which drew 368 competitors. Derby Results Pike 1st Chris Verbus 11.14# $1,380 2nd Garret Moritz 11.0 # $828 3rd Ryan Fenner 10.82# $552 Kids Pike Riley Bock 8.96# $50   Perch 1st Pat Wheeler 1.38# $1,380 2nd Josh Waldner 1.32# $828 3rd Jason Brenden 1.22# $552 Kids Perch Colby South .94# $50

Victory Archery’s New Xtortion Arrows Victory Archery’s new Xtortion arrow meshes 304 stainless steel with high-modulus carbon fiber to create what Victory calls a “whisper quiet, small diameter arrow, with extreme kinetic energy for unparalleled impact force.” Its 304 stainless steel yields higher strength, better durability and greater longevity than other arrows on the market. It’s offered in three spines of 300, 350 and 400. The 300-spine arrow weighs in at 12.9 grains per inch; the 350 and 400 spine arrows weigh 11.8 grains per inch. All have an inner diameter of .204 inches and an outer diameter of .275 inches. The Xtorion is available in two shaft straitnesses—.003” and .006”. This arrow is the strongest and most dependable we could find—anywhere—and it’s as useful to whitetail hunters as it is to those who p...

Aiming a bow at a target resting a few yards away doesn’t exactly mimic an actual hunting situation. But it provides an opportunity to draw, hold and release a string, and that gives an educated shooter a pretty good idea of how that bow might perform in the field. That’s exactly what the North 40 hunting team did yesterday, walking the isles at the Archery Trade Association’s 2018 show in Indianapolis, shooting the bows we were most excited to see. And this is what we learned—in the past year some bow manufactures made incredible improvements over previous models, and all of the bows we shot are, arguably, better than any bow you could have found on the market just five short years ago. Here’s a rundown of the bows we liked best after testing more than a dozen. Any of these would be a joy for you to shoot, and all would make a ...

How important is a good fly line? I would argue that a fly line is the most important piece of fly-fishing equipment. That’s because the line carries a fly to the fish. Even the best fly rod can’t perform properly with the wrong fly line attached to it. And, a rod won’t cast a line and fly—very well— if it is dirty and cracked. Dirty and/or cracked lines are sticky and they don’t “shoot” through the guides very well, if at all. If you can get one through your rod tip and onto the water it won’t float well and your flies will be pulled under the surface. If the fish are eating on the surface, you don’t stand a chance. To me, it’s abundantly clear that a correctly matched, clean, slick, crack-free, and high-floating line is a key element to fly-fishing. And a new, premium fly line is like a fresh pair of lenses, provi...

Clark Fork River (MT) Current flow 3,710 cubic feet per second at St. Regis and leveling out. No recent reports here, but might be worth a look in the next few days. The weather is shaping up this week to be warmer and partly sunny and high 30's and low 40's in St. Regis. The flows will be dropping and, if the sun pokes out, I think you could have some good fishing here. The bump in the flows will have pushed a lot of the slush ice out. Nymphing will be the gig, and tandem rigs with your favorite bead heads or Pat's Rubber Legs will get the job done. Keep the bugs at the bottom. Takes can be subtle this time of year so pay attention to your indicator. St. Joe River Reading ice on the USGS graph. We'll need more warmer weather and rain to push the ice out, so stay tuned. Coeur d'Alene River 2,580 CFS at Cataldo and starting to level out.�...