John Arnold, Author at Headhunters Fly Shop

They’ve finally arrived, the much anticipated and touted ECHO Glass Spey & Switch models. We’ve been playing with these for a couple of months (we magically got our hands on one of the early production models), and it’s thumbs up…

Spey Lines – Diagrams for the Confused

December 17, 2014

lines, spey

It’s really not that complicated, but the massive amount of advice from all corners of Spey-dom seems to confuse those new to the style. Here’s a few diagrams from our Spey Clinic presentation. CLICK TO ENLARGE SCANDI & SKAGIT Both Scandi…

Latest Catch

December 17, 2014

Fly Fishing Travel, Photography

Catch, magazine

The most recent issue of Catch Magazine is out now. As usual, great imagery from Brian and Todd. Tarpon, trout and a bad dam in Chile. If you haven’t paid for the 1 year subscription, do it. Catch ain’t the…

Christmas Break Forecast

December 16, 2014

fishing forecast

Things always slow down a little as the Holidays approach. Lots of stuff to do. I'm cleaning up the house before family arrives. You probably have some similar tasks that are preventing you from fishing or chasing birds. Or you…

Too Many Bugs?

December 15, 2014

fishing, Hatches, winter

There can be, and I’m not talking about mosquitos. When the weather does the right thing and the bugs go nuts, Missouri River trout often get so focused on emerging insects that they start to ignore everything else. That includes my…

Fishing Report and Walleye on the Fly

December 12, 2014

First of all, apologies for the “Friday Foto” on Thursday. Apparently I don’t know what day it is. So forget you saw it yesterday and be amazed again today. Fishing has been excellent up to the dam and down the…

Friday Foto

December 11, 2014

Photography

grande ronde, steelhead

From Scumliner today. Mark is on vacation. Here’s more spey stuff (that’s all I’ve been doing for months). The so classic Rod & Coat Rack at the “Upfront” on the Grande Ronde at Heller Bar. The Upfront is the beach…

Strip Strike or Sweep?

December 10, 2014

Uncategorized

I released a new video, Switch it Up, featuring some two-handed fishing on the Missouri River a couple days ago. Last night I was going through a bunch of FB comments and shares in my inbox, and noticed that PNW Spey…

Switch it Up – Montana Spey Video

December 9, 2014

spey, switch it up, video

Here’s the latest edit, featuring the crew that stays around Craig for the winter, fishing the Missouri River with two-handed or “spey” gear. The class at our last Spey Clinic got to see the world premier. Aren’t you jealous? MONTANA…

12 Days of Christmas @ TFM!

December 8, 2014

12 days of christmas, TFM

This thing gets better every year! Our buddy Cameron over at the Fiberglass Manifesto is holding his annual 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS contest again. Cam has been doing this for several years, and it really is a big deal. Prizes aren’t…

Montana Spey Clinic

December 8, 2014

Fly Fishing Technique, Headhunters Life

clinic, spey

CLINIC #1 IS IN THE BOOKS An excellent turnout for our first two-handed Montana Spey clinic of the year. The weather was nice, and we had a little glitch with our google drive sign up list and overbooked it. That’s OK.…

Some Simms Stuff on Sale

November 24, 2014

Simms Sale

Say that 3 times fast? We just want to let you know that some discontinued/redesigned Simms products are on sale at Headhunters. And not beanies. No, we got some waders and boots on sale. Screaming deals if you’re in need.…

Sunday Spey

November 23, 2014

Headhunters Life, Photography

spey

Ninch stretching it out on the upper river. He didn’t get one on this cast. It was the next. The entire Headhunters crew has been out swinging with two-hands. A lot. Try some swinging. You’ll like it. You can wear…

Storm 1

November 11, 2014

fishing, Max, winter

Fall no longer exists. We go from flip-flops to Muck Boots in a day. Yesterday Mark, Chad and clients got caught out in it. They new it was coming, but you never believe the temp is really going drop 40…

Echo Glass Spey Rod – First Look

November 4, 2014

Fly Fishing Gear, Uncategorized

Echo, fibergalss, spey. switch

With the resurgence of fiberglass fly rods, it was only a matter of time before someone brought archaic glass technology to the two-handed market. Leave it to ECHO to be the first with a production model (there are some blanks…

Abel “Dancing Bears” Reel Available now!

October 27, 2014

Mark is Impressed! Headhunters just received a few of the new Abel Grateful Dead “Dancing Bears” Special Edition fly reels. They will go quickly, as only 250 have been made… and that’s it! Don’t believe us? Ask the thousands of people…

It’s nice. A little Too Nice.

October 21, 2014

Mark Raisler, Zak Dalton

A beautiful fall day yesterday in what was – I assume – record high temperatures. Nearly 80 degrees in North Central, and not a breath of wind. Too sunny for a big hatch, and the water is still too warm…

Blackfoot River Fly Fishing – Final Countdown

September 19, 2014

Blackfoot River, cutthroat, report

Mark and I continue to sneak over to the Blackfoot River if we can both find a day off together. Fishing has been good, and only seems to be getting better. Typical for this time of year. Things are cooling…

Pseudos… call them what you will.

September 16, 2014

Anoka, Baetis, Pseudo

Mark and I hit the river at Pelican the other afternoon and both Pseudocleon (Pseudo’s) and Caddis were present in a big way. Fish were up all over the river eating both bugs. Mid-September is when both of these hatches…

Labor Day Sale & BBQ!

August 25, 2014

fly sale, gear, labor day sale

As usual. We’re having a Labor Day Sale, BBQ and general Mo-down this coming weekend 8-30 thru 9-1. This is a great chance to pick up some awesome fly fishing gear at great prices. We will be outside under the…

DeYoung – Redfish Confetti

August 21, 2014

Fly Fishing Video, Headhunters Life, Uncategorized

art, Derek DeYoung, video

Here’s a neat video from our bud and famous Montana artist Derek DeYoung. You get to watch the process of a DeYoung painting in creation, and Derek shares a little story about Redfish, one of his – and our –…

Missouri River Photos by Jon Covich

August 20, 2014

Uncategorized

jon covich, phtography

We had a visit from well known angler, photographer and tackle rep Jon Covich last week. Jon was taking his boys on a fly fishing trip through Montana before they had to go back to school. I asked these boys…

“Hoot Owl” Restrictions on Dearborn, Sun and Smith

August 18, 2014

With all the water Montana has received this season, stream closures due to warm and low flows are not on most people’s mind. We do have a few however, and as they are all in our area, you should be…

Birthday Girl on the Elk River BC.

August 14, 2014

Headhunters Life, Uncategorized

BC, cutthroat, juie

Today is Julie’s Birthday. You can’t wish her well face to face, because she is floating down the Elk River in BC (in the front of the boat, of course), sticking big Cutties on dries. Single dries. Julie making the…

Employee Appreciation! – Closed this Friday Night

August 7, 2014

Headhunters will be closing at 5 PM this Friday August 8th, instead of our usual 9-10 PM. The entire staff is getting together for our annual Employee Appreciation Day! For those rolling into Craig after work, you’ll have to find…

Freestone Reprieve

July 31, 2014

Uncategorized

Sara and I hit the Blackfoot the other day, along with my 9 year old daughter Adair. Rumors that some Spruce Moths were hatching had us up early and on the water, despite the fact that we’ve been working very…

Dead Flies Don’t Swim – Video

July 28, 2014

Fly Fishing Video, Headhunters Life

dry fly, trico, video

Dead Flies Don’t Swim is a short video shot last week in our backyard. Mark and I love the Trico hatch, and this season it’s been better than it has in years. We thought we’d go out and gather a…

Can an animated GIF teach you to Reach Cast?

July 26, 2014

GIF, reach cast

Our own Braden Lewis executing a proper reach cast. If you watch it enough times, will it embed itself into your brain?

Monday Missouri River Macro

July 21, 2014

macro, Nymphs, photography

Here’s your Monday Morning Macro of yesterdays Missouri River nymph survey by in-house biologist Braden Lewis. Pretty cool shots, and another weekly change in what’s on the menu for Missouri River trout. Kind of like those “visual” menu’s at Denny’s.…

Carp Master Max

July 14, 2014

carp

Another weekend gone, and another set of photo’s from father/son Ken and Max Rubino in my inbox. This Great Falls duo puts in a ton of days on the Missouri River. It’s a rare weekend that they aren’t in the…

New Flies for the Missouri River

July 9, 2014

flies

Once upon a time, Mark and I ordered all the flies for Headhunters. It’s a grueling task, especially when it comes to finding and having faith in new flies that we’ve never tried. These days, the Ninch does all the…

Blackfoot River Fishing Report 7.8.14

July 8, 2014

Blackfoot River, fishing report

We’re finally starting to get over to the Blackfoot River on a regular basis. Our favorite freestone has been fishing for a while with deep, heavy rigs, but we’ve been waiting for the water to clear and the surface action…

Monday Morning Missouri Macro

July 7, 2014

macro, missouri river, Nymphs, photography

Braden and I set up the Macro Tank the other day to see what exactly is squirming around in the Missouri River. Lot’s of PMD nymphs, and relatively few Yellow Sallies like last week. I do see many stages of…

New Breed Chicks. Richardson Edition.

July 3, 2014

New Breed Chicks

Renee Faltings shows off her sick PMD inventory. Renee is from the Ketchum/Hailey, ID area, and all the cool kids there rock a Richardson Chest Box. They always have. Many moons ago I was a guide on Silver Creek and…

Big Dries.

July 3, 2014

big dries, flies, fly fishing technique

The other day I was picking a few big “foamies” out of the bin for a day on the water. A customer leaned over my shoulder and asked “what the hell I was going to use those for?”. “The Missouri”,…

Missouri River PMD Patterns

June 30, 2014

flies, fly tying, Missouri River Montana PMD Box, PMD

Ninch and I were going through the fly bins the other day and pointing out a few of our favorite PMD patterns for the Missouri River. Right now. Cripples and spinners, mostly. There are others. Here are some macro shots…

Beaver Bash 2014 – Beaver Island Carp

June 24, 2014

Fly Fishing Travel, Headhunters Life

carp, travel, video

I’m sitting in the Traverse City, MI airport with Alex Landeen (above), waiting for our respective flights home. Alex to Tuscon, myself to Great Falls. We’ve both got our laptops out and are reviewing the images and video we captured on our…

Beaver Island Carp

June 12, 2014

Fly Fishing Travel

carp, travel

So I get invited to go on this Carp fishing trip by me friend Cameron Mortenson of the Fiberglass Manifesto. It’s to a place called Beaver Island, which sits in the middle of Lake Michigan. I’ve heard of it, and…

Missouri River Fly Fishing Map

June 6, 2014

fishing report, missouri river

We’ve done a little tweaking to our popular Missouri River Montana Fly Fishing Map recently. Cleaned it up a little, and made some adjustments that reflect changes to access over the last few years. The new copies will be arriving…

GigaPan Technology

June 5, 2014

fly shop

Our good buddy Andy Watson at Bull Stock Media took this cool GigaPan image of our shop after work last week. Very cool stuff. You can zoom way in and out, pan around and even read the leader packs on…

Save a Trout, Kill a Walleye

June 5, 2014

walleye

You’ve seen a lot of Walleye pic’s from us this spring. Most of them dead. Which is how they should be. If I were a religious zealot I would say that God put Walleye on Earth to make fish tacos…

Skipping Rocks

May 30, 2014

Headhunters Life, Uncategorized

missouri river, team Headhunters

Ninch, Mark and I headed out on the river yesterday. The plan was to shoot some video and get a day on the water together. An option that will be rare for any of Team Headhunters for the next few…

Trout Porn Stars

May 29, 2014

facebook, phtography, trout porn

We received a visit from Team Trout Porn last week, as they hit the Missouri River as as part of their annual spring tour of Montana. Talk about enthusiasm, this crew seems to always have a smile on their face,…

Restigouche Fall – Season’s on the Fly

May 23, 2014

Restigouche River, travel, video

For those who were asking about the trip Ben Hardy and I made to the Restigouche River Lodge, New Brunswick, last year, here is the latest episode of Seasons On The Fly. SOF producer Greg Heister was in camp with…

Opening Day. Take a Kid Fishing.

May 16, 2014

Future Fly Fishers, take a kid

In my case, it’s my kid. This Saturday marks the opening of many smaller streams in Montana. While many (most?) area creeks will be too high for good fishing and safe wading, there will be some small stream opportunities available…

Kinnetic Loop – Available on iTunes

May 8, 2014

kinnetic loop

A Kinnetic Loop is a celebration of our past, present and future. Produced by our good friend Simon Perkins at Sharptail Media, this was another film featured at the Down the Hatch Fly FIshing Festival in Missoula last month. You…

NRS Freestone Drifter – Video

April 28, 2014

Fly Fishing Gear, Fly Fishing Video

drift boat, NRS

The much anticipated NRS Freestone Drifter has finally arrived at Headhunters. We’ve received many questions about this “inflatable drift boat” designed by the whitewater/fishing guru’s at NRS. Many questions revolve around performance, but just as many are curious about the…

Hank Patterson on Pebble Mine

April 16, 2014

Fly Fishing Video, Headhunters Life

Montana funny-man and fly fishing guru Hank Patterson lays down his opinion on the Pebble Mine issue. http://www.stoppebblemine.org

Land of the Giants – Missouri River

April 14, 2014

Our “Land of the Giants” guides are running some great trips right now. Spring fishing at LOG is pretty good. You’d be hard pressed to fins any better in the state right now. Of course, if you don’t like catching…

Fiberglass Manifesto on the Missouri

April 10, 2014

Fellow blogger and friend Cameron Mortenson of The Fiberglass Manifesto visited us this week following the Orvis Guide Rendezvous in Missoula. He and I spent a couple of days pounding the Missouri with the finest glass rods from Epic, Graywolf,…

FISHSKI

April 7, 2014

fishski, video

You might remember “FISHSKI” as Mark’s old licenses plate tags. Now, a major motion picture. Here is our entry for the Orvis Down the Hatch Film Festival held last weekend in Missoula, MT. It was a great film-fest. Awesome shorts…

Did You Fly Fish Belize in High School?

March 28, 2014

saltwater, video

These Kids are Alright Here a video from Lonely Osprey Productions, and group of younger anglers from the East Coast. We’ve become familiar with these cats through Vimeo. Here’s what they say: We are a group of 15 and 16-year-old…

Montana Cinema – Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

March 21, 2014

Headhunters Life, Un-Fishing

montana cinema, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

Who doesn’t love a movie that was filmed in your backyard? While Montana isn’t known as a location for motion picture filming, we have had a few excellent Hollywood productions filmed here. Of course you all know and make fun…

Orvis Helios 2 – Video

March 18, 2014

Fly Fishing Gear, Fly Fishing Video

Orvis, Orvis Helios 2

Here’s a pretty cool video showing the manufacture process for the Orvis Helios 2 back yonder in VT. Good job making a video about building fly rods that I watched to the end. The Helios 2 continues to one of…

Part of Winter – Video

March 12, 2014

fly fishing technique, video, winter

The latest “moving pictures” from scumliner and Headhunters. Check out some clips featuring the Headhunters Team fishing the Missouri River during Feburary. It is much colder than it looks. The crew was dodging icebergs and every fish release you see…

Precipitation Report & Runoff Predictions

March 11, 2014