Swing Season 2017-18 is Here!
We’ve been swinging with our two-handers for a few weeks now, and we know a few of you have as well. In our brains, the 1st of November is the beginning of “Swing Season”, but as the weeds disappear from…
Read More
Kicking Plastic
After several years of threatening to do so, a few of our guides – myself included – are switching from store bought plastic water bottles to other methods of transporting and distributing water to our guests. Most guides I know…
Read More
Hangman Spey Video – Mike McCune
Here’s a valuable casting video Mike McCune and I recently shot. Valuable because it is the spey cast I see Mike executing more often than not when we are trout fishing. I have had a number of customers ask me…
Read More
Troutspey Reels and Running Lines
There is always a lot of talk about running lines for trout spey rigs around the shop. Some like mono, and some like a coated running line. I think were at about a 50/50 split among our customers and staff.…
Read More
Attitude and Effort
Spent a great couple of days with Joe and his 9 year old son Brooks. Brooks had tried a little Tenkara fishing near Mammoth, CA and a bit if smaller stream fishing in Utah, but this was his first trip…
Read More
What I did for Spring Break: Watch my wife and daughter catch fish on Dry Flies
Everyone at Headhunters fishes. Some more than others, and some not as often as they once did. Our GM Julie falls into the latter category, but still loves the sport. She and I always try to catch one of the first BWO days…
Read More
On The Brink
I think the river is about to explode. The water color has changed a bit in the last couple of days, I’m finding fish in some unusually fast and shallow water, and yesterdays streamer bite was like in the olden…
Read More
Saturday Swing Scenery
Out doing a little spey fishing with Missouri River first-timers Greg and Sam yesterday. The swung fly was not incredibly productive, but we did manage to score a few times. Thats Greg landing a nice Brown above. These guys are…
Read More
Get Those Kids Out There!
Spring has pretty much sprung around here. We still need the water to warm a little to kick off the BWO, March Brown and Mothers Days Caddis hatches, but it’s not far off. Spring offers some of the easiest fly…
Read More
New Scientific Anglers Spey Lite Lines
A couple of months ago, Scientific Anglers sent me a few prototypes of some new “Trout Spey” lines they were working on. I’ve been fishing them regularly and have been really impressed. They cast extremely well, and feel right (not…
Read More
Casting Range
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY! For many anglers springtime means “gear time”. Lots of things on the to-do list. Cleaning lines, tying flies, cleaning out that mess you call a boat bag, and for many it means some new equipment. In…
Read More
Sunday Scenery
A packed house yesterday as the weather topped 70° in downtown Craiglandia for the first time this year. Seems early to me, but most folks don’t mind shorts-and-flip-flop weather in mid-March. The parking lots were full and the Headhunters Crew spent…
Read More
Weekend Advice
There’s going to be some folks out on the water this weekend. With temps near 70’s, and minor flooding shutting down a few streams around the state, we expect to see plenty of folks on the Missouri. We’ve had plenty…
Read More
Casting Lessons
Over the years, we have provided casting lessons to all kinds of people in all kinds of scenarios. But they have always been by request, including our popular spey casting clinics over the winter months. Recently we have seen an…
Read More
Friday Conservation Flicks
Methow Headwaters The Methow is not an incredibly great fishery, but it lies in an incredible valley in Washington’s North Cascades. If you’re a Washington Resident, it represents some of the best fly fishing for trout the state has to…
Read More
Case of the Mondays
Welcome back to the cubicle! Monday morning and we’re all recovering from a busy weekend. The sun came out, and so did all of the Montana anglers who’ve been secluded under a blanket of snow for the last few months.…
Read More
HFS Weather & River Conditions
In our constant effort to make our website more mobile friendly, we’ve just installed a new custom element to the home page of our website that we think you all will appreciate. The widget shows up to date reporting for…
Read More
Weekend Update Fishing Report
The ice is gone on the upper river, most of the ramps are clear and the first thunderstorms of 2017 rolled through unannounced last night. We’ve just experienced two consecutive days with temperatures around 60 degrees and the forecast for the next…
Read More
Don’t Forget the Blackfoot
If you’re headed out this way in 2017, don’t forget to put the Blackfoot River on your list. Several of our guides – including Mark and myself – really enjoy spending time on this river. It’s the polar opposite of…
Read More
Saturday Spey
Some of us are at the ski hill, others are swinging softly. The snow in Craig was obliterated by the weather the last few days. Great fishing conditions. We hope you’re out swinging one up, and the reports we heard yesterday…
Read More
Boat Ramp Report – Freshies!
Above: Glen Plake hucking the wire. Sub-arctic today, but the Chinooks are gathering and we expect to see some people headed up to Craig for a little fly fishing this weekend and into next week. The foreseeable forecast looks great…
Read More
Fishing Report – Warming Trend!
Continued COOOOOOLD conditions have hampered our fishing efforts. But not our enthusiasm. The only nice weather we’ve had recently coincided with last weekends spey clinics. It was beautiful, but we were teaching, not fishing. There were folks some folks out…
Read More
Clearwater Steelhead Hosted Trip
above: Guide Whitney Gould preparing to release a wild Steelhead caught by Terry Armstrong. This fall Headhunters will be hosting two different Steelhead fly fishing trips to Idaho’s legendary Clearwater River with guides Tracy Allen, Whitney Gould and Zack Williams.…
Read More
Silly Saturday Scenery
Would you stick your tongue to the Wolf Creek Bridge this morning? You do that while we drift a nymph rig through the slot. A super sensitive balloon 5 feet above a B shot, followed by something pink followed by…
Read More
Front Lines – Public Land Transfer Win
See? It Does Work! This week, public land rally’s were held in Helena, MT and Santa Fe, NM opposing the transfer of Federally owned and managed lands to states. Above you can listen to MT Governor Steve Public rally the…
Read More
Public Lands Rally in Helena
GROUNDHOG DAY Another Montana Legislative session, another attack on our public lands, and another Public Lands Rally at our Capitol in Helena. Members of team Headhunters were in attendance, along with a thousand-plus hikers, hunters, boaters, climbers, skiers, birdwatchers, wildflower fanatics,…
Read More
F3T Time – Convergence
The Fly Fishing Film Tour is starting it’s way across the country, and here’s a trailer for one of the features titled “Convergence” from our friends at Conservation Hawks. CONVERGENCE, the new film from Conservation Hawks, explores the essence of…
Read More
The Super Salmon – Worth your 25 minutes
The Super Salmon by Ryan Peterson is a fantastic conservation video featuring Alaska’s Susitna River and threats it faces from a proposed dam. Following the incredible journey made by a Salmon, the film features the people and places that call this river…
Read More
Boat Ramp Report
This weekend temps are expected to get up into the high teens. Normally, this wouldn’t bring anglers out of their winter holes, but we’ve had nearly 6 weeks of unfishably cold conditions, and if the wind lays down I expect…
Read More
Sub Zero Saturday
Not much to report on this sub-zero Saturday. Too cold for pretty much any and everything. So, lets learn through observation. Here’s a short clip I shot at the request of a customer a couple of weeks ago. Aerial shots…
Read More
Things to do in Craig when it’s 20 Below.
As the snow tapers off and the temperature drops, we head into a solid 36 hours of butt-ass cold weather. The weatherman says -20 or more (or less?) coming Friday night, and that “Real Feel” map says -40 all over…
Read More
New Boat Smell…. ME!
I’m back on the sticks guiding full time in 2017, and I’ve been without a drift boat for a couple years. My raft, my Towee, and my boots have been my main modes of covering water. Today I drove up to…
Read More
Report from Ice Station Zebra
Above: Sara Roholt attempts to free the ice from her guides while swinging the Missouri River at -10. Extreme cold has settled in to the Northern Rockies for longer than it usually does. Really cold, and with it lots of…
Read More
BHA Quiet Waters Initiative
Above: Headhunters guide Capt. Ryan McCourtney running his powerboat downstream from Cascade. “Montana’s rivers and streams comprise less than 1% of our landscapes, but are valued and used disproportionately by people,wildlife and, of course, fish. They are the focal points…
Read More
ECHO TR2 SPEY and TROUTSPEY
The ECHO TR (Tim Rajeff) has consistently been one of our most popular Spey rods over the last several seasons. It’s combination of price and performance is unbeatable, as it’s ability to throw a variety of lines and casts. ECHO…
Read MoreFriday Flick – Cadent
Everyone loves the fall, and this will only remind you why. Judging by the mega-views on Vimeo, you’ve probably already seen it, but we thought worth posting as it’s so good. This should be in the “Best of the Web”…
Read More
Next Troutspey Clinic – Jan. 28 & 29
Our next Troutspey Clinics will be held Jan. 28th and 29th. You can expect the emphasis to be on trout and Skagit techniques with lightweight rods. Over the years our clinics have slowly morphed from a Scandi influenced general casting…
Read MoreShooting Line can be a Drag – More from Mike McCune
More from the Godfather, Mike McCune. One of the most common questions I get at our spey clinics is “how do I manage and handle my running line while spey casting?”. I try to avoid answering this. It’s a personal…
Read More
Cold Weather Reading – “Body of Water”
Below 10 degrees for the next couple of days. No fishing for sane folks, but great weather for expanding your mind with a good book. While it may appear that real books are doomed, I still prefer to grab a beat-up,…
Read More
Montana Guided Spey Trips
Headhunters has been dabbling in guided spey trips for the last two winters. We’ve run a few, but haven’t really pushed it too hard. Most of our guides have no interest in more work during the winter. They’re more interested…
Read More
2016-17 Spey Lineup – Rods and Reels
The season is in full “swing” for the folks who enjoy swinging trout up on a two-hander. Most folks are done chasing Steelhead in the upper Columbia drainages, and big game season has just ended. The balmy autumn has plenty of folks…
Read More
Keeping Warm on the River
The first really cold week is behind us, and some of our visitors got to enjoy some downright cold and wet weather. If you didn’t have all of the right cold weather gear on Monday, you froze. And we definitely…
Read More
October 5 Fishing Report
Fishing reports are all over the place right now. As is the weather. And your options. Typically fall in Craiglandia, and we love it. Is it easy fishing like April? No, but it’s really damn good and you can choose…
Read More
Early Swing Season Tips
The two-handed crowd is beginning to show up for the fall streamer experience. Last year I stated it was a bit early. I still think that, with the opportunity to present dry flies to 20-inchers on a daily basis, but…
Read More
2016-17 Spey Clinics
MONTANA TROUTSPEY The Swing Season is upon us, and we are starting to line up our free Spey Clinics for the 2016-17 season. Folks are asking about it and many have already swung a fish or three this season. Our…
Read MoreRiver Nomads Video
Pat Clayton – CEO at Fisheyeguy Photography – and I put together another “Life Aquatic” nature video, this time featuring some of the original Montana natives… Bull Trout. Took some work and some bushwhacking but we got some very nice footage,…
Read MoreNational Park Service Happy 100!
This week marks the 100th Birthday of our National Park Service. Living an equal – and short – distance between two of America’s most iconic National Parks, we are constantly aware of both the importance of our National Parks, and the…
Read More
Creek Fishing
Did a little “Crick” fishing’ with my daughter yesterday. Had to get out and have a walk around. And catch some fish in a boulder filled stream. We found a few, and we also found surprisingly cold and powerful flows…
Read More
Freshwater Drum – Did You Know?
Our good friend and Adipose Boatworks GM Justin Waayenberg recently posted a picture on Social Media showing off a Montana Freshwater Drum he caught somewhere in Eastern Montana, and I asked him to put together a few words and images for us.…
Read More
Fly Fishing Sun Protection
Above: Former firefighter and fly fishing model Dwayne Sutphin sporting some of our favorite sun protection gear: a DeYoung Patterned Buff, a 12WT FreeWT shirt, and the new Osprey Hat from Sheltahats. We sell a lot of sun protection gear…
Read More
Sunday Scenery
A calm sunset at the Wolf Creek FAS. Those aren’t clouds, but smoke from the Roaring Lion Fire at Hamilton, Montana. We’ve had very little smoke in our area from that or other fires in the region. All quiet on…
Read More
Saturday Fishing Report & Housekeeping
“You gotta fish at the coolest time of day.” A tip from Braden, who we find twitching and skittering after dark in the above image. The after-hours party is happening right now, with a mix of Caddis, tiny PED’s, Craneflies, a…
Read More
Friday Foto Hiking with Jim
Shop regular Jim Brandley and I spent a day hiking a small stream up near Glacier NP last month. Here’s a few shots of our day. Incredible scenery. Pretty good fishing. Great hike. No bears. Enjoy the weekend. A few…
Read More
Recycled Anchors
A few years ago Jason Fowler walked in our shop and asked if we wanted to buy some “used” drift boat and raft anchors. When I asked him where he got used anchors, he told me he dove for them.…
Read More
Dog Daze Fishing Report – Missouri River
So inconsistent I can’t even keep up with it. Fishing reports are all over the place right now, and fortunately you can fish all over the place right now. Pretty rare to be heading to the lower river during August…
Read More