We're Running a Big Sale at Powderfin.com....!

Check out our new arrivals, and enter the coupon code "otterbox" for 15% off any order from Oct. 21 - Oct. 28th.

In preparation for the Holiday season, we've been adding products at a good clip these last few weeks. Among the new additions are OtterBox Waterproof Dry Boxes and iPod Cases. No matter what size you need, there is an OtterBox to fit your gear. They're waterproof and crush-proof, which make them perfect for bringing your digital camera wherever you go...pack your digi in an OtterBox and take it rafting, to the beach, fishing, or up on the ski hill. They're a nice way to protect your investment. And for those who really need to take work everywhere, we have some waterproof laptop cases.

We've also launched the OtterBox line of Blackberry cases and iPhone cases.

Check out our new arrivals, and enter the coupon code "otterbox" for 15% off any order from Oct. 21 - Oct. 28th.

Leroy Brown's Grandma

Here are some new pics of the monster, courtesy of our good pal John McMillan....

A few weeks back in our post "Bad, Bad...Leroy Brown", we showed you a pretty big fish. Well, evidently ol' Erik Severson has been blessed by the Butt Monkey Gods, because he caught this rediculous creature on Saturday. This thing is 7 inches bigger than the last one...a full 31 inches of brown trout...

New Sherpa Adventure Gear on Powderfin.com

We just received most of our 2009-2009 Sherpa Advenutre Gear, featuring some great mid-layer pieces like the Sherpa Tsepun for Men, and the Jarro for Women. We've also received a shipment of Sherpa Adventure Gear Hand-knit wool beanies. There are some new styles this season, so be sure to check them out.

Enter the coupon code "blog2" for 10% off your order until November 1!

Thanks! Visit www.powderfin.com for more information, or call 1-800-986-0656 for product assistance!

Bad, Bad...Leroy Brown!

Two nights ago my buddy Erik and I floated the Lower Madison and had some pretty tough luck. We hooked 3 pretty darn big trout on streamers, and landed zero. It's pretty rare to lose fish once they're hooked on big streamer hooks with heavy tippet, but it happened (3 times), and we weren't too jazzed about it.

With our appettites for big trout whetted, we decided to head back out to the same stretch last night to give it another try. This time our buddy Brian came along, and graciously rowed us the entire stretch.

It was a gorgeous night, about 78 degrees when we put on, no wind, and lots of bugs. Things were ho-hum for the first couple of miles, but we did get to see a Baldy trying to protect it's dinner from swarm of magpies, which was pretty cool.

After an hour or so, our perservence paid off...and we were rewarded with a few nice trout.

Then, as daylight was waning...along came Mr. Brown

After a few terse words about a line tangle that kept him from casting to a spot he was wanting to hit...Erik's line untangled, and he hucked his Olive Buttmonkey right on target.

As fate would have it, this monster brown porpoised out of the water to crush his bug as soon as it hit the water. After a few laps around the boat, and some solid runs, he was in the boat.

It was true team effort, with Erik on the rod, Brian on the sticks, and me on the net. That's really what it's all about when you're fly-fishing from the boat...when everybody does their part and it ends perfectly.

Damn, that was fun.

Nice work, Swibbles!!!!

It's not every day that 18 or so inch football Rainbows look small, but this was one of those days!

Introducing Earthlust - "Products for Our Sexy Planet"

If you're still drinking bottled water, it's time to get with the program. Bottled water is potentially unhealthy, extremely expensive, and wasteful. Why not choose a water bottle that fits your lifestyle and do something good for our environment? It's a simple concept, and we all need to get on board...RE-USE!!!!!

Some troubling statistics: There are over 2.5 Million water bottles thrown away EVERY HOUR! According to the Container Recycling Institute, less than 15% of plastic water bottles used in the U.S. are actually recycled. Most wind up in landfills where they can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade. Why not own a stylish, rugged, environmentally safe water bottle that you can re-use indefinitely? For more information on the water bottle problem we're all facing, check out this NPR Radio Spot.

EarthLust Stainless Steel Water Bottle - Leaf - 13 oz.

EarthLust Stainless Steel Water Bottle - Growing Tree - 13 oz.

EarthLust Stainless Steel Water Bottle - Owl - 13 oz.

EarthLust Stainless Steel Water Bottle - Peacock - 20 oz.

EarthLust Stainless Steel Water Bottle - Poppy - 20 oz.

EarthLust Stainless Steel Water Bottle - Parsley (Silver) - 20 oz.

EarthLust Stainless Steel Water Bottle - Parsley (Green) - 20 oz.

EarthLust Stainless Steel Water Bottle - Crow (Silver) - 20 oz.

EarthLust Stainless Steel Water Bottle - Crow (Red) - 20 oz.

EarthLust Stainless Steel Water Bottle - Peacock - 1L (33 oz.)

EarthLust Stainless Steel Water Bottle - Hawk - 1L (33 oz.)

EarthLust Stainless Steel Water Bottle - Crow - 1L (33 oz.)

EarthLust Water Bottles are stylish, incredibly strong, and environmentally friendly. EarthLust is a proud member of 1% For the Planet, an alliance of businesses who recognize their responsibility to ensuring a healthy environment. They donate 1% of their annual sales to environmental causes worldwide.

The Tale of Leadfoot Dale and Shank Finger Kratzer

It seems like we just finished run-off around here, mostly because we did. The Yellowstone is still swollen, in a very healthy, gorgeous way. Grasshoppers are all over the place these days, including the backyard...and for a couple of weeks now, the fish have been eagerly looking up for a big, easy meal.

Last Saturday some friends and I decided to do a rare thing...Get up early and go fishing. Fishing on Saturday certainly isn't rare for any of us, but the early part tends to be. My girlfriend coined a quasi-motto for anyone riding in my boat..."When you're taking off, we're putting on". I don't have a problem with that, there's often many things to do on Saturday or Sunday morning before you can get to the river...ie) work, hike, clean the house, mow the grass, or go to church, even though I don't do any of those things. Oh yeah, and there's also SLEEP!

But on Saturday, my buddy John picked me up at 7:30 and we headed over the hill to the Yellowstone. We decided to float a lower stretch, from the Highway 89 bridge to Springdale. I had never fished that stretch, so it was nice to try some new water.

When we got to the boat ramp, we stopped to rig up some rods and were privy to an extraordinary display of unsportsmanlike conduct in the fishing world. Two trucks, each hauling a drift boat flew into the boat ramp doing about 35 miles an hour. They both passed us without slowing down, and proceeded to launch their before us. I swear, they were racing. I'm not sure who they were racing against, but they were racing. A man in tight jeans and white unlaced high-tops launched both boats in under 5 minutes, as though he was trying out for a NASCAR Pit Crew Position...

On second thought, maybe he's actually in IN a NASCAR pit crew...Check out this boat!

Haha! Pretty good looking ride!

My friend Jeremy politely reminded ol' Dale that there actually is an etiquette to launching boats, to which he quickly responded, "We'll be out of your way in just a minute."

They were out of our way in no time, but a simple, "Hey guys, do you mind if we launch these real quick before we go run our shuttle?", would have probably been appropriate. No big deal though, no hard feelings...made for a good story.

We started fishing hoppers right off the bat, and didn't have any luck until we got into a sunny bank. We picked up a few trout pretty quickly at that point, and ended up having a pretty good day on the river. After getting this nice brown on a hopper, it slowed down considerably and we decided to run some nymphs.

I couldn't keep whitefish off of my big Prince dropper, which I'm certainly not complaining about. I seem to have a special relationship with those under-appreciated natives. I had a great time catching a bunch of whitey's, but Jeremy had some trouble with one of his. He reached down to grab the line to get him in the boat, when a sudden quick release caught him by surprise.

It also caught his knuckle. Ouchski...

That right there is not a very cool situation to be in. The same thing happened to me on the Dearborn two years ago. Pulling in a whitefish, and stuck past the barb...only it was in my palm. So I immediately had empathy for Jeremy, but I do admit that I still giggled a little.

After the requisite 30 or so minutes of staring at the problem wondering what to do, Jeremy was able to pull it out himself, saving him from the dreaded "wrap hook, push down, and yank like hell method" that we were prepared to administer. I was extremely glad for this, because I often feel like if I ever have to employ this method on someone, I'm probably going to get punched in the mouth.

All was well, and we ended up with a few more trout and a great time overall on the Yellowstone. The fishing is superb in Southwest Montana at present, and it looks as though it will continue into the fall...Thank you mother nature for cool temperatures and lots of precip!!!

For a better look at Leadfoot Dale givin'er hell on the Jelly...take a look at this short video....

Sherpa Adventure Gear Blog

Our friends from Sherpa Adventure gear have put a blog together with some interesting stories about their gear, as well as the people involved in their company. A couple of Sherpa Adventure Gear ambassadors summited everest in May.

This week, they're at the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City to introduce their newest clothing. We look forward to receiving our shipment of Sherpa Adverture Gear Clothing this fall, which features some excellent technical outerwear, as well as comfortable base layers and fleeces. And, they have some new Sherpa hand knitted wool hats, which are super warm and pretty cool looking, in our opinion!

Stay tuned to Powderfin.com's Sherpa Adventure Gear category for new arrivals coming soon!

Salmonflies on the Upper Madison

Thank goodness those things don't bit or sting, or we wouldn't be able to go outside in June or July!!!

We were able to get a few smaller trout to eat dries on the Upper Madison on Sunday. There was no shortage of bugs up there...salmonflies, caddis, yellow sallies, golden stones. Downright buggy day, but a gorgeous one!

Best Buy for a Bomber Bag, Bro.

Powderfin just added a new sleeping bag to our line, the Kelty Light Year Down Sleeping Bag, 0 Degree

It's a bag for all occasions...which is what we usually use here in Montana. I personally went awhile without a zero degree bag, but it took one late summer camping trip up here to realize it was time to add one to the quiver. You can't really put a price on a warm night's sleep!

Kelty Light Year Down Sleeping Bag, 0 Degree Details:

Temp Rating: 0 degree/ -18 C

Right Side Zip

Shape: Mummy

Insulation: 650-fill-power goose down

Shell material: PR349T polyester diamond cross-dye ripstop

Liner material: P300T polyester microfiber pongee

Size Regular

Fits to 6’ / 183 cm

Kelty Light Year Down Sleeping Bag, 0 Degree Details Regular Specifications:

Length: 80" / 203 cm

Shoulder girth: 62" / 157 cm

Fill weight: 30 oz. / 0.9 kg

Total weight: 3 lb. 1 oz. / 1.4 kg

Stuffed diameter: 8” / 20 cm

Stuffed length: 15" / 38 cm


Additional Kelty Light Year 0 Degree Down Sleeping Bag Features:

Slant-baffle construction

Chevron stitching

Efficient, form-fitting hood

Full baffle collar

Insulated hood baffle

Hip-length, two-way locking zipper

Zipper draft tube with anti-snag design

Zippered foot vent

Internal liner loops

External snap loops allow bag to function as a liner

Sleeping pad security loops

Hang loops for storage

Micro FatMan and Ribbon™ drawcords

Micro captured cordlock

Ground-level side seams prevent heat from escaping

Differential cut to maximize loft and warmth

Ultralight compression stuff sack included

Storage sack included

Insulation: 650-fill-power goose down

Hip-length, two-way locking zipper

Zippered foot vent

Efficient, form-fitting hood

Ultralight compression stuff sack included



Read more on the 2008 Backpacker Best Buy!

Jetboil Video

In addition to the popular Jetboil PCS and Jetboil GCS, we offer two new versions of the stoves at Powderfin.com Check out the super fast Jetboil Helios, and the Jetboil Helios Guide Series Backpacking Stove.

Heavenly Hyalite Highlights

With so many incredible rivers to float in SW Montana, we sometimes neglect what lies in our own backyard here in Bozeman. About 20 minutes south of town is an unbeleivable beautiful Hyalite Reservoir. It also happens to be one of the few remaining places in the lower 48 to catch Arctic Grayling.

Last night a couple of friends of mine and I decided against driving to the Upper Madison to chase down salmonflies due to a late start, no shuttle, and of course $4.09 a gallon doesn't help the cause either.

So we decided to head up to Hyalite to see if we could wrangle up a few cutties. We managed to catch a few on dries, but the highlight of the evening was this 16 1/5 inch Grayling that Jeremy caught on a chronomid. It's always a treat to see one of these gorgeous fish. This one let us see its monsterous dorsal fin in all it's glory.

Salmonflies on the way

Yesterday my friend Ryan and I headed out to see if we could find some salmonflies on the Lower Madison. The word was that they were starting to creep up on the banks, so we figured it was worth a shot. Ryan recently had reconstructive surgery on his foot, so he was excited to get out and fish for the first time this spring, and I was excited as well...because that's just generally how I am when it gets nice in Montana.

Nice doesn't even really begin to describe yesterday's weather. Our winter was long, cold, and snowy, the way a Montana winter should be. Our spring has been wet, rainy, and cool, the way a Montana winter should be. I've only been here for about 7 years, but the scenery around here is the most beautiful I've ever seen it. The meadows are lush, green, and full of wildflowers...and the rivers are full, fat, and happy. Full, fat, happy rivers make for some full, fat, and happy trout, and in turn some full, fat, and happy anglers in Southwest Montana.

Basically... it's shaping up to be an amazing summer. The folks that have lived here for many years are saying that this is what it used to be like every year, before the drought started about 8 or so years ago. And as we approach the first official day of summer, we know that salmonflies are on the way. I've chased this hatch pretty much every year I've lived here, mostly unsuccessfully. With a 9-5 job, it can be tough to catch a hatch right on the money, because for some strange reason those big, ugly bugs just won't wait for the weekend to splat into the water to be fodder for hungry browns and rainbows.

Soon after putting in, around 4:00 pm or so (4:00 pm is more my style than 4:00 am...see the previous entry) I was ready to chalk the day up as another swing-and-a-miss on the ole' Lower Maddy, since we didn't see any salmonflies and our standard stonefly nymph/worm combo weren't producing either.

Thankfully, Ryan had other ideas...including tying on a crayfish pattern. He picked up a decent rainbow on it pretty quickly, which was a good sign considering that in my experience the fishing tends to improve as you get further down river.

Some great conversation and a few browns followed...until he hooked into what he thought was a snag. But the snag quickly rolled...and immediately summoned a full-bodied "HOLY SH*T!!!" from myself. It then jumped about 3 feet out of the water, letting us know that it was indeed a brown trout, and a very nice one at that.

Ryan played the fish beautifully, and after what was probably 5 minutes but seemed like 15...we netted this guy...

No disrespect to Ryan, but the guy just doesn't know how to show off a fish. That's a BIG trout in his hands, but you might not know it from his posing style. I needed to teach him how to hold a trout for a picture. You know, the way smug guides do it. So we took one more picture to get a better view of the fish...which we measured to be 21 1/2 inches. I usually do a one-handed fish bragging pose, but since I've never caught a trout that big on a fly-rod, it was a new experience for me...and subsequently my lesson didn't go as well as I had hoped...

No matter how it's photographed, this is what we dream about all winter long in Montana when it's dark at five o'clock and we're flipping through HBO On-Demand. Not just the trout, but the opportunity to enjoy being outside in some of the most amazing surroundings with good people.

Thank you winter, you've given us a great gift this year! And thanks for letting me hold your big brown, Ry...hopefully it will bring me some trout mojo.

South Texas Speckled Trout

Early this month, I had a chance to fish with my cousin, Brant Pate, down in South Texas. In typical Capt. Pate, he had us out of bed at 4:30 to meet him at the put in. So with sleep in our eyes, and some haze in our brains from some killer margaritas the night before, Jessica and I headed over from Corpus Christi to Snoopy's Marina. Brant and our captain for the day, Scott, grabbed a tank load croaker and headed out at sunrise on a calm, beautiful Gulf morning. It had been rediculously windy for the several days prior to this outing, but luckily the day we decided to head out in the boat, mother nature co-operated.

Big Trout was the goal, as evidently the big ones are in close this time of year, doing their spawning thing. We used a pretty simple method...a croaker (baitfish) on a big hook...cast out, wait. Pretty relaxing way to fish, really, when you're used to two nymphs under splitshot in Montana winds.

The fishing started pretty slow, but about mid-morning our skipper found a good hole that produced a bunch of fish. Catch and Release doesn't really apply to trout in South Texas, and by the end of the day we had a cooler full of about 24 keeper trout...

We had a few fish at 23" inches or so, which were the biggest. It was a good time, and definitely nice to enjoy the Gulf heat knowing it was still snowing in Big Sky.

New Stove from Jetboil

The folks at Jetboil have stepped up their game once again with the Jetboil Helios Cooking System. It will boil a liter of water in 3 minutes, enough to help feed the whole crew on a backpacking trip.

Helios is an all-in-one cooking system that covers the gamut, from melting snow to prepping robust meals for you and your crew. Helios lights quickly and reliably with the click of a button. The system burns liquid fuel, so you can use every last drop in your canister and every boil is consistent. Clip on the windscreen for a steady burn in 10 + mph winds.

This backpacking stove packs down nicely into it's bowl, which saves space and protects the stove from being dinged up on the trail.