Dec builds his confidence, as if he needed to. Photo: Justin Jackson Dec Hogan visits Alaska West during the first week of our season each year, to deliver spey instruction to our guests and to get in on the hottest, brightest kings of the season. This year, Dec had one of those experiences that, to…
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Archives for June 2009
We’re Purists at Andros South
Whitey fishes with an open mind. Actually, when it comes to fishing for bonefish on the flats, we really do think that use a floating line and an artificial fly is the only way to go. That being said, there are some pretty cool critters that swim around in the ocean around South Andros, and…
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Game On, Eh?
Target species #1: Dean River Chinook Photo: Alfie King Today marks the first day of our season at BC West on the Dean River. We’ll just lay it out there – we’re pretty fired up. Our guests arrive today via helicopter charter from Bella Coola, and lines will get wet this afternoon. Over the past…
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Spey Fishing for Trout, Part 1 – Why
Dec Hogan covers the Arolik, bank-to-bank. Photo: Cameron Miller Over the past few years, spey casting has become the method of choice in most fisheries around the world that involve presenting swung flies to anadromous fish. On the Kola Peninsula, and in Iceland, and on the Hoh River and in Tierra Del Fuego, anglers chase…
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Buffs – Why We Like Them
They’re not just for the flats anymore. Photo: Cameron Miller A few years ago on the flats we started seeing people with these funny stretch things wrapped around their heads, and we wondered what the deal was. It turns out they were wearing Buffs, and that Buffs are a great way to protect yourself from…
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Managing Running Line – 3 Simple Tips
Neat, tangle-free loops. Photo: Cameron Miller At Alaska West and BC West, we do a lot fishing with spey rods. There are a bunch of reasons that we like spey fishing – line control, less fatigue, the pure enjoyment of making a good cast, and the ability to cover a lot of water. Spey rods…
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Rainbow Trout and Giant Flies
Medium fish, XXL fly. Photo: Cameron Miller Rainbow trout in the Kanektok and Arolik Rivers have a short season during which they can feed, so when it’s summer and the water conditions are good, they tend to pounce on flies that might be, oh, about 1/4 as long as they are.< If you look closely…
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Line Winders
Yeah it’s thick, but it can still get tangled. Photo: Cameron Miller If you fish different parts of the world at different times of the year, you either own a whole boatload of reels or you regularly need to pull one fly line off a reel and slap on another one. If you’re not in…
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Bahamas Guidespeak Glossary
What mon, didn’t you hear me? Photo: rustychinnisimages.com Many of our readers found our Alaska Guidespeak Glossary helpful – it’s nice to be able to understand the locals, after all. The suggestion was made that our guides in the Bahamas say some pretty strange things as well, so today we present a handy reference to…
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Making T-14 Tips
“And then you color the front loop with a black Sharpie…” Photo: Cameron Miller When we fish the Kanektok and the Dean for kings and steelhead, most of the time we’re fishing Skagit-style spey lines with tips made of Rio T-14. T-14 is a very versatile material for constructing sinktips used when Skagit casting. The…
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