If you’re headed out to fish a local piece of water, there’s often no need to bring your rod in a tube – rod tubes are bombproof, but they’re also clunky to carry and pack, they make you take the reel off your rod, and they’re totally overkill if you’re just hopping in your car….
Read More
Archives for December 2013
Three Random Bonefishing Tips
Here are three things you can do to catch more bonefish. Enjoy! Use a stiff leader. Stiff leaders help turn over bigger flies, and they make your cast land straighter too. Here’s how to tie your own. Try a curl cast to a fish swimming away. Advanced anglers only on this one! Shots at fish…
Read More
Picture Perfect
It’s a picture that looks like a painting! Perfect virgin gravel on the Kanektok River at Alaska West, circa 2004. More Cool Pictures from Alaska At the Ready Go Make Babies We Have Liftoff
Slow Your Swing Down First
When you’re swinging flies for steelhead or salmon, there are times when ‘the perfect swing’ doesn’t elicit the response you were hoping for. We’ve all been there, right? Perhaps the presentation goes unnoticed through the bucket, or you feel the slightest hint of a grab, but no fish to follow. Your first thought might be…
Read More
12 Ways to Tie Better Flies Faster
Winter is here, and for many of us that means it’s fly tying season. If you’re looking to restock your boxes for next season, try a few of these tips to fill them up faster! Take Your Time on the First Pattern. Before you hit production mode, take your time on your first fly pattern. Experiment…
Read More
Have You Ever Seen a More Heavily Spotted Trout?
Check out the lower jaw, the leading edges of the fins, the eyeball for goodness’ sake! This has to be one of the most gorgeous rainbow trout we’ve seen at Alaska West. More Beautiful Alaska West Trout Really Rad Rainbows CSP with an Early-Season Dandy Photo Contest Winner
Cotton Swab Tube Flies
We fish a lot of tube flies at Alaska West, especially when targeting fish on the swing. While there a lot of different tube materials out there marketed by various fly tying companies, when you tie as many flies as we do over the course of the season, sometimes the cheapest option is best. Next time you are…
Read More
Progress on the Elwha
Man, is it nice to get a big conservation win every once in a while! One of the great recent success stories in fisheries conservation is happening before our very eyes – the removal of two dams on the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. The river is returning to its natural state,…
Read More
Rapids Camp Lodge Introduction
We announced a few weeks ago that we’re part of a bigger family now and our new ‘big brother’ is Rapids Camp Lodge in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Lots of folks have asked us about Rapids Camp, so we thought today we’d tell you a bit about what Rapids Camp is all about. Rapids Camp Lodge…
Read More
5 Reasons to Swing for Trout This Winter
Let’s face it, winter trout fishing is hard. If you are crazy like us, odds are you are not going to sit around and twiddle your thumbs until your next trip to Alaska or B.C. – you’re going to fish! Having hailed from all over the Northern U.S. and Canada (Alaska, Washington, Maine, British Columbia…
Read More