Today we address one of the most common mistakes we see made on the river; setting the hook in the wrong direction. When fishing in moving water, the direction in which your rod tip moves when lifting the rod to set the hook can be the difference between a fish that makes it to the…
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Archives for August 2018
Best Fly Lines for Trout Spey – North 40 Video
Last week we shared a video from our friends over at North 40 Fly Shop featuring George Cook on the particulars of choosing a proper spey rod for trout. If you missed it, be sure to give it a watch by clicking right here. A few days ago, they released another great from their latest…
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Timeless Tips: Fly Fishing for Fussy Silver Salmon
At Alaska West, we have the pleasure of closing out our season with truly prolific runs of silver salmon. Silvers get under the skin of many of our guests due to their strength, acrobatics, and willingness to grab a fly. However, contrary to popular belief, there are times when silver salmon are reluctant to eat…
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Gear You Need: Sitka Fanatic Hoody
As folks who spend the majority of our time outside, like many of you, we’re on the never-ending quest to find the perfect layer for our pursuits. Lately, we’ve been impressed by the latest offerings from the folks at Sitka; an outdoor clothing/gear company based out of Bozeman, Montana. Although geared primarily towards the hunting…
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That’s a wrap!
Today we wrap up the last fishing day of our 2018 season at Alaska West and want to extend a huge thanks to all who made it one of our most memorable seasons to date. To all of you who joined us on the Kanektok this year, along with with those who followed along vicariously…
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Guide Poll: Favorite Way to Target Rainbow Trout
One thing we love about our native Alaskan rainbows (aside from their size, beauty, and aggressive nature, of course) is that we get to target them using a bunch of wild techniques that you might not otherwise get to try in other parts of the world. From skating rodent imitations, to stripping ridiculously large streamers,…
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How to Choose the Right Spey Rod for Trout – Video
Over the last ten years or so, the notion of ‘trout spey’ has become one of the fastest growing sectors of fly fishing. We love targeting trout on swung flies with small spey/switch rods and we do a decent amount of it at both of our lodges in Alaska. Nonetheless, with more trout-appropriate spey rods…
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Timeless tips: 5 Advantages of High Water
Over the past few seasons, mild winters and reasonably dry summers have made for some low water conditions on our home river at Alaska West. However, this year we’ve been experiencing significantly higher water levels of late, and we really dig it! Due to a few substantial rain (and even hail) storms, we’ve seen a couple…
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Rigging Beads for Trout – Mind Your Peg
Like it or not, no Alaska fly box is complete without a selection of egg patterns. Rainbow trout throughout Western Alaska rely heavily on salmon eggs throughout the back half of our season and those who choose not to imitate this natural occurrence are ignoring one of the most important food sources for Alaskan trout…
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The Kanektok Slam – Congrats Steve!
A while back, we told you about our new friends and Deneki guests, Rob Johnson and Jeremy Libby, who nabbed the first two Alaskan Grand Slams of our 2018 season on consecutive days alongside Alaska West guide, Caleb Hanna. In case you’re unaware, that’s all five species of Pacific salmon, all caught on a fly,…
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