When it comes to tying leaders or attaching tippet, the blood knot is one of the most widely used knots in fly fishing. That being said, we find many anglers (even experienced ones) are intimidated by the blood knot, and to that we say; don’t be! Like any skill worth learning, knot tying takes practice…
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Fly Tying Step by Steps – Roundup
Way back in 2014 we started putting together detailed fly tying step by steps on how to tie some of our favorite fly patterns for salmon, steelhead, trout, bonefish, and more. We’ve accumulated quite a few since then, so we thought it was time to put together an updated roundup of all of our step…
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Better Backcast Presentations – Part 4: Trajectory
We’re back again with part 4 of our blog series on better backcast presentations. Whether you’re stalking the flats or banging the banks, the ability to deliver the fly effectively on the backcast is a extremely valuable tool in nearly all avenues of fly fishing. Today we’re covering another one of the most common faults…
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What’s Your Favorite Fly Tying Thread?
We’re less than a month away from the opening day of our summer seasons in Alaska and British Columbia. That means we’re spending a lot of time at the vise these days to fill our boxes for another great season, and we hope you are too! Needless to say, we’ve got fly tying on the…
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Timeless Tips: Swinging for Kings – The Broadside Presentation
We love swinging flies for anadramous fish, and we do a lot of it at our lodges in Alaska and British Columbia. However, swinging flies effectively often takes more than simply casting across the river and letting your line swing on through.. After all, it’s how your fly swims, not your line, that matters most. With…
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Is Your Hook Sharp Enough?
It goes without saying; sharp hooks catch more fish than dull hooks. Not only do they allow for better penetration into the hard mouths of tough fish, sticky-sharp hooks also allow for a greater margin of error for poor hook-sets as well. Regardless, we find many anglers still regularly fish hooks that are not nearly…
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New Fly Tying Shanks from Aqua Flies
If you’ve been following along on our blog/newsletter or have spent any time with us at our lodges in Alaska or British Columbia, you know we love fishing stinger/trailer hook style fly patterns for everything from king salmon, to steelhead, to resident trout and char. For years, the majority of stinger style ‘shank’ flies constructed…
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Better Backcast Presentations – Part 3: Haul Big
Today we continue on with our third installment of our Better Backcast Presentations series of posts where we cover some helpful tips and tricks for making more effective presentations, that’s right, on the backcast! Last week we talked about the importance of staying square while presenting the fly on the backcast. Before that, we touched…
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Steelhead Science from Wild Steelheaders United: Do These Lipids Make Me Look Fat?
Knowledge is power. When it comes to fishing, the more you ‘know’ about your quarry, the more ‘power’ you have to not only catch them, but to protect them as well. That’s why we love TU’s Wild Steelheaders United’s Science Friday series of posts to keep us current on the latest on one of our…
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Timeless Tips: Skagit Casting – Keep Your Hands Close
When you’re making spey casts in the Skagit style, try to keep your hands as close to your body as possible! Ed Ward, long-time guide at Alaska West and one of the fathers of Skagit-style spey casting, has been called “the man who can spey cast inside a phone booth”. That’s a bit of an…
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