Last week we kicked off our master class on advanced bead fishing for rainbow trout with a great post on matching the egg-hatch courtesy of Rapids Camp Lodge guide, Alaska West alum, and certified bead ninja, Rob Rymph. Today, Rob is back with some great advice for choosing the appropriate hook size for the bead…
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How To Fix a Twisted Running Line – Video from OPST
We love mono running lines on our spey and switch rods. However, regardless of your casting ability, or even the type of running line you prefer, some amount of line twist is inevitable. Unlike traditional over head fly casting, the rotational nature of spey casting across multiple planes can cause a great deal of twist,…
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Timeless Tips: Stages of Spotting Bonefish
When you’re out on the flats looking for bonefish, there are a few ‘stages’ that you go through, ranging from locating the fish to really reading how the fish is behaving. In today’s post we’re going to outline these stages – hopefully you’ll find something helpful in here! These stages apply to your overall career…
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Advanced Bead Fishing for Trout: Matching the Hatch
Salmon eggs make up a huge portion of the diet for our Alaskan rainbow trout, which is why bead fishing is arguably one of the most effective means of targeting trout with a fly rod in our neck of the woods. However, contrary to popular belief, fishing beads for trout can be extremely technical, going…
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Taking Video to Correct Casting Faults
When it comes to improving your cast, there’s no substitute for practice. Lots of practice. However, without a second set of eyes, it can be difficult to gain an honest image of your own cast on which to improve upon, making ‘practice’ wildly inefficient, often leading to more frustration than improvement. For this reason, we…
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5 Reasons to Fish Poppers for Barracuda
We love fly fishing for barracuda, and while we might be fortunate to be located right in the middle of one of the best bonefish fisheries on the planet, we still spend a lot of time targeting them.. Contrary to popular belief, long, flashy, needlefish imitations aren’t the only fly worth tossing at ‘cuda. In…
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Bonefish Buttah Now Available Online at The Fly Fishing Shop
We’re in the process of filling up our fly boxes for our upcoming bonefishing season, and we know many of you are too! Several of you have asked us where to pick up the Bonefish Buttah, one of our favorite flies for South Andros, and we’ve yet to have a great answer.. Until now. We…
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Timeless Tips: Casting Heavy Rigs and Tips – 5 Tips
Whether its heavily weighted flies, split shot ridden nymph rigs, or ‘dredger style’ sink tips, there’s nothing delicate about fly fishing in Western Alaska. We may take the ‘chuck and duck’ a little too literally at times, but we love it! Nonetheless, no matter where you are fishing, if you are planning on fishing heavy…
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Kanektok King Tugs – Video
There’s no doubt that one of the most alluring things about swinging flies is the constant anticipation of that electrifying grab while under tension. After all, as they say, the tug is the drug right? Well, if the tug is the drug, then a tug from a king salmon is the most illicit kind.. Don’t…
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Jerry French’s Steelhead Sculpin – Fly Tying Video
A while back we shared a great fly tying video put together by our pals at North 40 Fly Shop on the Summer Sculpin, a great sculpin pattern for trout designed by anadramous authority and Alaska West alum, Jerry French. Well, they did it again, this time with a more steelhead worthy version of the…
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