We fish a lot of tube flies at our lodges, and while they can be rigged several different ways, one of our favorite ways is attaching an up-eye octopus style stinger hook to a large loop in the leader nested at the back of the fly. Not only does this position the hook at the…
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Spey Casting – Top Three Tips
Whether we’re searching for steelhead on the Dean, swinging flies for kings on the Kanektok, or soaking sculpins for massive Naknek rainbow trout, we do a lot of spey fishing at our lodges. Therefore, as you might expect, we give our share of spey instructions as well, and today we share with you a few…
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Timeless Tip Tuesday: 3 Ways to Cast Further
Casting a long ways is not anywhere close to the most important skill in fly fishing. We’d actually tell you that casting too far is one of the leading causes of not catching fish…but that’s a topic for another day! Bombing long casts is fun, and every once in a while, you need to cast…
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Nice Fish, Joe!
When we first got wind that our good friend and long time Alaska West guest, Joe Dudra, was going to be joining us for not one, but two whole weeks during our king season this year, we were pretty darn excited.. Why? Because those that know Joe, know that he’s a fish magnet, and that…
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Hooligan
Believe it or not, the first anadromous species to enter our river system at Alaska West each spring are known as eulachons, or ‘hooligans’ as we commonly call them. We aren’t positive, but aside from resident baitfish and the occasional rodent, it’s a pretty safe bet that these anadromous smelt are the first major protein…
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King Salmon in Low Water – 5 Tips
Like most of Western Alaska, we’re experiencing slightly lower than average water conditions on our home river at Alaska West. As is the case with most anadromous species, low and clear water can make for some challenging fishing conditions when swinging flies for deep holding fish like king salmon, and often requires a few adjustments…
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Timeless Tips: Lake Fishing With a Tough Backcast
George Cook with some video commentary on fly fishing lakes. The topic de jour is some techniques for dealing with a difficult backcast. In this video, George talks about The fact that some of the best spots in lakes, like bays, can have very tough backcast conditions How basic rollcasting can work How a single hand…
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Happy Fourth of July
We’re really lucky to spend our year delivering fishing trips in several different countries to a whole bunch of great people hailing from all over the world. That said, we’re really proud to be based out of the good ol’ U.S. of A. and wish all of you a safe and happy 4th of July….
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Good Vibes Catch More Fish
It goes without saying, but time on the water yields plenty of time to ponder, and one thing we’ve noticed throughout countless days of watching other people fish is that good vibes catch more fish. No, we’re not paraphrasing Thoreau here, or spouting cliches like, “it’s about the journey, not the destination.” On the contrary,…
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‘Ed Ward Style’ Intruders with Stuart Foxall
We’re in the heat of our king salmon season at Alaska West, which means we’re tying on a lot of intruder-style flies these days. Why? Because by its very nature, the intruder was designed to incorporate minimal materials (for ease of casting) while still presenting a large profile in the water (something that tends to…
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