Trout in our neck of the woods may behave a bit different than trout found in other areas of the world – Gorging on large meals like mice, sculpins, and salmon parts, as opposed to insects. However, the fact remains.. They’re still trout! That means that even though our trout love big, gaudy, nearly comical…
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Swinging Flies – Don’t Block Your Hook Set
In any avenue of fly fishing, one thing that separates successful anglers from not-so-successful anglers is complete, undivided, fully engaged, focus whenever your fly is in the water. Many fish are lost (or perhaps never hooked at all) from anglers who’s minds were wandering or whom were not expecting a fish to eat the fly in…
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Loop Opti Megaloop Reel
Over the course of the year, we see a lot of quality fly fishing gear put to the test in some of the most demanding conditions possible. That means we often get a first hand look at which gear is up to the challenge, and which gear is, well, not so much. How can we tell when a…
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Lucky Charms
When it comes to fishermen, you know we can all be a superstitious bunch. From that lucky pair of socks, a sweet holey rock, or even a lucky rabbit’s foot, there are many different things that DEFINITELY make a difference on the outcome of a day’s fishing. And, it goes without saying, you better never…
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Three Good Articles
It’s that time again! Three good fly fishing articles, from other fly fishing websites that we enjoyed and think you will too. Enjoy! Three Good Articles Everything You Wanted to Know About Line Selection but Were Afraid to Ask. Mark Heironymus kicking off part 1 of a weekly series explaining the finer points of choosing a line…
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Turning ‘Bad’ Casts into Great Presentations
Good casts feel good, but good presentations catch fish and today Alaska West guide, Greg Houska, is coming at us with a great writeup on how saving the less-than-perfect cast can help you catch more fish in the long run. Enjoy! Turning ‘Bad’ Casts into Great Presentations Not every cast is perfect, and you should never…
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Basic Camera Settings for Better Fly Fishing Photos
Over the years, many of you have asked for more posts on taking better fishing photos, and today we delivered! Our buddy Wray Sinclair has put together a great post on how to get away from ‘Auto Mode,’ and use the three most important camera modes to help you take better photos on the water….
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Skagit Revolution – Download Available
The folks at Beattie Outdoor Productions have teemed up Tom Larimer to produce the latest and greatest instructional video on skagit casting – Skagit Revolution. The video has been years in the making, some of which was actually filmed right here at Alaska West. The full video consists of two separate disks. Disk one touches on the…
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Measure Nets – Why We Like Them
Not all nets are created equal. A quality landing net is a guide’s most important tool, and when it comes to trout, we’re really particular about the nets we use. We recently outfitted our guide staff with measure nets for our trout population and we can honestly say they’re one of the better landing nets we’ve…
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Dueling Vises
This past week we had the good fortune of fishing with our good friend and professional fly designer, Stuart Foxall. For those of you who follow along on a regular basis, you may recognize Stu’s name from all the awesome fly tying posts he’s put together for us over the last few years. During his stay…
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