For the majority of our guests at Alaska West, the first few weeks of our season is all about two things -swinging flies for big bright king salmon and/or chucking big mouse and sculpin imitations for hungry rainbow trout. However, during the first part of our season, an often overlooked species on our river are…
Read More
Deneki Blog
Timeless Tip Tuesday: Swinging Flies – Cast, Then Step
Cast, mend, swing fly, take a few steps downriver, repeat. That’s how you fish for steelhead, right? Not necessarily. Michael White stops by in video form today, straight from the Dean River, to tell us a bit about how he likes to present flies to steelhead. The basic idea – rather than stepping downriver after…
Read More
Opening Day at Alaska West
Today marks the opening day of our fishing season at Alaska West. Our guests and guides are taking to the water this morning to cut the first tracks on the Kanektok for the 2017 season, and needless to say, we couldn’t be more excited. We’ll be on site all season long, and plan on keeping…
Read More
History of the Intruder – Interview with Jerry French
Steelhead anglers rejoice! The folks from the Ashland Fly Shop recently conducted a great interview with our pal and Alaska West family member, Jerry French, featuring some great insight on fly selection, spey casting, and an in-depth history of the evolution of the intruder-style fly patterns many of us use today. If you like swinging flies…
Read More
First Alaska West King of 2017
Our 2017 opener at Alaska West is only a few days away, and we’re happy to report that our annual run of king salmon are trickling in as planned. In fact, earlier this week, after a long day of prepping camp for the upcoming season, Deneki team member, Chris Vague, hit the water for a…
Read More
Rigging Backing Solo
When rigging fly reels for hard fighting species like king salmon, bonefish, or any other fish capable of long blistering runs, we’re sticklers for winding on backing tight.. Really tight. Backing wound on too loosely (like you might reel up your fly line), is bound to cut into itself, particularly on hard pulling fish, locking…
Read More
Timeless Tips: 6 Ways to Catch More Steelhead
Fishing for steelhead is fun. Catching steelhead is even more fun. Here are 6 ways you can can more steelhead on flies. Let us know how you catch more! 6 Ways to Catch More Steelhead Fish the near water first. Steelhead can hold in really shallow water, really close to the bank. Always fish the…
Read More
The Crabs are Walkin’
Our season may have just come to a close at Andros South, but with the end of every bonefishing season marks the beginning of land crab season! Many of our guests ask us how the people of South Andros spend their time during the off-season. Its a great question. Some commercial fish, some travel, some take…
Read More
Morrish Mouse – Tying Instructions
We’re fast approaching one of our favorite times of year, mouse season! Chucking rodent patterns for voracious rainbow trout is one of our favorite past times, and we’re lucky to do a fair amount of it at our lodges. In preparation of the upcoming season, today we present you with a great step by step, courtesy…
Read More
Spey TV Episode 9: Single Spey with Simon Gawesworth
Our pal George Cook is back with another edition of Spey TV, this time accompanied by Simon Gawesworth to talk about the finer points of one of the most traditional, yet arguably most difficult spey casts to master, the single spey. For those looking to dial in their single spey, we think you’d be hard…
Read More