We see a lot of broken fly rods over the course of a season. Although we’d love to dish out stories of huge, rod buckling fish, the majority of the time rods are broken getting in and out of a boat, sticking them in a ceiling fan, or other less glamorous ways. Safely storing your rods…
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Alaska West
Stuart Foxall on Better Dubbing Balls
We recently ran a post asking you what topics you’d like to see more of. More posts on fly tying was a common request and guess what – we listened! In fact, we reached out to Stuart Foxall, world class fly designer and Deneki host for some state of the art tying content. Part of Loop Tackle’s development…
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Set With the Swing
When swinging flies for salmon and steelhead, we find setting the hook to the side (as opposed to straight up) will result in more fish to the net. We often use the phrase ‘set towards the bank,’ however we realize this can be confusing when fishing anywhere other than a big long gravel bar. The…
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A Lesson from Ol’ Chumley
The chum salmon are in at Alaska West and that can only mean one thing – it’s rod breaking season! While we certainly witness our share of broken rods throughout the season, we tend to see more rods break while targeting chums than any other species. Why? Because chums are some of the scrappiest fish we’ve ever…
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New Camp at Alaska West
We’ve moved! You may have heard, but this off-season our hardworking team at Alaska West made the big move across the river to our new location. We love our new camp and think you will too! Not a fan of change? Don’t worry – we can almost hit our old camp with a rock. Same…
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Swinging for Chums
With a current closure on king salmon at Alaska West, we’ve been targeting more species on the swing than ever this season. We love fishing with a two handed rod and the opportunities available are endless on our river. We have a hefty run of strong, chrome bright, sea-lice toting chum salmon throughout the majority…
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Ben West’s Fly Fishing Inspired Artwork
Today we’re coming at you from a different angle with some fishing inspired artwork created by Alaska West guide Ben West. Not only is Ben a super fishy guide and all around great guy, he’s one heck of an artist as well! We were amazed the first time we saw his work, and we think…
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Alaska West Video by Magnus Jepson
Right about this time last year, we ran a post with a very cool video that Magnus Jepson put together on the fishing during his trip to Alaska West. If you saw that video, you know that Magnus is one heck of a videographer and editor. We’re happy to say that Magnus is at it…
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Mousing for Trout – Try a Strip Set
On our Alaskan rivers, targeting big leopard rainbows with gaudy rodent imitations is not only visually appealing, but also very productive at certain times of the year. Takes can be ferocious and often unexpected. However, one of the most common faults when mousing for trout is setting the hook too early. It’s important to…
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Another Beautiful Rainbow
Just a quick photo highlighting why we love our Western Alaska Rainbow Trout. Not only are they big, aggressive, and take flies resembling small mammals, but we think they’re some of the most beautiful trout in the world…Period. Here’s our proof. More Cool Photos A Cool Underwater Salmon Photo A Cool Underwater Trout Photo Cool Photos of…
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