At Alaska West we spend a lot of time chasing anadromous fish with two-handed rods. We see this situation all the time: Angler arrives in camp with new spey rod. Angler sets it up with the line that his or her buddy/mentor/favorite author/shop guy/rep/mother-in-law said would work well. Angler fishes it for a while and…
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Alaska West
Alaska West King Salmon
What can we say…we like King Salmon, especially on the Fly with a Spey rod. Hard to find, hard to get to take a fly, hard to fight, hard to land. Many anglers tout King Salmon as one of the most desired game fish in the fly fishing world. Who are we to argue? At…
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Sockeye Will Take a Fly
The biggest myth about salmon fishing in Alaska is Sockeye (Red) Salmon won’t take a fly. Sockeye will take a fly, and when they do, it is one heck of a rodeo. Everyone knows about Coho (Silver) Salmon in Alaska. They are aggressive, you can get them from stripping flies, or creating wakes with a…
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West to West Rainbows
Alaska West Lodge veteran guide and all-around good guy Ben “Big Country” West is big on fly fishing. He works hard and fishes even harder. Ben truly appreciates trout, and according to him, this past season was one of the best seasons for Leopard Rainbow Trout at Alaska West. Based on these pictures from this…
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Deneki Chronicles: 5 Ways to Control the Speed of Your Swing
When swinging for anadramous species like king salmon or steelhead, more often than not, the slower the swing the better. As long as it is moving just enough to suggest life in your fly, odds are you are in the game. However, from time to time, increasing the speed of your swing can be just…
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Gear Review: Simms ExStream Hooded Jacket
For many of us in the Northern Hemisphere, we’re entering a punishing stretch of cold and darkness. For the diehard fly anglers, you’re dying to go fishing regardless of the temperature. This is where the Simms ExStream Hooded Jacket comes in handy. Either as an out layer or a mid, insulating layer, the Simms ExStream…
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Fly Tying: Metal Detector
Hello! It’s November, and you know what that means… It’s the holiday season. Lights are going up, Christmas shopping, and the Hallmark Channel Movie Marathons have begun. All That said, Here is another fly instruction provided to us by Friend of Deneki Outdoors Stuart Foxall to help us all keep calm and tie on. Enjoy….
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Fly Tying: Incognito Wooly Bugger
With Halloween just coming up this week, we thought we’d tie a golden oldie fly pattern and dress it up. From our friend Stuart Foxall, comes a variant of the Wooly Bugger. Combining a classic fly pattern with modern materials makes for a quick, colorful, and most importantly, effective fly. Cheers! It’s funny how patterns…
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Deneki Chronicles: Swinging Flies – Don’t Block Your Hookset
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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Spey Casts You Need to Learn
When it comes to Spey casting, everyone has their “go-to” cast. Your go-to cast is probably the first Spey cast you learned, and since you got good at it, you’ve built confidence, you stuck with it. We get it. We’ve been there too. The reality is mother nature, and the river itself can put you…
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