Running line from above Photo: Cameron Miller As you’ve probably noticed, since we do a lot of spey fishing for king salmon and steelhead at Alaska West and BC West, we play around with spey tackle a lot. Our team and most of our guests use Skagit-style line systems most of the time, and these…
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Alaska West
Bead Fishing for Rainbow Trout
Just a couple to choose from. Photo: Cameron Miller Rainbow trout in Western Alaska eat a lot of salmon eggs. Over the years a lot of different flies like the Glo Bug have been tied to imitate salmon eggs, but recently it’s become clear that the most effective way to trick a rainbow trout into…
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Spey Fishing for Trout, Part 2 – Gear
Workin’ the little rod on the Arolik. Photo: Cameron Miller UPDATE: Thanks for checking out this post in 2009. By 2012 spey fishing for trout had changed a bit, so we put out this post with an update on spey and switch fishing for trout as of 2012. Feel free to read on, though! We’ve…
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Dec Hogan – When It All Comes Together
Dec builds his confidence, as if he needed to. Photo: Justin Jackson Dec Hogan visits Alaska West during the first week of our season each year, to deliver spey instruction to our guests and to get in on the hottest, brightest kings of the season. This year, Dec had one of those experiences that, to…
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Spey Fishing for Trout, Part 1 – Why
Dec Hogan covers the Arolik, bank-to-bank. Photo: Cameron Miller Over the past few years, spey casting has become the method of choice in most fisheries around the world that involve presenting swung flies to anadromous fish. On the Kola Peninsula, and in Iceland, and on the Hoh River and in Tierra Del Fuego, anglers chase…
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Managing Running Line – 3 Simple Tips
Neat, tangle-free loops. Photo: Cameron Miller At Alaska West and BC West, we do a lot fishing with spey rods. There are a bunch of reasons that we like spey fishing – line control, less fatigue, the pure enjoyment of making a good cast, and the ability to cover a lot of water. Spey rods…
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Rainbow Trout and Giant Flies
Medium fish, XXL fly. Photo: Cameron Miller Rainbow trout in the Kanektok and Arolik Rivers have a short season during which they can feed, so when it’s summer and the water conditions are good, they tend to pounce on flies that might be, oh, about 1/4 as long as they are.< If you look closely…
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Making T-14 Tips
“And then you color the front loop with a black Sharpie…” Photo: Cameron Miller When we fish the Kanektok and the Dean for kings and steelhead, most of the time we’re fishing Skagit-style spey lines with tips made of Rio T-14. T-14 is a very versatile material for constructing sinktips used when Skagit casting. The…
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Game On
We’re pumped. Are you pumped? Photo: Ed Ward Today marks the start of our 2009 season at Alaska West. Our setup crew has been hard at work for the past few weeks getting our camp ready, and our first group of guests arrive today. The afternoon and evening will be spent unpacking, plotting strategies and…
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Alaska Fly Fishing Wisdom
Fishing in Alaska is fun. Photo: Mike Duffy A week from today marks the start of our 2009 season at Alaska West. For those of you heading to Alaska this summer, and those of you just thinking about Alaska this summer, here’s a bunch of tips and other advice related to fly fishing in Alaska….
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